[Grovenet] NAMS Meeting

[Martha Khoury]

FYI -- Martha K.


>
> Hello Everyone -
>
> At both the NAMS Site Council meeting and the school board meeting  
> last night, the administration announced its intention to hold a  
> meeting at Neil Armstrong on Thursday, November 6 from 7 - 9 PM to  
> explore publicly how to solve the academic problems at NAMS.
>
> My understanding is that, at this time, this is the only public  
> input meeting that is scheduled to tackle this very difficult issue.
>
> Strategically, I believe that anyone who is in any way interested in  
> the direction that Neil Armstrong is headed must attend the November  
> 6 meeting, or send a proxy.  Mario Alba said, at the site council  
> meeting, that after the (one and only) public meeting the site  
> council would consider all ideas and suggestions, and come up with a  
> plan to "improve student achievement and student success at Neil  
> Armstrong."
>
> Mr. Alba stated that all ideas are on the table.  This is not a  
> discussion about the NAMS schedule, though that may be part of the  
> solution.  It is a discussion to figure out what the middle school  
> needs to do to improve student performance.  He pretty much said  
> that it is wide open - do we need to teach differently?  Do we need  
> to change curriculum?  Should we change the schedule to a block  
> schedule?  A 6-period schedule?  What do we need to do to help  
> students succeed?
>
> Below are what he listed as the questions and issues to discuss:
>
> 1.  Knowing that Oregon's new high school graduation requirements  
> have changed with increased expectations and rigor, what would you  
> recommend we do to ensure students meet the new requirements?
>
> 2.  What more could we do to carry out Forest Grove School  
> District's Strategic Mission "Inspiring Excellence While Preparing  
> All Students for College, Career and Citizenship"?
>
> 3.  Is there anything else you believe we should know that could  
> help Neil Armstrong Middle School be more effective at educating  
> students?
>
> The meeting will begin at 7 PM and end at 9 PM.  From 7:00 - 7:30,  
> Alba, Musser and O'Neill will talk about the new graduation  
> requirements, etc.  From 7:30 - 8:30, the NAMS site council members  
> will lead focus groups on the above 3 delineated questions.  From  
> 8:30 - 9:00 the group will come back together to "report out".
>
> I am not saying one way or the other whether or not this is the  
> appropriate way to gather public input.  Please do not direct  
> complaints about this procedure to me - I am not the person  
> responsible for coming up with this plan, and I can not change the  
> plan.  I am merely reporting to people what the proposal is.
>
> It is my belief, however, that if we fail to participate in this  
> meeting, we will have forfeited some of our power to protest in the  
> Spring if NAMS comes up with a proposal that is vastly different  
> than what most of us would like.
>
> Please forward the meeting information to as many people as you know  
> who are vested in the NAMS issue.  I believe a good turnout will  
> wield us more credibility and say-so in the end, though I doubt that  
> one meeting could possibly yield enough public input to help solve  
> the complex issues.  Perhaps, if we have a great turn-out, we can  
> suggest more public input sessions.
>
> See you all there!
>
> Deb Bratland
>
>