Changes to PA

[doctorwho]

Feb 7, 2009 19:19:42 GMT -6 macy said:

Project Arrow Charter Meeting
Reported by [e-mail] on 1/23/09
The Project Arrow Parent Organization (PAPO) has been a keen advocate for gifted and talented students in District 204 for over a decade. Today, PAPO leaders recommend evolving into a Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) to gain organizational advantages, including the opportunity to have a voice in the Indian Prairie Parents' Council (IPPC). IPPC and its 32 unit members meet monthly with district administrators to share information about issues affecting the education, health, and welfare of children and youth in District 204.

Please join us as we consider the creation of the Indian Prairie Project Arrow PTA, enroll members, and hold officer elections during the Indian Prairie Project Arrow PTA Charter Meeting on February 12, 2009 at 7:00 pm in the Crouse Education Center, Boardrooms B5-B7. The Crouse Education Center is located at 780 Shoreline Drive, Aurora, IL 60504.

As a PA PTA, our goals will be to:

•Work with the school district to provide the best educational experience for gifted and talented children and help them reach their full potential.

•Provide a local community support group for parents, guardians, families and educators of gifted and talented children

•Inform legislators, school board members, educators, and the community about the unique challenges of giftedness and the importance of gifted programming

•Be a resource of information on gifted services and community programs

Membership is open to anyone interested in the education of gifted and talented students in District 204. If you are interested in running for an office, officer descriptions are attached. If you have any questions, please contact Donna Manley-Essenfeld, IPPC Membership Chairperson, 630.983.6185, [e-mail].

We look forward to seeing you on February 12.



Event Starts: 2/12/09 07:00 PM
Event Ends: 2/12/09 08:00 PM


Crouse Education Center
780 Shoreline Drive
Aurora, IL 60504
View Map To This Location

I wish this existed when my kids were PA -- good luck with this endeavor to those involved. When my first child was entered into PA in 1st grade ( 1991?) - things changed all the time, virtually year to year - and the only way you knew about anything was to talk to the PA teachers regularly. Luckily most of them were real open - but sometimes they themselves didn't know from year to year if it was even going to survive.

btw - do they still do Family Fun Fest nights ? (family competition) This is likely very geeky - but I thought those were fun.

[al]

I have written to and received a quick reply on this issue from the Director of the PA Program for #204... am waiting on permission to quote him. In a nutshell, this rumor could not be farther from the truth... will post later.

[Arch]

Feb 9, 2009 8:54:55 GMT -6 al said:

I have written to and received a quick reply on this issue from the Director of the PA Program for #204... am waiting on permission to quote him. In a nutshell, this rumor could not be farther from the truth... will post later.

There seems to be a lot of conflicting information even from people within the program... I'm curious what you were told.

[JB]

Feb 9, 2009 9:41:47 GMT -6 Arch said:

Feb 9, 2009 8:54:55 GMT -6 al said:

I have written to and received a quick reply on this issue from the Director of the PA Program for #204... am waiting on permission to quote him. In a nutshell, this rumor could not be farther from the truth... will post later.

There seems to be a lot of conflicting information even from people within the program... I'm curious what you were told.

This would be good news, but I'd be interested in hearing how this got started. There's usually a tiny grain of truth behind many rumors.

[Arch]

Feb 9, 2009 9:52:29 GMT -6 JB said:

Feb 9, 2009 9:41:47 GMT -6 Arch said:

There seems to be a lot of conflicting information even from people within the program... I'm curious what you were told.

This would be good news, but I'd be interested in hearing how this got started. There's usually a tiny grain of truth behind many rumors.

At the very least it does point out that the right hand doesn't know what the left hand is doing.

[al]

Ok - here it is, with his permission -
according to Dr. Rhodes, the rumor that middle school PA will be dissolved is completely false. He envisions only minor changes in the PA Mathematics and PA Science curriculum, due to the increased time made available through new middle school scheduling changes. The extra 10-minutes will serve to strengthen, not eliminate the programs.

