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I share your outrage at this comment. It is insulting. Who was the ninny who said this?
I have also wanted to know why some schools have language options while others don't. And this would be non magnet to non magnet...can anyone here shed light on this for us?
I can shed light in general but not on this specific situation. In general the following:
1. Rarely is there enough money in a large district to expand new programs to every school at the same time. Thus phasing things in becomes the norm. Unfortunately fluctuations in the economy can impact that phasing in process mid stream.
2. Individual schools have the opportunity to seek out and compete for new and special programs in a variety of areas. What they get in one they may not get in another. The district may seek balance in number of unique programs per school but not similarity.
3. Enrollment numbers and interest. Not every school has enough students at the necessary threshold or interest level for any given program and that can drive where they go.
4. Politics, politics and more politics and even more.
Thus if one were to review my numbers 1-4 and conclude that where you child goes to school and who they go to school with is important to the nature of their educational opportunities you are right on target.
Wake is about to see a different day and don't get caught in the wrong school. You may get special programs but they might not be with your kid in mind.
Dr Burns speaks about the declining drop out rate...worth a read:
WCPSS:Morning Announcements: Superintendent's Journal: A Declining Dropout Rate (http://www.wcpss.net/announcements/archives/2010/03/superintendents_27.html - broken link)
Facts, facts and more facts. Don't you get tired of them?
Just to clarify, I'm not saying NONE of them teach foreign language (I know Davis Drive middle has Spanish), but the ones MY children have attended in Cary have not had any foreign language at all. I was told that each non-magnet middle school is allotted a certain number of elective teachers and each principal is allowed to decide what to offer within the resources they've been allotted by WCPSS. They are also not allowed to offer more than one foreign language because of some rule about not competing with magnet schools. In any case, it is not true that "Cary middle schools" offer two and three foreign languages. You'd be lucky to get one!
I can shed light in general but not on this specific situation. In general the following:
1. Rarely is there enough money in a large district to expand new programs to every school at the same time. Thus phasing things in becomes the norm. Unfortunately fluctuations in the economy can impact that phasing in process mid stream.
2. Individual schools have the opportunity to seek out and compete for new and special programs in a variety of areas. What they get in one they may not get in another. The district may seek balance in number of unique programs per school but not similarity.
3. Enrollment numbers and interest. Not every school has enough students at the necessary threshold or interest level for any given program and that can drive where they go.
4. Politics, politics and more politics and even more.
Thus if one were to review my numbers 1-4 and conclude that where you child goes to school and who they go to school with is important to the nature of their educational opportunities you are right on target.
Wake is about to see a different day and don't get caught in the wrong school. You may get special programs but they might not be with your kid in mind.
Excellent, thank you! This makes sense! Your last paragraph rings true and is my biggest concern.
Just to clarify, I'm not saying NONE of them teach foreign language (I know Davis Drive middle has Spanish), but the ones MY children have attended in Cary have not had any foreign language at all. I was told that each non-magnet middle school is allotted a certain number of elective teachers and each principal is allowed to decide what to offer within the resources they've been allotted by WCPSS. They are also not allowed to offer more than one foreign language because of some rule about not competing with magnet schools. In any case, it is not true that "Cary middle schools" offer two and three foreign languages.
Yes thats my point about local decisions. Principals have choices and they have their priorities which may or may not include your kids. If the school is on the bubble with making adequate yearly progress you know where those priorities are.
Just to clarify, I'm not saying NONE of them teach foreign language (I know Davis Drive middle has Spanish), but the ones MY children have attended in Cary have not had any foreign language at all. I was told that each non-magnet middle school is allotted a certain number of elective teachers and each principal is allowed to decide what to offer within the resources they've been allotted by WCPSS. They are also not allowed to offer more than one foreign language because of some rule about not competing with magnet schools. In any case, it is not true that "Cary middle schools" offer two and three foreign languages.
Yes, but more Cary schools did offer foreign language choice (before they were all phased out, but that is a different story)... because those schools had less lower income & high needs kids. Thus, the principals had to allocate those funds to the highest need first. The resource allocation was the problem.
I share your outrage at this comment. It is insulting. Who was the ninny who said this?
I have also wanted to know why some schools have language options while others don't. And this would be non magnet to non magnet...can anyone here shed light on this for us?
It was our district 1 board member. And Lamishra answered your other question.
Yes, but more Cary schools did offer foreign language choice (before they were all phased out, but that is a different story)... because those schools had less lower income & high needs kids. Thus, the principals had to allocate those funds to the highest need first. The resource allocation was the problem.
There are only 4 middle schools in Cary. Only one of them has Spanish. Reedy Creek, East Cary and West Cary Middle do not (and I know they were never offered in two out of those 3.) Also, both Reedy Creek and East Cary Middle have pretty high FRL numbers. Reedy Creek's is almost 50%.
The only one with low FRL numbers and also teach FL is Davis Drive.
There are only 4 middle schools in Cary. Only one of them has Spanish. Reedy Creek, East Cary and West Cary Middle do not (and I know they were never offered in two out of those 3.) Also, both Reedy Creek and East Cary Middle have pretty high FRL numbers. Reedy Creek's is almost 50%.
The only one with low FRL numbers and also teach FL is Davis Drive.
I should expand & say that I was talking about the situation with the board member 3 years ago.
I was referring more to Cary kids than just Cary schools since some of the kids were also going to school in Apex, Holly Springs etc. (Which, for north Wake lurkers, is analagous to comparing Rolesville, Wakefield & Wake Forest resources since there is such an overlap in school attendance.)
I said I had been chatting with a Cary mom about my attempts to get my son into Ligon so he could continue with foreign language classes. That mom said, she didn't have to since her kid could take Spanish or French at his MS!
...So, I asked the board member about that inequity, and far from telling me I was wrong, that foreign language was limited, she told me... well, what I wrote above.
Furthermore, when I went to the appeal hearing for Ligon, and I said I wanted him to take a foreign language, which he could not do at Heritage, the members at the hearing asked me if I was sure there was no foreign language at Heritage- they thought each MS offered at least one!
Well that could really only have been at that one, because I can assure you, the rest did not (and I had kids in Cary middle school during the time frame you are referencing). In fact, we also tried to get into Ligon in order to take foreign language because not a single Cary middle school that we were allowed to attend offered it (and like I said, that was 3 out of 4 middle schools). Dillard Drive also serves Cary students, but the address is Raleigh and it is also a high FRL school and does not have FL either. I really don't think it's a Cary thing or even a WW thing, because "most" students over here are not taking FL in middle school (sadly).
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