What we say about our school and how we make it true
Posted onApril 2, 2009
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This past Tuesday afternoon we had our regular faculty meeting, except that there is not much regular about our faculty meetings at Peeler. There were plastic bins where worms ate their way through school lunch scraps and shredded newspaper. Kathy showed us how she made a plant form the top of a pineapple, and how to make biodegradable seedling pots from newsprint. Fran shared observation journals her k/1 students had written in. Later on the hill we dug raked hoed smoothed planted small sprouts of spinach and lettuce and tomato plants from delicate starter containers.
It was clear to me from the pitch and tone of the chatter, from the engagement of the participants, and from the mostly positive participation from well dressed teachers digging in the dirt that working in the garden provided an opportunity for community building, authentic learning, teacher leadership, and team work. I am certain that the students experience the same things when they work in the garden as well.
As with any new endeavor, our garden has its share of early adopters, cautious supporters, and skeptics. Some teachers have folded curriculum into garden lessons and made learning interesting and exciting for their students. Other kids have done little more than walk past the garden on the way to recess. Is this okay? Is it okay that because some teachers are interested their students get to dig and plant and tend to the garden and other kids do not?
We would never tolerate that in our arts program. There is a strong commitment that each child participates fully in instrument and the other arts programs. This is a reflection that we believe that the arts teach students valuable lessons about concentration, practice, creativity, and expression.
For me, it is not really a question of the garden. Instead it is a question of a guaranteed curriculum for each child. The garden may be a part of that or it may not. What’s important is that we begin to make agreements about a common student experience that is uniquely Peeler in approach and character, a common student experience that is carefully designed to help students learn to be responsible citizens, reliable team members, problem solvers, and leaders. The question for me is closing the circle between what we say about our work and what we do to make it true.
Over the last few months of this school year, we will begin to have this discussion in earnest. Much of the work over the coming year will be focused on creating a consistent student experience. Just like working in the garden, it will not be easy, we may get dirt on our hands, and it will certainly take time and patience.
Posted onMarch 25, 2009
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A Quiet Pause
Posted onMarch 19, 2009
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January 31, 2008
This is an interesting time of the year. Just last week we celebrated the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday now forty years after his death. By the time you read this we will be on the eve of Black History Month, the time we celebrate the social, intellectual, and artistic gifts people of African descent have given to civilization. This week is like a quiet pause between remembering a man and a movement, and celebrating the rich cultures and contributions of an entire people.
This quiet pause gives me time to think about how to make sense of things here at Peeler, this small school in a city with its own chapter in the history of the civil rights movement. Here is a school that once only served students of color when the system was designed to keep people separate. Here is a school that was designed to be different; one designed to provide the best education to a class of people who could not attend white schools. The very architecture speaks of the values and hopes of the civil rights era—openness, collaboration, inclusivity.
How far have we come? Our school is certainly very different. Where once students who came here could not attend schools with white children, now nearly every student in this school has made the choice to be here. We see African American and white fathers come together in our media center to talk about the issues of educating their children. Our kids and our families move easily among each other, blurring racial lines drawn long ago. But still I am disturbed by the gaps we see in the achievement of our students. With all that has changed, what will it take to interrupt the patterns of underachievement among our black and white children?
I just finished reading an article by US Representative John Lewis reflecting on the forty years since the death of Martin Luther King, Jr. On pages splashed with black and white photos of an iconic movement, he writes, “Democracy is not a state. It is not some high plateau that we struggle to reach so we can finally settle down to rest. Democracy is an act. It is an act that requires participation, organization and dedication to the highest principles.”
We must make a commitment to ensure that each of our children, no matter who their parents are, no matter how many parents they go home to, no matter what their income may be, is well educated. We can’t say that right now. We are not yet there. If a well-educated mind is the great equalizer of our time, we must dedicate ourselves to eliminating historical patterns of underachievement. This is the highest principle of our time. This is our civil rights movement, and those who see it and engage in the struggle have the power to change the world.
New Year’s Resolutions
Posted onMarch 19, 2009
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January 8, 2009
One of the gifts of working in school is that every year has it’s predictable rhythms that keep the time of weeks and seasons. The end of summer is the time of new beginnings and great anticipation for the coming year. November and December provide much needed breaks from the hard work of the months that come before. January is a time for a mid-year restart before heading into the final push after spring break.
This mid-year restart has been different for us. Most of you know that we lost Corbin Gil the morning we returned for the New Year. Corbin passed away in her home, in the arms of her mother, surrounded by her family after a long and difficult night. She was a light to all of us, whether we were counted among friends and teachers or not. She will be missed terribly. We will worry about her brother and her parents and wonder how we will ever take care of them and make things normal again.