Settles that as far as I'm concerned.

[casey]

Feb 9, 2009 11:47:40 GMT -6 al said:

Settles that as far as I'm concerned.

Oh, no matter what BB will cost we can afford it, it's too late to put the language on the referendum but don't worry about it, and the pedestrian bridge over Rte. 59 will never happen, etc. I hate to sound so cynical, al, but I've learned to never trust our current SB.

Let's hope that Mr. Rhodes is giving the right information and it will be only simple modifications made to the existing PA program. Keep in mind though that many of the changes made in our district are made without teachers' knowledge. The teachers often learn after the SB votes on changes. Makes no sense.

[researching]

Feb 9, 2009 11:47:40 GMT -6 al said:

Ok - here it is, with his permission -
according to Dr. Rhodes, the rumor that middle school PA will be dissolved is completely false. He envisions only minor changes in the PA Mathematics and PA Science curriculum, due to the increased time made available through new middle school scheduling changes. The extra 10-minutes will serve to strengthen, not eliminate the programs.

Settles that as far as I'm concerned.

Not to be rude, but how is this response different from what warriordiva said in the first post in this thread?

Quote from warriordiva:
"I just want to throw this out there - there were a lot of rumors about changes to the PA program at the middle school level. Administrators were asked point blank and they denied any changes of any kind. Now a middle school principal has said yes there will be major changes to this program in the fall.

The biggest change will involve the removal of the PA team - the kids will be integrated into the other teams. There will be no PA program as it exists today. There has been no reason given for this change although many have inferred that Dr. D feels the money would be better spent to help the kids who are having trouble on the tests that affect our NCLB status.

Why would the administration flat out lie about this? It's like the right hand doesn't know what the left hand is doing (I know shocking!) And those of you with kids on the PA teams - how do you feel about these changes. I would strongly suggest if you have concerns about these changes - you contact your school principal, Dr. John Rhodes [e-mail], Dr. D and the IPPC council. "

Warriordiva was dead on when she said "There will be no PA program as it exists today.". PA is changing, not totally eliminated but certainly diluted.

Honestly, I do not see the Dr. Rhodes information as being enlightening. His response does not dispel ANY of warriordiva's concerns at all. Apparently this isn't settled for everyone.

[d204mom]

Agree, researching, the rumor is not that the program will be dissolved, it's that it will be diluted. It is concerning to me.

I do see that it would be attractive to funnel money away from the gifted program to go towards helping kids meet standards. NCLB and all. It's just depressing. How about we do both?

[warriordiva]

Update to my first posting. The administration still insists that there will be no changes. The school board has not been notified by the administration that any changes are afoot, however a middle school principal has said that the program will be changed. The main changes (as I understand it) are that the PA kids will be integrated into the regular teams. I would assume that this means kids on the "reading PA" strand not the math strand which is totally separate. Also children will also be "identified" as being eligible for PA even if they don't meet the requirements and will be allowed to take the classes if parental permission is given. The integration of the PA kids into the regular teams was piloted at Still this year - some say it was wonderful (mostly administrators) some say it was not (mostly parents). What is not clear are the following things: Will there still be gifted certified teachers teaching the PA kids, if not what qualifications will the teachers who teach them have and what will happen to the current PA team teachers ( Most of which are some of the most talented teachers in the district.) I still stand by my statements that the left hand does not know what the right hand is doing, and my biggest concern is that no PA parents that I have spoken to have been notified in any way as to the possibility that changes were being considered. I find this unacceptable. Any other news regarding this?

