Meeting with the Super

Remember my dilemma with the school PTO groups (plural)? Well, we met with the Superintendents last week and it went really well!

Apparently, when this new principal took over 3 years ago there were a lot of discipline issues in the school and also the testing scores were well below average. Since she has been in place the test scores have come way up and the discipline issues are almost none (unless you count the time Spirit's teacher called me at work -- at work!! -- because he has been acting up lately and hitting/rough housing, but let's not go there right now!) The Supers wanted to interview teachers and parents to find out what is working so they can possibly implement new policies at other schools.

Each group was allotted 15 minutes to be interviewed by the Supers. They first interviewed the teachers. Then they interviewed some parents. Then they interviewed a few people from the Latino Parent Group. Then they interviewed a few people from the Black Parent Group and then they interviewed four of us as representatives of the Parent Teacher Organization.

We were asked things like "How long have you been at this school?" "Is this school your neighborhood school or do you "Choice-In" to this school?" "How well do you like it here?" "What are the Principal's good / bad qualities?"

Then they moved on to the different parent groups the school has. The Super worded his question like this: "Do any of you have anything to say about the many Parent Groups that are at this school?" My husband said "Well, I have quite a bit to say. I could talk for an hour so let me try to sum up my feelings on that."

Basically, all four of us said we didn't mind the "sub groups" but felt like the PTO should be the umbrella group, the core group. Someone else in our group spoke up and said that she just wondered where it would stop. She happens to be gay and said that if we are looking to represent every group, culture, etc. then we need a gay/lesbian group, an Ethiopian group, an Indian group, and on and on. The Supers didn't say much, just took a lot of notes. I think all four of us that were in there basically summed it up that the PTO should be the group where all the sub groups meet to make sure we are all working on the same goals and we can all help each other out.

All of us also made it a point to tell the Superintendents that our principal is really awesome and we love her!

I am not sure where all this info will go next, but maybe they will meet with the principal to give her all the feed back? I sort of hope they do that soon!