Woodlawn Parents Concerns?

Posts : 3 Join date : 2009-02-03

I'm just wondering why the Woodlawn School is not of a concern to people, why is Howe the school that has more say about this? I have a 6th grader at Woodlawn that should be going to Central Park next year but if this Magnet school takes over CP then my son gets no choice but the Mont Pleasant School, which I think is fine, that's where I graduated from. I think the set up of the school gets him ready for the High School with it being much bigger than CP but I believe that they knew about this school change proposal last year. I also have a 8th grader at CP and my younger son wanted to take the bus and go to CP with his brother but we had no choice we were told that "you have to stay here at Woodlawn" When Woodlawn added the 6th grade two years ago my older son had the choice to either stay at Woodlawn or go to CP. When my younger son heard he may have to go to Mont Pleasant his first response was "I don't know anything about that school I've never been there. So I'm hoping that Mr. Ely has plans for the "new" students to have a chance to get to know the school so they get a feel of the setting, if this goes through and lets us know what grades will exactly be at the MP school at one meeting he stated that they even had a couple of 5th grade classes mixed in at MP because they did not have room at PV for them. Anyone else have concerns?

Posts : 23 Join date : 2009-01-24

suzi wrote:: I'm just wondering why the Woodlawn School is not of a concern to people, why is Howe the school that has more say about this? Anyone else have concerns?

I'm a Paige and SHS parent. I've also noticed that the most vocal group is Howe. I don't see many opinions from parents from other school communities either. I'm not sure if it's an awareness issue -the Howe community was made aware of this proposal very quickly and got the parents rallied (one side or the other) very powerfully. Other schools informed parents in other ways and got a less dramatic response. The other possibility is parents from other schools figure their opinion doesn't matter. They seem to feel the superintendent and the board are going to make their decisions without considering parent input, so they don't voice their concerns. I feel it is an issue that affects all of us whether we have kids who go to Howe, kids in feeder schools to CPMS, or any of the other schools. It is an entire redistricting so we should all be able to communicate our opinions and have them heard. So empower your Woodlawn families to voice their opinions whatever they may be while they still may be heard.

Admin Posts : 137 Join date : 2008-10-29

suzi wrote:: I'm just wondering why the Woodlawn School is not of a concern to people, why is Howe the school that has more say about this? I have a 6th grader at Woodlawn that should be going to Central Park next year but if this Magnet school takes over CP then my son gets no choice but the Mont Pleasant School, which I think is fine, that's where I graduated from. I think the set up of the school gets him ready for the High School with it being much bigger than CP but I believe that they knew about this school change proposal last year. I also have a 8th grader at CP and my younger son wanted to take the bus and go to CP with his brother but we had no choice we were told that "you have to stay here at Woodlawn" When Woodlawn added the 6th grade two years ago my older son had the choice to either stay at Woodlawn or go to CP. When my younger son heard he may have to go to Mont Pleasant his first response was "I don't know anything about that school I've never been there. So I'm hoping that Mr. Ely has plans for the "new" students to have a chance to get to know the school so they get a feel of the setting, if this goes through and lets us know what grades will exactly be at the MP school at one meeting he stated that they even had a couple of 5th grade classes mixed in at MP because they did not have room at PV for them. Anyone else have concerns?

A: We have asked the principals at Mont Pleasant and Oneida to begin planning open house opportunities and orientation activities for all incoming students from the elementary schools. We always plan extensive transition activities for students entering a new building, especially the middle schools and the high school.

Posts : 3 Join date : 2009-02-03

Admin-
So am I correct by assumming that the change is a go? I would hope that Central Park would also be planning on a orientation for the new students from feeder schools if this move does not happen. I would also like to know when the Woodlawn parents will get to fill out the survey that Howe is getting, I hope that you are considering getting input from all schools not just the Howe community before you make any kind of decision!!

Admin Posts : 137 Join date : 2008-10-29

suzi wrote:: Admin-
So am I correct by assumming that the change is a go? I would hope that Central Park would also be planning on a orientation for the new students from feeder schools if this move does not happen. I would also like to know when the Woodlawn parents will get to fill out the survey that Howe is getting, I hope that you are considering getting input from all schools not just the Howe community before you make any kind of decision!!

A: No decision had been made on this proposal. We are still holding meetings at buildings around the district to collect input. The school board has asked that I present them with a complete proposal addressing the concerns that have been raised through these meetings and more detailed plans for such a move. They have also asked for options for such things as delaying such a move, phasing in such a move and any other possible alternatives that may help the district achieve the goals it has developed. The district is not running any surveys at this point on this issue, however I believe the Howe PTO may be doing so in that school community.

