Interview With a K-5 Principal

¶ … interview with a K-5 principal

To begin let us first understand the basics of a K-5 school and for this we shall take up the case of a school where we have not interviewed the principal, but the details for the school have been collected. The school that we have taken up for this study is a school called McFadden School. The school is on King's Highway hear Nashville and roughly about 3 miles from there and reached by traveling on the Interstate 24 East. The school as it stands is a reasonably big school with 41 classrooms, a library, a large gymnasium and cafeteria. This is not a new school and had been established in 1927 as a brick building with four classrooms and an auditorium and the school was then on Bridge Avenue. The name of the school was then also different and it was called Elvie McFadden School.

The advantage that the school had was that it was named after a lady and thus was the firs school in the county named after a lady. Yet did not escape the early hiccups and was destroyed four times by fire in the early years of the development of the school and these took place between 1927 and 1939. The development started from 1955 when there was a new wing added to the school and thus it developed in terms of the number of classrooms, and other facilities. The progress continued uninterrupted and the school became an elementary school. This happened as the seventh and eighth grade students were shifted to another school which had been created and was called Central Middle School. This happened in 1972 and there was further progress in 1986 when a new wing was built. Along with this there were also major renovations that were carried out to the classrooms in the older sections. The present principal of the school is Paula Barnes. (McFadden School of Excellence: Magnet Program)

Now the question is the difference that this school has with others and the first of that is in the curriculum. This school teaches accelerated reader, art, guidance, music, physical education, and spectrum. There is definitely an attempt to maintain a high ratio of teachers to students and they maintain a ratio of 1 teacher for every 20 students up to class K-3 and this ratio increases to 25 students to 1 teacher for the classes from K-4 to 8. This is mentioned by the school itself in its promotion and it is clear that the school does not consider the other section as a different school though technically it is a different school. In the same promotion the school emphasizes that it has a minimum of four computers in every classroom. While saying this, the school does not say the number of students that these computers in a class are expected to serve. This is most important as the students cannot get much benefit unless they have direct access to computers.

Apart from the classes, the students can also get computers in the media center. The progress in development electronics is seen in the situation that every teacher having a multimedia center. These centers all have large screen television, VCR, computers network connections and printers. The importance is in the connection of technology into teaching. This development took place as Jennings and Rebecca Jones Foundation have been very kind to the school and has given it a fully equipped television studio. This has given the students a chance to handle the latest electronic equipment and prepare broadcasts along with the teachers. The entire system is situated within the school building and thus the students do not have to make a lot of effort to reach this facility. (McFadden School of Excellence: Magnet Program)

The next question that one has to look at is the eligibility of students for getting admission into this school and into the magnet program. This is a special system that has been developed for the benefit of all students. To get into this, a student in the correct levels should be able to get a grade of between 6 and 9 in TCAP / Terra Nova Stanine levels in language, reading and Mathematics. For students at the lowest levels of kindergarten, first and second; there are screening instruments to determine the levels required for eligibility. When the students are coming from an outside state, they have to give the school a copy of their test results achieved in the previous states. It is also required that the entering students submit their attendance record, report card and teacher recommendation from their earlier systems or schools. The continuation of the students in this system depends to a great extent on their achievement in the school examinations, attendance and record of discipline.

Some potential students get a priority and these are the brothers or sisters of the present students, students who have been zoned to study in schools in Rutherford County and in Murfreesboro City. This school of excellence was the first school under the magnet school program in Rutherford County. This particular program helps the students as it provide a variety of experience in all areas that are faced by them and taught to them in school - written, oral and visual communications. The benefit of the program is that it permits the student to go through the regular courses of study, and at the same time gives them special experiences in the skills of written, oral and visual communications. The program concentrates on reading and writing, publishing, public speaking and broadcasting, science and technology, social and cultural perspectives, world mathematics and advanced science. (McFadden School of Excellence: Magnet Program)

The first question that we have to ask about a school when it is trying to shift is whether it requires the shift. Some situations have made the K-5 schools a laboratory for high school classes, and this can be seen at David Brown's in North Carolina. This is supposed to be peer tutoring program in which the high school students work on a one to one basis with them, and the reason is that it has been viewed that the school requires more teachers. (a Win-Win Situation Teaming Up with Your High School) it is clear that the requirements of the school have to be met before getting it to be a new type of school. Now let us look at the principal of the school who has been interviewed. The person was Stacy Roberts at Neil Cummins Elementary School at 58 Mohawk, Corte Madera in California. The first difficulty that she mentioned was in communication with the parents of the children. She has used the magazine brought out by the students for this purpose. According to her it was very difficult writing messages for the parents, and that often delays her writing to them. She generally writes about the weekly updates and those are safe as they are not likely to cause problems for her with the parents.

For writing anything other than the ordinary, she has to consult her friends and family. Writing anything difficult in the school magazine is likely to offend some of the parents and she apologized for these offenses even before the writing is read by the parents. Yet, there are certain matters that the parents have to attend to and for repeated reminders have to be sent. One of these matters she had to write for more than five times and was afraid that the matter would be read by the students before it reached their house. The biggest problem that she wanted to bring to the attention of the parents was that their communication to the students was lacking. Even where there was talk it was just exchange of pleasantries and nothing serious. Yet the efforts of the school have to be supported by a lot of efforts from the parents, and that includes all students from the lowest to the highest levels. Well this was not a difficulty with all, but certainly with some parents. (From the Pink Section)

The matters which parents have to find out from the students are regarding their friends, and the reason why these other children have developed into friends, and at the same time whether the child considers that he is also a good friend in turn. The next question to be considered is the values that are being taught by the family. This is difficult for many parents to talk to children as their parents keep changing their priorities every day. That is for the comparatively poor students whereas the rich students really do not know what is important for the family. This has to be known to the child. The third serious matter today is regarding the use of drugs, and they have to be restricted to only prescription drugs. Along with this is the use of tobacco as children often see adults smoking outside, but they have to be told that this is not good for them. This has to be clearly told to them. The other problem that the parents have to inform the children is regarding the development from a child to an adult, and this does not happen overnight.

At the same time, the child faces changes in the body coming along, and this is especially important for girls in the upper grades. There is also the question of family life, and this has to be introduced by the parents to the children, though there are units of teaching this in schools. Yet, the parents should introduce this subject to the children. This matter had been brought up by the parents some years to the school that they had not been able to tell the children before it was taught in class. Another subject that the parents have to inform the students is regarding current events, and the students are generally aware of it. Yet there are differences between students and this must be understood by all students. It is important for the students to let another person know their points-of-view and then the other person can add to their knowledge. This is important as the children have their inquisitive side, and are developing and must be continuously monitored, so that they grow up better. (From the Pink Section) This part of the discussion with the principal was mainly regarding the students. but, there are some other factors about these schools that she wanted us to consider.