Life after Jacono

A reader sent this in, and I thought it was good enough to deserve it's own post, although it will probably overshadow one of my more clever posts below it....

For the record, there is life after Holy Cross and it's wonderful! The public school teachers and administators openly welcome parents who volunteer, even more so they adore them! The school uses up to date testing, unlike the outdated testing used to track at Holy Cross. Intelligent children are challenged academically, as the school knows these children's success will bring them better funding!

The teachers truly appreciate my well behaved, religious children (and I take credit for that, Holy Cross did not raise them). All students are treated equally and fairly, not just the ones who don't disagree with the principal. Fundraising is minimal and any effort applauded. Specials are not changed randomly year to year, and they are all solid options. Teachers are respected, and if they aren't they can take action, amazingly the same goes for parents ( I know that sounds strange to HC parents it was strange for me at first too!).

Then there are the little things. You can go to any class celebration. You don't need to get fingerprinted to go on a field trip with your child. Your child won't get detention if the dentist can finally get them in at 8:30a.m. on a Tuesday. If you want to sign your kids out with no notice five min. before the end of the school day, so be it, they're your children after all! (shocking I know!) Oh and the secretary won't give you attitude for doing so! Lunch is a dollar and you don't have to plan a month in advance to buy it (get this it's even nutritionally sound and filling to boot!). If your kid wants a rolling backback and notebooks with cartoon characters, they are free to express themselves in such a manner.

Best of all not only do all the students have to play by the rules, but so do the teachers, secretaries, principals, assistant principals, and even ass. supers and superintendants. They don't fly by the seat of their pants making up rules and picking and choosing who they are accountable to. Funny, it's like I left the twilight zone and entered back into reality. I can't tell you how refreshing it has been! While I miss the parents I have become friends with over the years and watching their children grow with mine, and the teachers my children and I have come to know and love, the sense of communtiy left when Jacono came. The teachers weren't the same, stressed Im sure by their own dealings with Jacono, The sense of community was gone. Friendships I had with many parents was shattered by their lack of action despite their many complaints about Jacono.

I am not one to go with the flow sacraficing my childrens education and my own morals, and I was shocked and disheartened when others were so willing to. There is life beyond Holy Cross, it is not the only option, you can raise good, Catholic, well educated children while they attend public school.The ultimate reward for me was when at the end of this school year (we left HC mid-year((yes J it's me your favorite Dr's daughter)I gave the children the option to return to Holy cross if they wanted to, and they both answered with a resounding "NO!".

I am confident next year will be even better, as the children won't have the burden of transitioning to a new school mid-year. I never, ever thought in a million years I would even consider sending my children to public school. Jacono made that decision for me and for that I thank her! We couldn't be happier!!

Fund Raising waay down

Good spin on a bad story, but there is no doubt that the amount of money raised this year, and the number of volunteers, is much less then it has been in past years. The cheery visage by the PTO did not make the news any better. They did make the "Father Dan" tax, which makes the Church happy, and may be all that matters to them.

I don't blame the PTO for many things, really. They are hard working ladies, and I'll even give them credit for defending Poker Night...and acknowledging that there were people who didn't like it, but it brought in the money. While I see the point, I remain steadfast that it is NOT something that we as a Catholic school should do.

The amount of money was much less then it has been in years, and you probably have to go back over 12 years to find a year that was as bad. The economy certainly did not do them any favors, but can even the most hard core supporter see that there might be a correlation between a lack of volunteers and the lack of financial support?

The most interesting comments are heard by some of these....wondering sadly where the volunteers are, almost begging for some answer why support and spirit are down when the answer is just beyond their nose.

Pay to Play

Interesting to see the way the Hoops Madness played out, wouldn't you say?

There was a belief that the older kids weren't interested in the "Race for Education", so an alternative was attempted, but apparently fell short of expectations. In a letter that seemed to indicate someone was really pissed off, the whole thing was scuttled and replaced with only those turning in fund raising sheets getting to play....and there weren't that many of them, either. Certainly not the intent of one of the major spring fund raisers.

Sometimes when you reinvent the wheel it doesn't come out quite as good as the original, and this was a perfect example. What made the "Race for Education", or any fund raiser in any group successful is making it more than a tin cup shake-down for money. BJ (Before Jacono) the race wasn't the focus, but rather the end of a celebration/educational process of the need for physical fitness. Everybody participated, regardless of whether or not they raised enough to ante up to play, and getting the parents to participate was part of how the money got raised.

Another hint...what makes fund raisers successful at elementary schools is NOT as much what the kids want to do as much as how the parents feel about the event, and the purpose of the fund raiser. I overhead someone (a Jacono loyalist) bemoaning the lack of spirit in the school...and as active as this person is it is proof positive that sometimes you can't see the forest from the trees. The lack of participation in this, and other events, means that you are getting more and more people who are simply less excited about the school. They may hang around for a while, but it becomes more of a duty, something to be tolerated but not enjoyed.

Volunteers, anyone? Hello, is this thing on?

Interesting request in the newsletter about wanting volunteers for the AR progam. It is interesting for a number of ways...

