A little country schoolhouse

[MadHound]

I'm currently making my way in the world of education by subbing, a foot in the door. There is one little school, out in the country with corn fields on all sides, that has been employing my services the most.

They are a K-8 school, with K-5 in one section, and the middle school, 6-8, in the other section. Being a rural school, it doesn't get much in the way of resources. Students have to share textbooks in the middle school grades, the computers are a bit out of date, there aren't smartboards or other such modern technology.

The kids come from varied background, ranging from a few, very few, upper middle class, to a lot of working class and poor families. The racial background is mixed, perhaps not as mixed as urban school districts, but certainly more mixed than some suburban schools I've seen. The teacher pay isn't great, on the low end for my state, but the facilities are kept in good repair and all of the basics, and even some of the frills are being taken care of.

The thing is, this is one of the best schools I've seen in a long, long time. The students have exceeded their annual progress requirements time and again. The school, while taking the MAP test seriously, doesn't obsessively focus on it throughout the year. The students are polite, helpful, attentive and kind to each other. When I subbed in the middle school section the first time, I braced myself for middle school behavior, the behavior I had observed and dealt with in other, more urban districts. The smart mouth, the disrespect, the boredom, the unwillingness to learn. Instead, I got kids who wanted to learn, were respectful, quiet, attentive, willing to help, a simple joy to teach.

Sure, they were funny and rowdy and normal kids for that age group. But they didn't resist learning, they didn't think that their job was to disrupt class, but rather, their job was to learn. This attitude extends throughout the entire school, from K-8.

I was, and still am in awe. This is a school right out of my own childhood. And the reason the students here are so willing to learn, and the reason the school is so successful is fairly simple. The school is small, a bit less than three hundred students in the entire school. Small class sizes, and a school small enough that no student can disappear in the crowd. All of the teachers get to know all the students and follow them from kindergarten through graduation.

Furthermore, and perhaps most importantly, the parents are involved with their kids and with the school. Last week was Grandparents' Week, where the grandparents came in for lunch with their K-5 grandkids. The parent of each student is kept in the loop, and will be contacted on a regular basis. Most importantly, these parents are, for the most part, involved with raising their kids. They may be poor, but they still raise their kids, not abandoning them to the street. The parents aren't so self involved that they ignore their kids. These parents don't disappear, they're involved. If their child gets in trouble, they want to know. If their kid is falling behind, they want to know what can be done. And better yet, the parents respect the teachers, staff and the school as a whole, and don't think that they can do the job better than those who've been trained to it.

Yes, there are a few, very few, maybe a handful of kids who are problems. But nothing, nothing like I've seen in other, more urban districts.

That is the biggest reason for this school's success, it is a throwback, a school whose parents actually care, parents who actually parent their children, parents who partner with the school for the best for their children, not fight the school.

This is refreshing, and it is one of the reasons why this school hangs onto teachers for a long time. The kids are a joy to work with, as are the parents. Being part of this learning community makes up for the low pay. Hopefully I'll have my own class here next year, because after experiencing this school, there is no way I want to go back to a typical school in another district.

[aikoaiko]

1. I would imagine another related factor is the stability of the population.

The kids and families are there for the duration. Perhaps generations at the same school.

[starroute]

5. This is one weird way in which the right has an inkling of what's needed

Social stability does matter. Engaged parents do matter. Community does matter.

The right isn't misguided in saying that we need these things and that they're threatened. But they go off the rails at that point. They blame gay marriage or abortion. They blame the poor for their own inability to be involved in their children's education. They dream of a mythical past when everybody had the same skin color and attended the same church.

So I really believe this is an issue we need to hijack from the right. Make healthy families in healthy communities a progressive issue. Point out that corporations and the corporate mindset in education are the real threat. And then run with it for all it's worth.

[MadHound]

9. Actually not,

Yes, we have kids there whose families have been in the area for generations. But we've got a good number of students who move in or move out. Rural areas don't have many jobs, and in these tough economic times, families are moving to where the jobs are.

[InvisibleTouch]

2. I've always kinda suspected...

...that the latest and greatest technology doesn't necessarily translate into better education. Perhaps the opposite is true. Well-maintained basics make for a more involved and hands-on approach. Writing on a blackboard instead of a computer screen (or perhaps I am *really* dating myself here ;) ). Anyway, hope you get to stay and be part of the environment. It does sound great, and could perhaps be a model for other schools.

[ChazII]

3. I just retired from teaching this past May.

Communities like this what gives me hope for teachers like you. Thanks for what you do.

[cali]

4. My son went to a school that sounds much like that- only a lot smaller

60 kids in k-6. It was a wonderful, wonderful school.

[jwirr]

6. Three generations in schools like that in my family. My father was

one of the admittedly bad boys of the class but he also talked about it in loving terms. He loved his teachers. I went to school in a school about your size until the idea of consolidation started to close these schools down in our state. My children went to even a smaller school for a while. This is a model that needs to be duplicated. The only problem I remember is the need for a really good library was not always possible. When my girls were in school we parents went through the library books and there were still books from my parents age. Nice books but no one was reading them anymore.

When in college we discussed taking larger schools and breaking them down into sections each housing this type of school. I am not sure how that would have worked out if anyone had actually done it. But I think all teachers know that it is parental involvement that really makes the difference. If the parents do not care their attitude is reflected in how the student responds to education.

Today with the high prices of gas it is my guess that the school boards wish they had more little schools closer to the students instead of 40+ miles bus rides two times a day. Wonder if we will see the return of those little white/red school houses?

[Honeycombe8]

7. Thank you! This is what I've always thought...it starts with the PARENTS.

When you find parents who care about their kids' education, make sure they do their homework, go to parent-teacher conferences, go over their report cards w the kids, don't let them skip school, teach not to smart mouth their teachers and to be respectful and behave well in class....those kids will do better in school. When you find parents who are the opposite, those kids will generally not do as well, regardless of the teacher.

Yes, teachers are important and make a difference. They can change lives. But I've always thought that it starts at home.

[Frustratedlady]

8. We have many of those schools around the state.

They are the hub of the community and the parents and grandparents are very active supporters.

One, in particular, was so active, they hardly needed to lock the doors. School started out at 6:30 for many activities or club meetings and the school day ended most nights at suppertime. All sports and musical activities were heavily attended and supported.

The teachers were also supported. It was the old, "You get in trouble at school, you'll be in trouble when you get home" kind of thing. Being a small system, word spread pretty quickly if your child got in trouble.

Parents watched each others' kids and disciplined them without batting an eye. If they didn't mind, they called the parents. The kids knew where the line was drawn. Cross it and they paid the price, whether it be grounding or detention. Very few did, because they knew how their peers felt about it.

I think we have tried to combine/enlarge schools to save on costs. In the end, it is probably costing more.

I was fortunate in being part of a class of 18. With a few exceptions, most of us started kindergarten together and graduated together. That was over 50 years ago and no one has been in jail/prison, divorced or gone astray. Pretty good percentage in these times, I'd say.

[Name removed]

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[RegieRocker]

11. This smacks of the one room school house era and the promotion

of ending public schooling in the sense of what it is now. The "no school name" is a dead give away.