There’s a lot of changes in for Portland Public Schools, in particular at the High School level.The most obvious change would be for Benson to stop being a regular “school,” and instead to be a career center for juniors and seniors. Superintendent Smith has recommended some other changes too, and you really should read them over, if you have a kid in high school or entering high school in the near future. Go here and get involved.
You have until May 21 to sign up to be Parent Advisory Council. This would be an excellent place to have your voice heard.
But that’s not all. Other schools (besides the High Schools) are also being changed. Five schools in high poverty areas are being singled out as an “Academic Priority” zone. These are feeder schools for Jefferson, Roosevelt and Franklin. As “Academic Priority” schools, they are getting more money, better choices of teachers, a longer school day or year, extra staff, and “wrap around support” like mentors.
One interesting thing I learned when reading this — if a teacher gets fired from one PPS school, they are often required to be hired at another one, if they want a job and one’s open in their field. So if my Calculus teacher from High School had gotten fired, he could have wound up teaching other kids at Franklin, whether the school wanted him or not (if they had a math opening). Academic Priority schools are immune to this problem.
Any changes to try to de-institutionalize our schools is fine with me. I think that the Portland schools are using ideas that are outside the box in some respects. Sometimes I think the idea of the neighborhood one-room school house should be brought back.. My mom went to this type of school for her k-8 years. She is one of the best thinkers that I know.