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Journal 1 |
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Journal entry #1 Last year I was asked to be a reader for the National Blue Ribbon Schools of Distinction award applications. These are awards now funded by Intel and Scholastic to 20 schools across the nation, annually, by the folks from the government who left when the Blue Ribbon award transitioned to the No Child Left Behind award. When I went to the east coast to take part in a meeting of those involved in reading the applications (mostly superintendents and principals from schools who had won the award) I learned many things about observing and evaluating schools. One of the most striking things that I heard was from the director of the program who said that when he does site visits – and he has visited literally thousands of schools in all his years working for the Dept. of Education – he could always tell a great school by the way it “feels” when you first walk into the office. He told us that we should get that same feeling while reading our applications. Last week I drove to the school that I will be an observer in, in San Pedro. I was familiar with the neighborhood because my children’s dental office is nearby but had never been to the school. When I got to the school I could only tell it was the school because of the architecture of the building and the playground but, I couldn’t find the front door! The fencing was so high around the playground with no trespassing signs plastered in such a distracting way that I had to drive around the school twice before I could determine where there was a door to get in (it was somewhat obstructed by the only tree in the area). In the car on the way over I had several things running through my mind: how on earth was I going to complete all the work for this program; How would I meet all the family commitments and end of year activities at my children’s schools; Was the neighborhood safe?; How would I find the time to get to this school to observe; did it matter that I didn’t speak Spanish (the predominant language spoken in this neighborhood)? Knowing that I was distracted I consciously tried very hard to focus on my first reaction to this setting. So after finding the door, I took a deep breath, walked in ready to see and “feel” this school. Upon entering I was overwhelmed with the color blue. The school was old and large with very high ceilings. Everywhere I looked was blue paint not necessarily the same blues on any two walls but consistently blue. It felt like it was painted with left over Home Depot paints and it probably was. There were no pictures on the wall as you entered but as you turned into the office there were two bulletin boards sparsely but nicely decorated. It felt clean and blue and institutional but, full of potential. In the office I stood behind a woman new to the area, with a 6 year old child, who wanted to enroll her child at that school. I listened to the woman behind the desk explain to the mother what paperwork she would have to fill out and, how a year round school works. Simultaneously, in the office, there were two children. I gathered they had been sent to the office for fighting with each other. The children were busy playing and teasing each other, trying to look like they were not really enjoying each others company. I watched the children get “reprimanded” in a very gentle way, the office manager smiled secretly at me while she spoke sternly to them. The children were sent back to their class eager to laugh and chat before they even left the office. The woman in front of me got her information and left. I talked to the office manager, set up my appointment and observation times, and left the building. My first impression was that this was a wonderful school despite the statistics I had retrieved on the computer of low scores and poverty. When I left, I felt excited about going back, I felt like I was going to have a great experience and that it was a warm and caring environment. I felt like this would be a safe and loving place to go to school. I felt this way even though the physical structure was sterile, the decorations sparse and my interactions limited. Dr. Colbert said at our orientation to the MAT program that the most important person at a school is the office manager. My first impression of this school was directly the result of the professional, firm, yet warm personality of one woman. I wonder if she knows what an impact she has. Back to EDUC 503 index |