1. We had a vibrant, well staffed volunteer program for the AR kids. There was this belief that the kids needed a bit of help and/or encouragement to get on and take the tests, especially the younger ones. Someone apparently didn't agree, and ended it...and the kids (of all ages) are now taking a lot less advantage of the AR program. Who would figure?

2. The second comment was about signing a waiver....again, this was something that was suggested to Denise, who snorted her disaproval at teachers and parents who had the teremity to suggest such a thing. And yet, it is now back.

3. Finally, one can volunteer for this...as long as you sign the form (not a bad thing, but certainly not an orginal idea), work with another class other than your kid's, and agree to shield your eyes if you happen to accidentally see your child in passing.

Okay, I made the last point up, but it may be EXACTLY why there are so volunteers this year. It is not from a lack of opportunities, but it is a lack of opportunities that people want to do. When you coordinate volunteer work, one has to realize that YOUR needs are not quite enough, and that there has to be something in it for them. Yes, there is the satisfaction of a job well done, but there is in all of us a need for a bit more...that we ARE making a difference, that we can see the results, and that it also sends a message to our kids that volunteering is important. So while they haven't been breaking down the doors to volunteer to fill beer cups for "Smokey", "One-Eye", or "Creepy" at casino night, that doesn't mean that people don't want to help out. It is that they don't want to feel as if they aren't really needed or that go against what they believe.

Parental Involvement? Volunteers? Why would they do such a thing?

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/I/IN_STRICT_SCHOOL_INOL-?SITE=WBBMAM&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT


Indianapolis Public School 57, the city's only so-called "fundamental school," requires parents to sign their children's homework every day, volunteer at the school and respond to teachers' calls or notes within 24 hours.
Teachers sign similar agreements, and the school's 210 students have strict rules, too, The Indianapolis Star reported. If students don't turn in homework for several days, for example, they can earn enough demerits to kick them out of the school.

Interesting....why would they require such things? That whole volunteer thing...it is if they think it actually helps the school and parents, or some such nonsense.

Quiet...

I've kept the postings to a minimum, and for good reason.

The beginning of the school year, especially one in which so many things were changed from over the past year, certainly should give everyone pause. Many of the changes were ones that have been called for, and it is gratifying to see them either come to fruition, or to return after a sorrowful absence. I don't really care why the change of heart over the summer, or what caused it, as long as they stick.

That is not to say that there are not things that need improving, or rumors, or gossip floating around. It is just that it is beginning to return to some sense of normalcy, concentrating on relatively minor issues.

There are lines that were crossed by some. I don't think we did that here on this blog (Newszap got a bit hairy, at times), but you are free to disagree. There were those who complained because they couldn't post the same way I do, but I tend to think that this format worked because the writers (maybe not the commenters) did NOT go overboard with inflammatory statements. We didn't even really try to publicize this, but were still getting almost a hundred people coming here right after school started,. It showed me that the word of mouth is pretty powerful, and that was even before the Parking Lot Mafia had a chance to get in full swing.

I also think it important to point out that there were many changes this year that were not challenged. There were significant ones, such as the start time that people certainly could have grumbled about...but I do believe that there was a belief that this was one that had been considered rationally, thought about, COMMUNICATED, and there was no real opposition. I hope that is a lesson in and of itself.

We'll be monitoring the situation, but I don't think we'll be posting quite as much as we have until we see how things shake out.

Ways Bad Principals work...

Someone sent me these 10 ways bad principals operate.....any sound familiar?


1. Avoid hiring older experienced teachers who are thinkers./Keep a staff of young revolving door teachers so roots and opinions won't establish.

2. Praise conformity./Staff of Stepford teachers who won't question anything.

3. Give perks to a small group of teachers that form first line of defense against other teachers./Create a barrier clique between administration and teachers by rewarding a few good soldiers who will serve as positive voice pieces for the administration.

4. Overload with work./Create inability to complain about issues - keep too busy.

5. Limit assistance with difficult children or purposely load certain teacher with difficult children./Create inability to complain about issues keep too busy to speak out.

6. Limit support with difficult parents and create barrier between teachers and parents./Attack self-esteem so won't feel empowered and won't trust their own thinking while eliminating parent allies from forming.

7. Place children of high profile parents with teachers who conform./Avoid having parents form allies with strong teachers.

8. Write up false reports./Flex muscles so teacher will know they are being controlled and will become confused.

9. Create files with false and negative reports; create separate file in case contract requires teacher is to be informed, and keep documents out of teacher's view./Build a case against teacher.

10. Threaten- directly or through rumors or innuendo by designated staff messengers./Create wall of fear to silence teacher.

Security "concerns"

Security IS important for the school, and steps have been taken in the past, but there is a limit. The “sake of the children” program has it’s advantages, but based on when it started and under what light, it seems to be primarily a public relations move to show how much they are doing to combat abuse…while more and more lawsuits on priests continue to come to light.

Personally, I think the teachers AND parents feel better with more parents in and around
the school, especially if they have already been cleared. There are those we don't want in the school, and we need to keept them out, but please tell me when the last Catholic school was sued because a parent abused a kid in the classroom.