August 1, 2002

Elementary Schools and the Gainesville City Schools Family,

With the successful conclusion of the 2001 Education SPLOST, the Gainesville City School System will be growing from three elementary schools to five.  Careful study has identified our need to create long-term relationships between schools, students and their families. The current elementary school arrangement negates that opportunity for long-term healthful interaction and dialogue.  At the same time the current configuration has nurtured a unity within the Gainesville City School community we would not want to lose by drawing district lines and dividing the city.  To support both of these issues, several options are being debated that involve “programs of choice”, allowing families to chose schools, rather than creating strict zones of attendance. 

The Gainesville City School District will utilize the heading, “programs of choice” to describe all options.  This simplifies the multiple terminologies used across America such as choice, magnet, charter, voucher, thematic, flexible schedules, and gifted options. 

Advocates of choice have long maintained that competition or “programs of choice” will empower parents “with a voice and the power to vote with their feet”.  Schools that consistently perform poorly would lose their clients or be forced to go out of business, resulting in overall improvement and achievement. Much has been written about “programs of choice” accommodating the diversity of student interests and breaking the mold that “one size fits all” as the only approach to public schools.  We all understand that our students arrive with different strengths, weaknesses and experiences.  However, we must create the instructional environment that will really nurture each student’s talents.  By utilizing “programs of choice”, much can be done to enhance teaching and learning.  Let’s be honest, this is really nothing new, as parents have long chosen schools by choosing their place of residency.  Our “programs of choice” for the Gainesville City Schools removes attendance boundaries and will permit students to attend schools independent of the price of housing and neighborhoods in which they live.  In Gainesville, ALL children and their families will be provided the most effective learning environments existing anywhere in the world.

Gainesville “Programs of Choice”:

The Gainesville City School community is able to implement “programs of choice” because of our small size.  Consequently, the key points for the Gainesville City Schools to implement will involve the following:

1. To move from three to five schools serving the Gainesville elementary children without having to draw district lines.

2. To recognize the “one size fits all” approach to education will not be successful. 

3. To empower teachers and parents to create flexible learning environments different from traditional models to better serve all students and families.

4. Recognition of individual student needs.

5. To create an early childhood focus that nurtures maturation and readiness.  At the same time, provide partnerships with childcare providers in the community, while establishing high standards of expectations and nurturing student’s readiness skills for learning.

Issues and Responses:

Many people have asked questions that need to be addressed.  The following addresses questions asked:

Introduction:  Why are we changing?

The SIMPLE reason is - we are growing from 3 elementary schools to 5 elementary schools. 

Our current design inhibits the development of long-term relationships with children and families.

“Programs of choice” can still keep us "unified" in that our task is to provide schools with equally exciting and innovative instruction that are accessible to all, with parental empowerment.

Issue:  What are examples of “programs of choice”?

Exciting curriculum driven instructional strategies used to enhance the learning

environment while empowering parents. 

The excitement generated within the programs was evident and easily observable in

successful schools researched and visited.  

“Programs of choice” will involve both instructional themes and flexible scheduling of

time, for example:

            1.  Some schools may have a year-round calendar versus a traditional calendar

            2.  Some schools may incorporate an instructional theme such as,

• a focus on the Georgia academic standards with a Fine Arts theme

• a focus on the Georgia academic standards with an International/ Pluralism theme

• a focus on the Georgia academic standards with a theme on science and technology

• a focus on the Georgia academic standards could include flexible daily instructional time where students days could be extended from the traditional 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. to 8:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., to support many of our families needs

Our administrators will devise the type of “program of choices” with careful study

and teachers, who will visit successful school sites, study effective practices of research,

and listen to the parents and students’ needs of the Gainesville City School Systems

families.

Issue:  What about the curriculum?  Will some students miss out on certain items?

Each “program of choice” will completely ‘cover’ all required grade level material.

The revised QCC includes content standards for all subjects K-8 and 9-12 courses in English/language arts, mathematics, science, social studies, foreign languages, fine arts, health, physical education, technology/career education, agriculture, and English Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL).

Issue:  By choosing a program am I choosing a career for my child?

”Programs of choice” are NOT career academies.

Parents are given an opportunity each year to evaluate and change the “program of choice”.

Programs are designed with the following in mind:

1.      they will have the breadth to articulate a full school program

2.      they emphasize a logical coherence to the theme or focus

3.      have real transformative power (perhaps too big!). 

You cannot solve tomorrow’s problems with today’s solutions.  These “programs of choice” are better empowering our teachers to become true team players within a building, since they are being empowered to create the ideal teaching and learning environment. 

Issue:  Will parents be prepared to make the choice?

School year 2002-2003 will be dedicated to communicating and explaining the choices to parents.

Ample opportunities to counsel parents individually will be provided.  

Parents will be asked to prioritize the needs of the child and the family.

Principals and faculties will be identified, working together, and able to articulate the visions and plans for their programs.  Site locations will be identified.

