News-Record.com

Smith and Dudley kids need diversity NOW.

I dont understand why the school board do not implement a similar plan as in High Point.

What has the school board got against us?

Thank God for Judge Manning.

He has to come down so harshly on GC because he knows our Superintendent is incapable of turning any school around. Funny, busing wasn't a part of Manning's plan....

If Grier watches closely, he'll see that you can educate kids right inside their own school building. No swapping, shipping, or trading is necessary.

Hey Terry, sit back and watch. You might learn something.

Geez, I don't know nuthin!

In reading today's N-R story on small schools, does anyone get the feeling that what Forsyth County has done with Atkins High is so much a better approach than what GCS has done with Smith and Central? Atkins seems to be a very well-planned, first-class approach to the problem whereas GCS has thrown something against the wall hoping for lightning to strike.

Forsyth has built an attractive new $24 million facility to host three smaller schools of 400 students each, forming basically a regular high school experience for its students with sports, band, and extracurricular events. GCS is separating them into separate worn, over-the-hill facility. Atkins has career development in academically-challenging curriculums of biotechnology, computer technology, and pre-engineering. Central has training in culinary arts, public safety and medical careers. Somehow, there seems to be a big divide in how the two districts are attacking the problem. Does anyone see a distinctly different commitment level from the two districts' leadership?

Atkins is, in fact, what was promised by GCS last two years ago with the High Point Choice Plan with world class schools with specific career focuses. That never happened, of course. That's par for the course in GCS.

Went by SW high last week.

I was SHOCKED by the number of new homes on Willard Dairy and the is also a new development on Barrow rd. That make three new developments at the same time with several hundred houses on each. It doesnt take a rocket scientist to see that there will be severe overcrowding problems there very soon.
Or should I say the already overcrowded schools there will explode.

Have the school board got their numbers right? I think we will need new schools very quickly!

SW Parent,

Geez, I don't know....???

Dont forget that big development at Sandy Ridge.
Lots of new kids at SW too.

DERN IT, DERN IT, DERN IT!!

Did i miss that thar Fantazia moovie?? I'v had that BET chanle on all dern day sos i'd see it! Did i miss it?

Geez, I don't know...

jIt is on now!!!

It is really sad to see that women in Fantasia's situation dreams consist of a fine man with a job.

What great expectations!!!

Morgan,
A while ago I asked questions about the AP programs in Guilford County. I was looking at the percentages of the students that passed in the paper.
Is there anyway to get the number of students that go with the percentages per school, per class, per teacher?

I'm thankful we have these classes, but question the preparation that some of the teachers have that are attempting to teach these classes. I also question the practice of forcing some students to take these courses that do not desire to do so.
I know, some students need to be pushed, but who decides.....the principal..counselor...or parent!!

Parent,
I will check with Jennifer first to see what she has (she posted the original numbers here) and see what I can do.

It's as worrisome for a judge to be making education policy as it would be for me to be adjucicating a criminal case.

It represents an overly simplistic understanding of the issue, for the judiciary to decide de facto that the "smallness" of schools or "academies" within a larger school has the power, in and of itself, to positively impact achievement.

Yes - there are studies that correlate smaller schools to more positive student outcomes, and it "just makes sense" to a lot of folks, that kids are more likely to fall through the cracks in a huge school. But to presume cause-effect relationships in these cases ignores the existance of intevening or mediator variables that are likely involved. It might simply be that a smaller school allows the presence of factors that improve student learning, or makes it more possible to diminish inhibiting factors.

The solutions to problems faced by schools are not easy and we don't do kids any favors by distilling the challenges down to simplistic ideas or anti-Grier sniping.

K

K, I beg to differ.

At least Judge Manning is demanding a change NOW. Grier would NEVER do such a thing. He would just be escorting MORE minorities on a bus and busing them across town.

So in Guilford, the choices are: Try the Judges approach OR go with the proven FAILED course of action of Terry Grier.

For the kids sake, they deserve a chance. I'd favor the judge. He cares....another plus for him. I can't say the same for the folks that run GC.

Actually Terry Grier rarely buses the minority students in Greensboro. I guess a failing minority student in High Point doesn't have as much "value" as those with a Greensboro address.

Right Dot Kearns? Am I finally getting it?

(Somebody told me that we should always use the supe and board members' real, full names when we mention them in a post so it will come up if somebody googles them)

High Point,

Students that live in downtown Greensboro and
can see the windows of Page high school, know
what busing is all about.

For years, these students have been bused from
Greensboro to Gibsonville. There is absolutely no public transportation and for years we have been
complaining because these students have no access to after school sport teams, clubs, and sometimes tutorial. Some of the parents don't even know how to get to the school. These students need to be closer to their school where public transportation or walking to school would be possible. Yet Dudley was renovated, Hairston was built, Lincoln was modified and these students were still not assigned any closer to home.

Busing is alive and well in Greensboro and has been
since re-districting began years ago!!

Look at the map and then take a drive!!
Are they being bused to a better school??
Are their scores up??
Are they successful taking AP courses??

Look at the scores for Eastern for the past 5 years. Look at the scores for Page and Dudley.

Are they better off or just out of the way?

Eastern,

Of course we all know the answer to your rhetorical question - they are out of the way. The are the kids that neither Page nor Grimsley nor Dudley want. Unfortunately it doesn't matter what the parents of these kids want either. The parents at Eastern don't have the political clout to force a change either.

The folks at Eastern and the folks in High Point are the same - disrepected by the Board and part of political gerrymandering redistricting schemes.

Alan Duncan (Page) and Marty Sykes (Grimsley) have been protecting their childrens schools for many years now.