[lacy]

Feb 9, 2009 19:19:54 GMT -6 warriordiva said:

Update to my first posting. The administration still insists that there will be no changes. The school board has not been notified by the administration that any changes are afoot, however a middle school principal has said that the program will be changed. The main changes (as I understand it) are that the PA kids will be integrated into the regular teams. I would assume that this means kids on the "reading PA" strand not the math strand which is totally separate. Also children will also be "identified" as being eligible for PA even if they don't meet the requirements and will be allowed to take the classes if parental permission is given. The integration of the PA kids into the regular teams was piloted at Still this year - some say it was wonderful (mostly administrators) some say it was not (mostly parents). What is not clear are the following things: Will there still be gifted certified teachers teaching the PA kids, if not what qualifications will the teachers who teach them have and what will happen to the current PA team teachers ( Most of which are some of the most talented teachers in the district.) I still stand by my statements that the left hand does not know what the right hand is doing, and my biggest concern is that no PA parents that I have spoken to have been notified in any way as to the possibility that changes were being considered. I find this unacceptable. Any other news regarding this?

Well, I've been reading all this and scratching my head.....

The PA program has grown tremendously over the last few years and the way they have structured the program at Scullen has changed to 2 teachers per grade level rather than one teacher teaching all PA reading, etc.

I do think the kids are isolated to some degree socially and I do think some on the regular teams are capable of the work, but overall the program has been great.

Hopefully the SB and administration won't mess up a good thing - but based on other decisions they have made, I'm not holding my breath.

Keep us posted diva - thanks for the information.

[al]

"Warriordiva was dead on when she said "There will be no PA program as it exists today.". PA is changing, not totally eliminated but certainly diluted."


I must be missing something, how does adding an extra 10 minutes onto both Math and Science dilute the program?

More importantly, the rumor that "The biggest change will involve the removal of the PA team - the kids will be integrated into the other teams."
Mr. Rhodes said "minor changes", removing the teams would be anything but minor. I've dealt with Mr. Rhodes on several things over the years and have always found him to be straightforward and enthusiastic about the PA program. Call me Pollyanna (ok - I asked for it , but until I hear it from someone higher up on the PA ladder than Rhodes then I'll believe it. He said strenghten, not eliminate the program.

Also FWIW - my son's current PA English/Reading teacher was discussing with the kids the need to add another PA teacher because with the new block scheduling and 2 sets of PA per grade, she would have to teach eight classes, when there is only time to teach six max.

Guess time will tell.

[treehugger]

Sorry folks, PTA memberships are open to anyone who wants to join. If a non-PA parent or grandparent wants to join the PA PTA they certainly can join. Don't believe me? Check with the State and National PTA.

[Yeah Okay]

Feb 9, 2009 22:27:41 GMT -6 treehugger said:

Sorry folks, PTA memberships are open to anyone who wants to join. If a non-PA parent or grandparent wants to join the PA PTA they certainly can join. Don't believe me? Check with the State and National PTA.

Yes, I also know this to be true. Did I miss something where someone said you couldn't join the PA PTA if you don't have a PA child or are you trying to stir up a hornet's nest of some sort where there aren't any hornets?

I hope non-PA parents WOULD join to learn more about how to recognize traits of gifted children, to learn about and support the PA program and the education of gifted children.

It would be great to educate ALL parents about why gifted children should deserve to have an educational system ensure they have, at a minimum, programs to keep them engaged AND challenged to their individual abilities.

[Arch]

Feb 10, 2009 8:51:48 GMT -6 @Yeah Okay said:

Feb 9, 2009 22:27:41 GMT -6 treehugger said:

Sorry folks, PTA memberships are open to anyone who wants to join. If a non-PA parent or grandparent wants to join the PA PTA they certainly can join. Don't believe me? Check with the State and National PTA.

Yes, I also know this to be true. Did I miss something where someone said you couldn't join the PA PTA if you don't have a PA child or are you trying to stir up a hornet's nest of some sort where there aren't any hornets?

Or someone trying to create the illusion that someone is trying to stir up a hornet's nest....?

Your last snipe was last year towards TG and WE...if you want memories refreshed...