Posts : 22 Join date : 2009-01-23

suzi wrote:: Admin-
So am I correct by assumming that the change is a go? I would hope that Central Park would also be planning on a orientation for the new students from feeder schools if this move does not happen. I would also like to know when the Woodlawn parents will get to fill out the survey that Howe is getting, I hope that you are considering getting input from all schools not just the Howe community before you make any kind of decision!!

Hi Suzi, the Howe survey didn't come from the School Board or the School District; it was written and distributed by the Howe PTO and the questions were specifically addressed to the particular situation at Howe. A survey for Woodlawn parents would need different questions to get at Woodlawn parent concerns. Maybe you could check with the PTO officers at Woodlawn to get a survey for Woodlawn? The more input the better!

Posts : 22 Join date : 2009-02-13

I was looking foward to my son going to CP and having an oppertunity to take advantage of the NASA program. NOW HE WON"T BE ABLE TOO!!!! If the district is looking to have a "community" relationship with these children then why aren't these K-8 proposal at a community school, the Magnet schools has children busing from all over the city!!!! Some of those children don't see each other in their community.

Posts : 11 Join date : 2009-02-13 Location : Woodlawn

As a Woodlawn parent and member of the PTO, I would like to say it is very difficult to be for or against something that is not clear to begin with. This proposal has more potholes in it than schenectady's roads. Other than what is on the site, there is no real proposal in writing anywhere. How can a decision be made on something that is not tangible??? I am not even going to try and list all the potholes at this point because I would be writing for days so I just want to pull forward a couple of things and also make a personal statement about this. I want to say that the first I heard of this specific proposal was 2/3 at my PTO meeting in which we did not even know what was going to be discussed. So for those questioning why they have not heard from anyone else it is likely because they don't know about it. Those who do know feel as if their opinion does not matter because for some reason it is being treated as if it only affects Howe and CPMS. As another parent stated in a meeting, "I can get notices about early dismissal, but nothing on this" . The fact that it was posted on the website does not help the many parents who don't have internet access....yes in these electronic times there are still many of those left. Then I hear this proposal has been talked about for the last five years. That is a half truth. The k-8 proposal has been discussed, not with CPMS as the location and no talk over the last few years of that five about it. In fact, Woodlawn which has been a k-8 school in years gone, was on the table. What happened to that? Here you have a school that is already physically designed for it and you aren't going to use it? I am not for or against a k-8 school as the research on its effectiveness is mixed, but if that is the way you want to go doesn't using Woodlawn make more sense? The k-8 model is supposed to promote community.....Woodlawn is a neighborhood/community school. Howe is mixed with kids from all over the city. On a personal note, one of my awesome kids who wants to be an astronaut was so very excited about going to CPMS due the NASA program. I selected my home because of location and the schools it would feed to. What happened to our choice?

Posts : 22 Join date : 2009-02-13

I am a Woodlawn parent and I have been asking people to sign a petition that opposes the proposal. Today I spoke with a Howe parent and as I spoke with him I heard in his voice that he could careless about my child that has to go to Mont Pleasant next year. Of course, Howe parents want this proposal to go through. What parent wouldn't want ALL THE PERKS!!!!!!!!!! THE NASA PROGRAM, YOUR MAGNET SCHOOL IS ALREADY TAGGED AS ONE OF THE BEST ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS IN SCHENECTADY. K-8 at CP will be overwhelmed with over 500 children all different ages. The B.O.E. mentions that they want a "community style school" well if you haven't noticed your students don't come from one community, they are bussed all over Sch'dy . Most of them only see each other in school. Why doesn't Eric start at a non-magnet school and make them "community" schools. What ever happen to the good old days. I don't care if the playground they are going to build at CP for the Howe magnet school is in the budget or not. TEACHER'S are still going to getting FIRED!!!!!! NO QUESTION!! They didn’t budget for them. I believe they will move FDR over to the Howe, I wouldn't put it past them. There's no room for a playground for the FDR children, what about them. FDR children don't even have a stinking playground and the District wants to spend money at CP for 5 year olds to attend there. Here‘s a thought, since the District took out the 6th graders out of the middle schools and they want to fill the empty seats at CP, MP and Oneida, place the 9th graders there. It's harder for a 9th grader to enter a high school then a 6th grade to enter middle school.

» Proposed Changes to Howe Magnet School
» Important Notice, Response to Input and Update to the K-8 Proposal
» Zoller Parents Concerns
» Where are the parents of students who drop out/struggle
» Parents of Elementary Students - please read