Good morning.
Wednesday in Whitewater will see thundershowers with a high of 76. Sunrise is 5:28 AM and sunset 8:33 PM for 15h 04m 54s of daytime. The moon is a waning crescent with 24.7% of its visible disk illuminated.
On this day in 1812, the American Army of the Northwest briefly occupies the Upper Canadian settlement at what is now Windsor, Ontario.
Link: Early Childhood Inclusion.pdf
On Sunday, FREE WHITEWATER listed school-related posts since March, on Monday a sketch on the basics of a good education, and on Tuesday a review of a middle-school science curriculum presentation at the 7.10.23 school board regular session. Today’s post addresses the Early Childhood Inclusion presentation (embedded above).
About thirty-six minutes into the meeting, for about an hour, the district’s Director of Pupil Services and several district employees spoke to the community about the district’s Early Childhood inclusion program. (Early childhood programs are for children not yet attending full-day classes.)
A few remarks are in order.
It matters, and it will always be necessary, that there is an update to the school board about this programming. That’s a necessary, yet insufficient, measure of a program’s success in a district responsible and responsive to the community. To the community means all the community (not simply the board, or parents, but all residents): it’s a public school district. There would not have been so much consternation last year about the district’s early childhood program — and honest to goodness there was! — if the community had been better informed.
The board, a few administrators (the district leadership team), and those who watch and record these meetings are a tiny fraction of the audience this district needs. Communication isn’t accomplished simply because seven board members are in the know. If residents don’t hear about a topic fully, then they’ve been sold short. When they later learn that they’ve been sold short, they will show up at board meetings and start yelling. How much Maalox does the district office want to keep in stock? An ounce of prevention, a pound of cure…
One other point, that this district for over a decade has not understood: it’s not enough that an administrator finds a teacher wonderful, or beloved. It’s meaningful but not decisive. What’s decisive is whether students are performing well. Love may take a student along the way to success, but a teacher’s love must be measured by the results that the teacher produces. To be useful to the public, those results must be measurable.
(Old Whitewater had the bad habit of using praise as a substitute for genuine accomplishment. Respect for one’s education means looking for, and expecting of others, measurable results. This is no more than following the good example of one’s teachers, professors, and mentors. It’s not harsh to write as much; it is, in fact, an expression of love and honor all its own.)
Two Reasons Why the US Is Avoiding Recession:
2022 was an insane year for whitewater. definitely some spicy board meeting with the public. we probably had 5 or so big issues that year plus a referendum. we got the referendum but there is tension. funniest line ever is how much maalox the district wants to drink. now we are fighting about the pool. that will probably go on for a hundred years.
This is a VERY MILD take on the subject of communication that has alienated many parents/residents. I am sure tyhat you are right that this creates unnecessary stress inside the district when people are upset about not knowing what’s going on. You have called for a dialog but people need to knwo what’s happening first.Not everyone watches these long rambling meetings. The streaming page is a TOTAL JOKE!. If they ever do an honest survey they should start asking what people know about different programs. The answer is going to be basically nothing, NOT A CLUE. average resident is totally separate from this crew except when they get told what they have to pay.