jdarg

Last Wednesday (Dec. 5th), the meeting room at the SWHS library was filled with parents who are trying to make some positive changes at the high school. There will be another meeting this week, Wednesday Dec. 12th at 5:30 pm, at the Library meeting room. As a parent in SoWal, this is your chance to become involved in the future of our kids' education.

There are some short meeting notes from last week and a survey that will be helpful in identifying the main weaknesses at school. If you would like to be added to the "e-mail tree" and receive the notes and survey, please PM me and I will hook you up with the info and pass on your address to the coordinator.

Also, please pass the info on!

Thanks- Jenny

Camp Creek Kid

This is something that all SoWal parents need to get involved in, especially those with kids not yet in high school.

__________________
If you are lucky enough to live by the sea, you are lucky enough.

30ABandMan

[quote=jdarg;326188]Last Wednesday (Dec. 5th), the meeting room at the SWHS library was filled with parents who are trying to make some positive changes at the high school. There will be another meeting this week, Wednesday Dec. 12th at 5:30 pm, at the Library meeting room. As a parent in SoWal, this is your chance to become involved in the future of our kids' education.

There are some short meeting notes from last week and a survey that will be helpful in identifying the main weaknesses at school. If you would like to be added to the "e-mail tree" and receive the notes and survey, please PM me and I will hook you up with the info and pass on your address to the coordinator.

Also, please pass the info on!

Please allow me to suggest one of the weaknesses of the school. Lack of parental involvment. I laud you for trying to get something started here at the school, the kids and teachers alike would benefit from it.

I only hope there is more real action instead of lip service. Just like the last situation concerning play. All of the conversation about it and yet a very low turn out from the community.

I look forward to seeing what happens.

Please add me to the e-mail list.

jdarg

[quote=30ABandMan;327171]Yes, there was a lot of lip service, but remember that many of the members of this board don't live here. I know many people, including myself, who worried and worked our butts off during the "drama" with the drama department.

Out of those who did attend the play, Sowallers outnumbered the teachers and staff of the school at the performances, which was shocking. A low turnout from the community? Hello! The school should have been the leader on this one. SWHS gets a D- grade on public relations.

The school itself did absolutely nothing to help promote the play- even the marquee out front was ridiculous. It merely said "School Play" and the times. It has been general knowledge that we were about 5 weeks behind in a production schedule- we couldn't even get posters out until the Monday before. There was a general e-mail that mentioned it, and that was it. After everything the drama department had been through, the school, teachers, and staff should have been front and center.

The teachers especially should have supported the drama teacher- any one of them could come under attack next and they need to stick together.

Yes, it will be interesting to see if this community will quit griping and start working to make SWHS a better place. My aggravation level tends to run pretty high lately. Thankfully, I hear just as many good stories as bad stories. No school is perfect, and I am thankful that my kid does not attend one of the big schools with 1000+ kids!

wrobert

[quote=30ABandMan;327171]
Please allow me to suggest one of the weaknesses of the school. Lack of parental involvment. I laud you for trying to get something started here at the school, the kids and teachers alike would benefit from it.
/quote]

Yes this is a problem for schools all over the county. What I do not understand is the millions we spend on technology throughout the years and you still get no communication from the school district except via the children. The district has trouble understanding that kids do not want to be seen with their parents in high school. But if we knew things were going on, we would show up and be there. Yes we are all busy, and I, just like others could make a more concentrated effort. But I do tend to show up for things when I take the time to put them in a calendar to send me reminders. Why can't we get something as simple as a public calendar of events?

ShallowsNole

I'll be real honest here. If not for the "drama" surrounding the drama club, I would have known NOTHING about the play. Even if info is given to the kids as it is at the elementary and middle school levels (btw, ECMS puts out an excellent newsletter), high school kids simply don't bring stuff home to mommy anymore. I further suspect that the reason there is very little communication from the school to the parents is that there is insufficient communication within the different departments at the school.

Case in point - thankfully the gym and the auditorium are far enough away from each other for sound to bleed through, I was VERY concerned when I realized that the first two performances of "Harvey" coincided with varsity boys' basketball games. Especially with the -uh- music (I'm showing my age here) that is played when our boys take the court and warm up.

'Twas good for the concession stand, though !!

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ShallowsNole

btw, they took fall school pictures at the very beginning of the year. Has anyone seen them? Or at least the proofs? I know I paid for enough to put in a few family Christmas cards.

Or did my long-haired hippie freak surfer child just not bring his home?

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30ABandMan

No proofs were available. You either pre-paid or didnt.
You can check here jowen@jimowen.com

30ABandMan

[quote=WaltonGOP;327405]I can't disagree with you...I'd like more usable electronic communication myself. I look at school websites from all over the country and some are very impressive.