We have spent the last few days looking at pictures, recounting the startling timeline of her struggle, and talking about what a gift this little girl has been to our school. We have helped our kids talk about her passing, sharing the remarkable insights that kids of different ages have. We have reminded each other of the importance of getting back to normal routines and shared the frustrations of not knowing what to do. We have tried to make sense of this loss even when we know there is none to be found in it.
I’ve been thinking about the timing of her passing. I am thankful that the family was able to share the holidays with her. Each year I write my New Year’s resolutions on an index card and put them in my wallet. I never share them with anyone because, like most of us, I rarely live up to them. Last night, after I finished giving my kids a bath, I took the list out of my wallet and looked at them again. At the bottom of the list I wrote that I resolve to spend more time laughing with my kids.
This morning that resolution seems more important than it did when I wrote it; and much more important than the two written above it (developing a family budget and getting into shape). I don’t know how to make sense of Corbin’s passing. I do know that we can make a little more time for our kids. I know that we can laugh with our families and friends and appreciate the normal rhythms of the days and months to come. I’ll work on my family finances and try to make myself get in shape; but I will be thinking about Corbin and her family for a long time and will move laughing with my kids to the top of the list.
Corbin
Posted onMarch 19, 2009
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November 4, 2008
Last week I stood at the top of the hill overlooking the Peeler playground and watched groups of our students poke and rake in the ploughed rows of the hillside, removing clods of wiry grass, throwing handfuls of winter rye, and covering their work with fistfuls of hay. They were learning how a cover crop can return nutrients to the soil and prepare a bed over the winter for spring planting.
The school year is going by quickly; the leaves have turned to oranges and reds and the mornings are frosty windshields and winter coats. The election is in full swing; by the time you read this the election winners are old news and we are making plans for the Thanksgiving holiday around the corner.
As I stood in the wind at the top of that hill, watching kids work together to prepare the earth for spring planting, I thought a bit about Corbin Gil and how much she would have to say about it. I could hear her, in her very adult and matter of fact voice, explain to me how important it is that we take care of that garden because kids need to know how to do things like how to grow food. As most of you know, Corbin is the Peeler 3rd grader that has spent most of her fall battling brain cancer.
Corbin is a trooper. She has fought MRSA infections, suffered through allergic reactions to dozens of antibiotics, been tenacious in her chemotherapy and radiation treatments. Her spirits are good, but at the same time she misses her friends. She is well taken care of at Duke and in the Ronald MacDonald House in Durham, but looks forward to the weekends when she can come home. She and her family are grateful for all that you have done to let them know they are in your thoughts and prayers. I know they appreciate the cards and snacks, were touched by the hand made quilt, and have been grateful for the gifts of support.
As these winter days race by, let’s not forget to take time to reach out to Corbin to let her know she remains with us. She is not at the PTA open house, the walk-a-thon, in the garden, performing in dance, or sitting in class, but she is still with us. Let’s remember to let Corbin and her family know that.
Thanks for Coming…
Posted onMarch 19, 2009
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September 25, 2008
On behalf of the faculty and staff at Peeler Open School for the Performing Arts, I would like to thank all of you who took time to come at the Guilford County Schools Celebration of Excellence at the Greensboro Coliseum yesterday. Our math scores rose 14 percentage points from the year before, and every subgroup saw double digit gains in scores. Students Mara Flynn and Nicholas McKinnon recognized Ms. Valarie Wooten and Mr. John Robinson for having made a difference in their lives. We all cheered and acted a bit silly whenever Peeler was mentioned.
I shared my with many of you at the PTA meeting earlier this month my pride that we made these gains our way. What I mean by this is that we did not implement some arbitrary remedy imposed by the school district to address the problem. We kept the participation in the arts programs strong; our teachers developed a solution that emphasizes critical thinking, problem solving, and using writing to communicate and to learn. Our classroom teachers, arts teachers, and teacher assistants volunteered to use planning time to work with small groups of children. Parents gave time to tutor individual children. We did this together. Like the Ujima song our children sing, we build a strong community through hard work and responsibility.
We are just getting started and have so much challenging work before us. It was nice, though, to take a moment to celebrate with you yesterday.
A House Warming
Posted onMarch 19, 2009
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September 11, 2008
Earlier this week I had a conversation with two of our teachers about what it was like to work together with a common group of kids. Both were excited, eager to share that their work with your children was better because they had each other to turn to and learn from. Both were cautious, quick to share how planning and working together was taking more time and discussion than it did when they worked in isolation.