Elementary choices will not be made until February 2003.

Issue:  What about tuition students and  their choice?

Tuition students will be accepted and welcomed.

There should not be overcrowding at any of the schools based on current population and growth records of the previous five years.

Students residing in the City of Gainesville will take precedence in choice.  

Students residing in the City of Gainesville and desiring public education have service provided by property taxes.  

Students residing in the county have the choice of attending county schools or city schools on a tuition basis and do not pay city property taxes.

Issue:  What about the demographics of the city?

Schools will be vital and alive, students will achieve, regardless of the demographic makeup of the school.

Needs of a particular demographic group could be addressed in planning the programs of choice.

        Financial resources will be divided equally.

        Special programs will be offered at all schools.

Personnel will be balanced at all schools.

Community meetings will be held throughout the fall of 2002 to inform all of the parents about the “choice programs”.  

Translators will be available for assistance in each of these meetings.  If the Hispanic community finds it necessary – a separate meeting will be held to answer any questions.

Issue:  How will grading schools by the state of Georgia affect the plan?

The school grading criteria set forth in the A+ Reform Act would impact “choice schools” in the same manner as “non-choice schools”.

Different elementary schools would have to deal with the same potential scores given by the state regardless of their program or grade configuration. 

Much research and effective school practices such as "Make NO Excuses" identify programs where schools and faculties are empowered to be creative as achieving high performance by students.

Issue:  How to evaluate “programs of choice”?

 “Programs of choice” would be evaluated using the criteria set forth by the Georgia Department of Education, the local Accountability, and the mission/vision developed by the “program of choice”.

“Programs of choice” would also be evaluated based on the success of the children in the program based on a local assessment of their progress.

By creating smaller learning and instructional families--with long-term relationships--greater accountability can be focused on high student and teacher performance. 

Issue: How will transfer students be handled?

English speaking students will go to the school in their attendance zone, and non-English speakers will go to the International Center for registration.

Issue: Will students who move out of a transportation zone (who have made a choice to attend in a transportation zone) be allowed to transfer mid-year to a school in their transportation zone?

No student will be allowed to transfer during the year.

Issue: What role will the International Center play in this?

The International Center will continue to register students in the same manner. All second language speakers will register at the International Center.

Issue: Will students wear uniforms?

Uniforms will be voluntary. All Elementary schools would wear red, black or white shirts in keeping with the Gainesville tradition. These would be combined with khaki pants, shorts or skirts. This would mean that a child could change schools without needing a new wardrobe.

 

Each school would have different colored spirit shirts to wear on special occasions:

Issue: How will faculties be chosen for programs of choice?

A core group of teachers has been selected to study each program. These teachers will remain with that program.

 

The remaining faculty will make their choices known and every effort will be made to accomodate their wishes, however, student demand will determine the final staffing of each school.

Issue: Will transportation be provided for each school?

Yes. Transportation will be provided to any to any school for residents of the city of Gainesville.

Issue: Will any of the Programs of Choice be year-round schools?

No. For the 2003-2004 school year we will not have year-round schools.

Conclusion:  We should provide an opportunity for exciting, meaningful school programs with long term relationships for our children.  We have an opportunity to enhance what is already a wonderful school system by providing even better service to our community. 

Perhaps, our greatest needs for implementing the “programs of choice” in Gainesville

will be:

            1.  The ability to hire accomplished leaders.

            2.  To communicate effectively options to the total community.

3. The empowerment of teachers and administrators to create a learning environment to serve ALL students.

4.  The empowerment of parents/students to enjoy educational environments conducive to their children’s learning styles.

5.      The necessary time to study options.

Will the new schools be ready?

All schools will be fully staffed and open on the first day of school for the 2003 - 2004 school year. If, by chance, a building is not complete, those teachers and students would begin the year at another site and move to the new school when it is ready.

 

Have dates for informational forums been set?

Listed below are tentative dates and locations for our parents to learn more about each of our academies:

The Gainesville City School Board, administration, and faculty are vitally interested in creating the BEST learning environment to successfully nurture each child’s dream into becoming a reality.  To accommodate this challenging opportunity, our elementary administrators and faculties have been empowered to create the ideal teaching/learning environments.  Administrators and teachers are studying and visiting successful schools where high achievement has occurred with all ethnic groups, to learn from their effective practices.  The opportunity and challenge is to research the best school environment that exists anywhere in America, whether in a public school, private school, charter school, magnet school, etc., and create that environment for the Gainesville City School family. 

Parents and citizens are invited to attend any of the remaining forums to provide support and direction for the Board of Education.  If you are unable to attend, you are invited to contact a Board Member, Dr. Steven E. Ballowe, and/or any of our administrators to discuss questions not addressed in this report.

Our responsibility is to maximize the effective expenditure of your investment of tax dollars to nurture every child’s dream to become a reality.  The School Board and the administration are committed to become a model for outstanding education in the United States. 

Our children are our mission!

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last revised 10/03/2002