Having attended the future direction meeting held at Franklin School on April 6, I came out impressed by an excellent presentation, better informed and with strong positive feeling that many people in our community will work hard to ensure that Franklin School will survive.

Our public educational system is in serious need of major renovations and I think the boards approach to ask the community to assist in finding solutions is the most diplomatic way to announce here comes some major changes you may not be ready for.  By informing and involving more people, new ideas may spring up but more likely a conglomeration of old ideas that we may or may not like will be the solution.

Pedagogical services at Franklin School-from my experience

My two children have attended Franklin School since pre-kindergarten and have now reached grades 5 and 6. Their father and I have always agreed that Franklin School is the ideal place to educate children.  You can’t ask for better.  Small numbers encourage safety, one on one education and nipping problems in the bud.  We have excellent dedicated teachers who care, who work together as a team and are able to follow the children from first to last levels.  The ease of communication with teachers and staff for a parent is imperative.  Once you’ve been informed of an accomplishment or problem it is up to the parent to round off the situation with praise, discipline, extra tutoring etc. When it’s your own child you want to know now not when the report card comes out.  Franklin School keeps its parents informed and communications wide open and welcoming.

The reading and math workshops held each week involving the entire school each time are a great example of a pedagogical service using only the materials and people we already have. These workshops improve both these skills in a manner which is productive, fun and educational.

Classroom configuration: The combining of grade levels at Franklin have worked out well for both my children.  Both like to know what’s going to be expected later and like classmates older and younger than them. Every other year they are in the same cycle or classroom but they are definitely in separate grades according to work assignments and homework.

Deployment of Staff: The staff, teachers, support staff and administration are all without question the best.  They are professional at their tasks and work well together, you can’t ask for better. I believe it is their teamwork that enables them to handle all the grade levels without having 1 teacher per grade.

Services, Resources and Special Needs: Both my children have benefited from special needs services at two different times. One specialist visited my daughter in her grade 1 year for speech therapy, another met with my son in his 6th grade for short term memory difficulties.  Both experiences were very positive for the children and me and both have resulted in definite improvement for their difficulties.  The children’s father and I both agree that if in the event these services had not been free we would had gladly paid for them, they were worth it.

Our only other special needs experience is with attendant Brenda Lamb who has followed her special needs student since kindergarten up to grade 6 this year.  Mrs. Lamb has been excellent shadow for her student and has been there for every student in the school. She is the jewel of the school.

From a parent angle the distribution of pedagogical supports at Franklin seems under control.  The library is in the efficient hands of volunteer Carole Erskine.

Technology, without question needs constant updating everywhere you go.

Consultants are needed when you have a problem.

All of these questions are best directed to staff and teachers who may need these resources.

What should we do to ensure quality pedagogical service for our students at Franklin School?

Don’t fix it if it’s not broke. Pedagogical services are running smoothly within Franklin School and this is because everyone, including the children works as a team and family. My only recommendation would be to always keep one attendant on staff for those children who have difficulty.

What should we do to ensure quality pedagogical service for our students in the elementary schools within the board?

Don’t fill the classrooms to capacity. Give teachers classroom sizes they can work with.  Keep attendants for not only special needs children but also children who just need extra help. This will save on specialists in the long run.

What should we do to ensure quality pedagogical service for our students in the grade 7, 8 and 9 levels within the school board?

Take them out of the high schools and put them back into the elementary school.

Many parents, educators and school administrators agree these grade levels never should have been in high school to begin with.  They were first moved to high schools due to overcrowding in the elementary system in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s.  Parents and educators who voiced concern were promised that forming middle schools within the high school walls would protect these young adolescents, give students access to more activities, laboratories and a multitude of

other great and wonderful advantages.  It was the school boards sales pitch of the time to cover the fact that they were much unprepared for the increase in the number of young children entering kindergarten and grade 1. The system has stayed much the same since with the same sales pitch. The difference now however is that we have the damage report of what thirty five years of this system has accomplished. An alarming amount of information indicates the high rate of failure in high schools is due to the improper educational system for the grade 7, 8 and 9.  This is not new news.  This is why so many parents have sought out private schools right after elementary school.

Why do private schools succeed better with this age group? Answer: Smaller classroom size, dress codes, behavior restrictions, emphasis on student/teacher/parent relations, proper supervision and concentration on schoolwork.  This sounds a lot like elementary school to me.

These grade levels and age groups need far more attention, supervision and guidance than there getting.  They need to further develop their reading, writing and math skills so that they can study on their own one day and they need help and supervision to keep them on track. They don’t need long bus rides, more friends, laboratories, large gyms, big cafeterias, vending machines and more sales pitches what they need is an environment where they can concentrate on school work.

The first to object will be the parents of young elementary students who will picture a truckload of punks being dumped in their schools.  Neither of my children nor any of the children in grade 5 and 6 at Franklin School resembles punks or today’s wild teenagers because they have never been exposed to High School.  If our children move from grade 6 to grade 7 to grade 8 within their home schools having never been in a high school they will dress and behave according to the rules enforced in the school.

RECOMMENDATION TO COUNCIL

Basing this recommendation on the pedagogical discussion above;

Phase I-Elementary School

-Immediately start setting up a grade 7 and 8 level (or cycle 4) within each elementary school.

-As soon as possible begin the process of keeping grade 6 students for the following two years.

(A small school like Franklin could be used as test pilot at early as September 1st, 2006)

-The curriculum need not be fancy.  Using the same type language curriculum that already exists in the school, concentrate on the 3 R’s through the use of geography, history, natural sciences etc. The elementary schools already have the room. We need only move grade 7 and 8 teachers.

-Start setting up a grade 9 level curriculum to take place in the elementary schools in the near future.

With this solution you will;

-         Improve on pedagogical services were they are severely lacking in the grade 7, 8 and 9 levels.

-         repopulate all the elementary schools gradually so every one can adapt;

-         retrieve students destined for private schools;

-         use existing services within the elementary schools more efficiently because there are more students to use them;

-         have academically stronger students entering grades 10 and 11;

-         Lower the drop out rate of students.

Phase II-High School

-Concentrate firstly on supplying the grade 10 and 11 students with every thing they need to succeed;

-Establish and expand trade and technical programs that reflect employer demands;

-Begin the process of moving adult education into the high school wHere it can share services;

-Begin offering some of the required courses for future CEGEP students.

With this solution you will;

-use the high school for what it was designed for.  A place for young adults who want to learn more;

-be offering a greater variety of future alternative all in one school with all services shared;

-encourage kids to continue in school because they have greater variety to choose from;

-give students a taste of what CEGEP is like before they head out of the area;

-be of greater service to all who want education in the surrounding communities.

There were many other good proposals suggested at the public meeting but I volunteered to expand on moving grades 7, 8 and 9 because I strongly believe these students will have a better education as a result.  It also fills up the empty elementary schools gradually over a three-year period giving everyone time to adjust.

Along with many of the other good ideas presented at the meeting I feel we can find a way to not only keep Franklin School open but make it even better at the same time.

Carole Trottier

April 18, 2006