In these first few weeks of school we are seeing strong relationships develop all over the school. Students are making new friends, teachers are relying on each other, and they are getting to know your children well. We have always referred to the space that our kids and teachers work in as ‘Units,’ but now are careful to use the word house when we talk about the people there.
In a house, like a home, we rely on each other, we challenge each other, we hold each other accountable, and we take care of each other. The relationships that exist in a house extend to you, our parents as well. I want each of you to join us this coming Monday night, September 15, for our ‘House Warming’ back to school night. The PTA has organized a book drive, I have some very exciting announcements, and the teachers are ready to welcome you home.
Pulling Back the Walls
Posted onMarch 19, 2009
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August 26, 2008
A year ago in this space of the Peeler Post I shared with you my thoughts on finding Peeler. I shared how I found a community of dedicated parents, found talented teachers, found a history of change and struggle, and found myself looking forward to rebuilding trust, mending fences, and renewing a commitment to helping kids do wonderful things together.
What a difference a year can make. We have made good academic progress as a school. Our math scores are up fourteen points over last year; we have made AYP for the first time in several years, and exceeded expectations for growth.
This year teachers are excited to work in teams, share groups of students, and build strong relationships over time. We have made a commitment to move forward together, to build trust and respect, and to learn and grow together. We have pulled back the walls and turned our units into houses.
None of this will be easy, and we would not be truthful if we told you that we have it all figured out. In fact, we have far more questions than we do answers. We will have to learn how to work together, how to truly collaborate and not just cooperate. We have to learn how to take advantage of longer and deeper relationships with children and their families. We have to learn how to recognize the gifts each child brings and give each what she needs to grow.
We have much to learn together, but this is the point. Really great schools are places where the adults explore, wonder, and wrestle with the really tough questions as regularly as their students. We have pulled back the walls and each of our houses is looking forward to an exciting school year.
Thank You
Posted onMarch 19, 2009
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April 3, 2008
I would like to thank the teachers, students, and parents for the warm welcome and generosity they showed when I returned to school following the birth of our newest daughter, Alice Jayne Matson.
We sat in our living room in Tarboro and read every card, every class book, and every note of congratulations. The stories and poems made us smile. We laughed out loud at the stories kids wrote giving advice on how to raise a baby (apparently it is very important to keep them away from make-up and not pick them up by the head). We wondered at the hand made quilt bearing the name of every Peeler teacher and student welcoming Alice into the world.
Because we have had a hard time selling our home in eastern North Carolina, this year has been especially hard on our family. Thank you all for the gestures of warmth, welcome, and congratulations. You have made all the difference.
Taking Root
Posted onMarch 19, 2009
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March 4, 2008
The days are getting longer. The first green of spring has slowly crept into the sloping lawn of the school and the color pops in the light of the March sun. Daffodils are opening to announce that warmer weather and outside play are near. There is something infectious about this time of the year. After months of getting to work before the sun comes up and going home after dark, the longer days and the wet warm smell of spring stirs in us a desire to get outside and put our hands in the dirt and plant something. It is as if the act of tending the garden somehow makes the coming of spring more certain, as if spring is a process helped along by our digging.
It stirs something in the children, too. New mulch was laid down a couple of weeks ago and barely a child could resist grabbing handfuls of it to squeeze and smell the upcoming spring in the chips of wood and composted soil. It stirs something in the neighbors who live around the school. I see them bent over pulling wild onion weeds from their gardens, raking dead leaves from their flower beds, and picking at twigs and trash that block the return of lilies and daffodils. It is stirring something in our teachers, too. Ms. Huet has a bed of pansies outside Unit E that she has tidied up, and more of them growing inside the room on the windowsill. Ms. Seawell and Ms. Black have been walking the grounds and talking about a Peeler garden. I see them through the window pointing to sunny places and gesturing the shapes of gardens that no one but them can yet see.
Our teachers have been preparing to put in new gardens beginning this spring and extending over the next several years. Kids will be able to explore the life cycle of plants, the journey from seed to table, and the benefits of healthy eating. There are plans to build a composting area and a worm bed to make good soil, put out rain barrels to collect water, and plant raised beds outside each unit.
It’s hard to say how far we will go with our gardening project. I know that my intentions of keeping up the flower beds at home always seem to give way to some other task than pulling weeds on a hot day. But I also know that watching something grow taps the imagination and curiosity that is so natural for our kids. Get outside and dig in the dirt with your kids, plant some tomatoes and some flowers, and talk to your children. Somehow, I think the act of planting together does help the whole process along.
