Small Learning Communities: Does Dwight Morrow High School have any?
United States Department of Education grants since 2002
Click the following link for a List of School Systems that have received grants for small learning communities from the federal government since 2002. 2007, 8, 9 must be clicked at the link page.
Grant lists:
Are you wondering why the Englewood School District is not listed in those receiving grant money for small learning communities from the Federal Government? You are not alone. Perhaps it is as Mr. Garrison says, "the Academy is the only program in the Englewood school district that we market to students outside of Englewood." Does this also mean that they do not support the other programs as vigorously with grant monies? They are recruiting students from outside of Englewood at the same time that they put our own students in a substandard school building with a leaky roof, asbestos, lead, and possible black mole developing. Alternative Schools may not be placed in temporary facilities without permission from the state. The word temporary suggests that other facilities are being prepared for said students. The Eagle Academy has been in Liberty School for 7 years. They were moved there in order to make space for the out of town children that were supposed to integrate our high school. School Choice is based on space according to 6A:12-2.1 Our board of education made space available when they exiled the students that they deemed unteachable to a falling down substandard building. The ironic thing is that the students are teachable and would probably succeed in a healthy and safe environment.
The students from outside of Englewood are NOT integrating the Dwight Morrow High School Campus. It is obvious that the wants of the few far out weigh the needs of the many here in Englewood. A program that took 20 million dollars from the state to create a tool for integration did just the opposite. They took the money and created a tool that discriminates against persons on the basis of ability, address, behavior, test scores, fashion statements, learning differences, entrance examinations and various other exclusionary elements. Students with learning and other disabilities are systematically excluded. In the video excerpt of the August 18, 2011 board meeting, Mr. Glenn Garrison is very adamant about the fact that they do not "Market" any other program in the district. Well, Mr. Garrison, we as taxpayers have noticed that. This program has been used to all but erase what used to be Dwight Morrow High School. It has taken on a life of its own. In the Back to School issue of Connections, Dr. Carlisle calls it a school. "Having two high schools is like having two children," he says. I hope that families with 2 children treat them both equally as well. That is not the case with the Academy. ( which is NOT a school, by the way) I challenge any of you to find it listed as a school anywhere other than on Academy created materials, Carlisle's newsletter and transcripts of students who do not know any better. Do you think the state will take the money back once they have seen that they were duped into giving money that physically segregated the high school population thereby creating an apartheid educational system. Listen to Mr. Garrison's self righteous attitude as he fights to build a $26,000.00 sign to market this building while 2 groups of students are attending school in a building that is literally falling in on them.
Below are some examples and a sampling of school programs that utilize this "school within a school" model. None of the schools that I researched had a program that was so insidious that it took over the parent school and changed the words of the Alma Mater, the colors, took down plaques, banners, or decreased the size of locker rooms so the football teams no longer fit. None of them fired winning hall of fame coaches and polarized generations of children.
"We send our children to school looking at your faces and they come home looking at the ground." I quote from a parent who spoke up for her son and he was kicked out of AV?ID. She moved away because she was afraid for his education, because she knew that he would never be one of the chosen. She believed that he would be punished for her actions.
The Career Academy Support Network (CASN): Scheduling Guide for Small Learning Communities/Career Academies. This is by far my favorite study in my search for information about Small Learning Communities
Purpose
Staffing
Curriculum
Choice
http://casn.berkeley.edu/resources.php?r=221A How To Book on Creating Small Learning Communities
Small Learning Communities that Actually Learn: Lessons for School Leaders
Organizing Schools into Small Learning Communities
Resources provide overviews on the types of smaller learning communities that districts and schools have created, as well as tools that can help state agencies guide districts in the engagement and planning efforts necessary for the successful implementation of smaller learning communities.
Empowering Data Driven Instruction
Small Learning Communities that Work
The Small Learning Communities (SLC) Grant
Small Learning Communities (SLCs) create small learning environments that support teacher-student connectedness, resulting in teachers being aware of the academic as well as the social and emotional needs of 9th-12th-grade students. SLCs offer teachers the flexibility to personalize and tailor their curriculum to address individual student needs, interests and aspirations. As a result, students build stronger relationships with teachers and classmates and maximize their learning potential.
Small Learning Community (SLC) in smaller schools
Association for middle school level Education: Why Small Learning Communities and Small Schools?
Examples of Small Learning Communities:
Humble, Texas Independent School District: A Humble, Small Learning Community
District Administration: Solutions for School District Management
http://www.districtadministration.com/viewarticle.aspx?articleid=2836Kennedy High School, Paterson, New Jersey
Los Angeles Unified School District: Smaller School Models:
http://www.lausd.net/SLC_Schools/Los Angeles Unified School District: Small Learning Communities (SLC’s)
San Lorenzo, California: Bay Area Digital Arts Academy: emphasizes experiential, personalized learning for all students with professional training in multi-media production including: film making, television production, and web-design.
Sturgis Brown High School, South Dakota, Meade School District 46-1
Vineland High School’s Small Learning Communities
As part of this high school reform, students of all SLC’s have expanded opportunities to take part in honors-level and Advanced Placement level courses. There has been an increased emphasis on academic rigor, which includes the abolishment of all general level courses. In addition, many courses have been either created or redesigned as elective offerings in small learning communities. In partnership with Cumberland County College, students may take dual credit courses giving high school and college credit
How are the children? Not well, their building is falling down on top of them.
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