http://jdennis5.edublogs.org/2008/03/30/chapter-9-oakes-and-lipton-the-school-culture/ Just another Edublogs.org weblog Tue, 29 Apr 2008 01:18:57 -0400 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.2 hourly 1 http://jdennis5.edublogs.org/2008/03/30/chapter-9-oakes-and-lipton-the-school-culture/comment-page-1/#comment-13 koubs1 Wed, 02 Apr 2008 12:22:02 +0000 http://jdennis5.edublogs.org/2008/03/30/chapter-9-oakes-and-lipton-the-school-culture/#comment-13 I empathize with your situation because administration can make or break a school especially where morale is concerned. Our administrators are close to retirement and we are already talking about what could happen when they leave. I have always had consistent administration and the feeling of the staff towards them has always been positive. All were great places to work and that had EVERYTHING to do with the administration. I am sure it is no coincidence that high performing schools in our county get the same principal for many years. Which came first the chicken or the egg? I think people take schools to get their foot in the door , put in their time and then leave ASAP. As far as funding goes, I often wonder if all schools get the same $ for tutoring. Do we get the same amount as you even though we have few students who actually need the service. Many of ours are sped kids who are double dipping. Summer school is a whole different issue. It almost seems as if they are trying to phase it out. I actually am a fan of the idea of year round school to alleviate some of our difficulties with retention and consistency. Summer school with a different teacher can't be all that helpful. It takes a couple weeks to learn what works for the child and most often the work and strategies are not consistent. I empathize with your situation because administration can make or break a school especially where morale is concerned. Our administrators are close to retirement and we are already talking about what could happen when they leave. I have always had consistent administration and the feeling of the staff towards them has always been positive. All were great places to work and that had EVERYTHING to do with the administration. I am sure it is no coincidence that high performing schools in our county get the same principal for many years. Which came first the chicken or the egg? I think people take schools to get their foot in the door , put in their time and then leave ASAP. As far as funding goes, I often wonder if all schools get the same $ for tutoring. Do we get the same amount as you even though we have few students who actually need the service. Many of ours are sped kids who are double dipping. Summer school is a whole different issue. It almost seems as if they are trying to phase it out. I actually am a fan of the idea of year round school to alleviate some of our difficulties with retention and consistency. Summer school with a different teacher can’t be all that helpful. It takes a couple weeks to learn what works for the child and most often the work and strategies are not consistent.

]]> http://jdennis5.edublogs.org/2008/03/30/chapter-9-oakes-and-lipton-the-school-culture/comment-page-1/#comment-12 crothstein Mon, 31 Mar 2008 15:07:50 +0000 http://jdennis5.edublogs.org/2008/03/30/chapter-9-oakes-and-lipton-the-school-culture/#comment-12 Hi Jacqueline, When Katy and I saw the Cobb Bd announcement for your school we thought of you and Melanie. It is ridiculous. The school culture has so much to do with our psyche, our moods, the aura of the building and thus it affects the learning of our students. It seems like some schools in Cobb are thought of as 'stepping stone' schools for principals, they stay there just long enough to get moved out. Some schools are like 'training grounds'. What does that say about our students? I never understood the 'shuffle the principal' policy in Cobb. What is the purpose of that? It seems to me if a principal knew she were going to be embedded in that school/community for a large number of years, the committment to the faculty, parents, students, even the physical building would be greater. I guess we live in a transient society, and it's a large system, so one solution is to create small intimate clusters. I think that's what you are trying to do. So I applaud your attempt. Hi Jacqueline,
When Katy and I saw the Cobb Bd announcement for your school we thought of you and Melanie. It is ridiculous. The school culture has so much to do with our psyche, our moods, the aura of the building and thus it affects the learning of our students. It seems like some schools in Cobb are thought of as ’stepping stone’ schools for principals, they stay there just long enough to get moved out. Some schools are like ‘training grounds’. What does that say about our students? I never understood the ’shuffle the principal’ policy in Cobb. What is the purpose of that? It seems to me if a principal knew she were going to be embedded in that school/community for a large number of years, the committment to the faculty, parents, students, even the physical building would be greater. I guess we live in a transient society, and it’s a large system, so one solution is to create small intimate clusters. I think that’s what you are trying to do. So I applaud your attempt.

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