YOU Say………

"It has come to our attention that school administrators may plan to reduce even further the limited choice of classes for our high school students. "

 

RESPONSE:

At a time in their lives when teens need to explore many different life pathways before making decisions about jobs and college studies, it seems that our children are being denied these opportunities by persons who are hijacking their education – all for the sake of one program: PACA, the Agriculture Academy.

 

The new block schedule has already cut back on electives and prevented the offering of many courses that students in other schools take for granted.

 

 Consider the wide selection of classes available to other high school students – music (band, orchestra, chorus), drama, speech/debate, newspaper (journalism), several world language options, wood shop, metal shop, auto shop, home economics (culinary arts, interior design, fashion design), business (computer technology, small business management, marketing, desktop publishing),  P.E. (athletic training, dance, lifetime sports, pep/cheer), sociology (family and parenting), robotics and electronics, engineering, architecture – many of these were once offered here at Avenal High School, and ALL are offered to students in other schools here in the San Joaquin Valley.  A veritable rainbow of choices!

 

But not to OUR children!

 

These are OUR schools for OUR children.  Parents and students, stand up for your right to choose!  Outsiders who come into our community as our school administrators DO NOT have a right to deprive OUR children of a well-rounded, broad, engaging and advantageous Pre K-12 education.  Our schools do not exist solely for the purpose of supplying big agriculture with workers.  This is only one limited option that our children may choose.  The world awaits – it is wide and full of wonderful opportunities in thousands of careers and emerging jobs that no one has even yet heard of!  Go for it, students!  Refuse to be boxed into one confining “pathway” and scheduled into a pitiful handful of course choices.  You only have four years in high school – look around, be curious, talk to students from other schools, get outside of our little community, see what’s out there.  Demand CHOICE!

 

USTED DICE .........

Ha llegado a nuestra atención que los administradores de la escuela pueden ser tramando un plan para reducir aún más la escasa variedad de clases para nuestros estudiantes de secundaria.

 

RESPUESTA:

 En un momento de sus vidas en los adolescentes necesitan para explorar diversos caminos de la vida antes de tomar decisiones acerca de los trabajos y estudios universitarios, parece que a nuestros hijos se les niega estas oportunidades por las personas que están secuestrando su educación - todo por el bien de un programa: PACA, la Academia de Agricultura.

 

El nuevo horario de bloque ya ha reducido en asignaturas optativas e impidió la oferta de muchos cursos que los estudiantes de otras escuelas dan por sentado.

 

Considere la amplia selección de clases disponibles para los estudiantes de secundaria - música (banda, orquesta, coro), drama, discurso / debate, periódico (periodismo), varias opciones de idioma mundial, taller de carpintería, tienda de metal, taller mecánico, la economía doméstica (gastronomía artes, diseño de interiores, diseño de moda), negocios (tecnología informática, gestión de la pequeña empresa, comercialización, edición electrónica), PE (Entrenamiento atlético, danza, deportes de por vida, pep / alegría), sociología (familia ya los padres), la robótica y electrónica, ingeniería, arquitectura - muchos de ellos una vez que se les ofreció aquí en Avenal High School, y TODO se ofrecen a los estudiantes de otras escuelas aquí, en el Valle de San Joaquín.

Pero no a nuestros hijos!

Estas son nuestras escuelas para nuestros hijos. Los padres y los estudiantes, defienden a su derecho a elegir! Los forasteros que vienen a nuestra comunidad como nuestros administradores escolares no tienen derecho a privar a nuestros hijos de un Pre K-12 educación completa, amplia, atractiva y ventajosa. Nuestra comunidad no existe con el único fin de abastecer la agricultura en grande con los trabajadores. Esta es sólo una opción limitada de que nuestros niños pueden elegir. El mundo espera - es amplia y está repleta de oportunidades en miles de carreras y empleos emergentes que nadie ni siquiera aún ha oído hablar! Vaya para él, los estudiantes! Negarse a ser encasillado en un confinamiento "camino" y programada en un puñado lamentable de opciones de cursos. Sólo tiene cuatro años en la escuela secundaria - mire a su alrededor, ser curioso, hablar con los estudiantes de otras escuelas, conseguir fuera de nuestra pequeña comunidad, ver lo que hay ahí fuera. Demanda ELECCIÓN!

 

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WHAT DO YOU WANT TO KNOW?

*What information do YOU need in order to take an active part in school decision-making?

*What do you want to know about your child's school day?

*What can you do to help your child succeed in school?  Where can you get help?

Examples:  

 

Why were substitute teachers covering WHCC classes the first week of this school year, and why did college teachers quit teaching classes before the 2014-15 school year ended for our students last spring?

 

¿Por qué los maestros sustitutos cubriendo clases WHCC la primera semana de este año escolar, y por qué los profesores universitarios a dejar de dar clases antes del año escolar 2014-15 terminó para nuestros estudiantes en la primavera pasada?
 

 

      *Why does my high school student have a substitute teacher every Wednesday?

      *Why is there such a difference between teachers in the amount of homework given?

     * What advantages/opportunities would my child have in Lemoore or Hanford or Corcoran that are not available here?  How can I help change this through LCAP?

      *My child is in high school and has never had music instruction -- why can't he even get a music appreciation class before he graduates from his K-12 schooling?

     * How do I know my child is attending tutoring after school?

     * When should I expect my child home after a sports practice?

     * Why are so many families taking their children out of our high school?

     * What has been done to start "restorative justice" at the high school?

     * Are Ag Academy students getting more support than other students?

     * Are students being instructed by highly qualified teachers who are properly assigned, every period of every day?

     * Are high school freshmen being inappropriately placed in WHC classes that do not follow the CCSS, and are they given "passing" grades they have not earned due to pressure on the instructors to not give failing grades? 

     * Some advanced high school seniors (and juniors) may be academically ready to enroll in dual credit high school/college courses.  But surely it is ludicrous to place low-performing 9th graders just entering AHS in a college-level class? 

    * Are students who do not enroll in the PACA program receiving fewer resources, less help, fewer choices, and generally being short-changed?

     * Are students in the PACA program being given artificially high grades to make it look like they do better than their classmates not in the Ag Academy?

 

KINGS COUNTY GRAND JURY NOTES PROBLEMS WITH USING A BLOCK SCHEDULE FOR ALL CLASSES, NOT JUST WHC COURSES (click below for report)

 

http://www.countyofkings.com/home/showdocument?id=9150