New school year: Celebrations and Observations
Some Maryland students went back to schools that boasted millions of dollars in renovations and state-of-the-art upgrades. The energy of students and school leaders was almost as high as the temperatures, our reporters found, making for a great kick off to the school year. Even those who didn't have to head back to the classroom found a reason to celebrate.
In Baltimore City, schools CEO Andres Alonso kicked off his annual school tours at Mt. Washington Elementary school where Mayor Stephanie-Rawlings Blake's daughter, Sophia, started her 2nd grade year. I took note of the language arts objectives of the day, outlined by Sophia's teacher, and was impressed. Among them were: identifying high-frequency words, recognizing short vowel sounds, and explaining the components of a folktale. Guess practicing fire drills and playing name games aren't the first-day protocols anymore.
The next stop was Commodore John-Rodgers Elementary/ Middle School, a turnaround school who is also building a new identity for itself this year. I noticed the city's 2010 Teacher of the Year, Brian Rainville, formerly of Maree G. Farring Elementary/Midde School was teaching at Commodore. He was delving right into intense math lessons.
Next on the tour was George W. F. McMechen Middle/High School, a school for special education students. The stop represented growth the city has made in serving its special-education students. There, students were doing everything from preparing meals to learning basic skills. Lots of waves and smile there. It was heartwarming.
And, finally there was a visit to the Walbook campus, which we feature in the story. Definitely a story of new beginnings there. The two schools who share the old building have driving forces behind them, and it will be interesting to see how they redefine the "Walbrook" legacy.
Alonso took a second-round of tours on Tuesday, this time promoting the district's focus on attendance this year. Look for that story in tomorrow's Sun.
Baltimoresun.com's 
Comments
A few notes on this post:
1) At our school we spend a great deal of time "playing name games" and it is intentional. The building of culture is a vital piece of what schools often don't do and wonder about later. While I don't believe that doing this for the entirety of the first day or week is appropriate, I don't appreciate the short shrift that real and important culture building gets.
2) I wonder in the hearts and flowers post what you didn't see - for example there are many schools dealing with many vacancies. It seems clear that HC as it is now called (when did we become capitol and not resources?) has been a hot mess. I know the system keeps track of opening day vacancies and I wonder how many there were this year as opposed to years past. Just to remind the fair reader, when a classroom is empty, kids don't get instruction.
3) I know that budgets were and continue to be unclear - now that we are under FSF schools need a faster response time to real time changes in enrollment since the ability to purchase positions and materials is tied to available funds. It sometimes seems like central office is working with an abacus.
Having said all of that, it was great to see the kids and families and wonderful to feel the "sail boat" hum. I am excited and energized to put the focus where it belongs.
Posted by: Who am I now BC? | September 3, 2010 9:23 AM