MORE ON PRINCIPAL RAU'S DRAFTED LETTER THAT WAS SENT TO SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENT BETTY STERNBERG FOR APPROVAL AND SUBMISSION TO THE GREENWICH BOARD OF EDUCATION AND FIRST SELECTMAN PETER TESEILadies and Gentlemen
I wish to respond to and address issues raised in the Letter to the Community authored by Hamilton Avenue School Principal, Dr. Damaris Rau.
Dr. Rau admits to not being as forthcoming as she should have been and I want to acknowledge and applaud that admission. Unfortunately, the failure to be upfront has caused a major division within the Hamilton Avenue community. Not unlike the division that developed with the emergency dispersement in March of 2008. After that incident fences among the community were mended, however it took many, many months and a summer break to accomplish the repair. I fear that this new division won't be mended as well or as quickly as the previous one.
In response to Paragraph 4 of the principal's letter I wish to make the following statements. The transition plan to the modulars began with former principal Dr. Carol Sarabun. It continued under Assistant Principal, Dr. Philip Williamson, and was mostly complete during Interim Principal Susan Wallerstein's tenure and finished up under Dr. Rau's administration. There are many reasons as to why this transition plan took such a long time to develop. Some of these reasons were taking a 56,000 square foot building and attempting to fit it into a 24,000 square foot space. There were many "housecleaning" issues, inventory issues and packing issues that needed to be addressed. The entire school needed to be inventoried and storage had to be found to accommodate anything that would not be moving to the modulars with us, but would eventually return to the new building. In addition, much time was spent on planning a PE program for a building that did not have space for PE. One of the PE items that a lot of time was spent on was a swimming program at GHS. It took months to plan and was then found not to be feasible, so another swimming venue needed to be found. Busing needed to be arranged for students that had never had to take a bus before. These are just a few reasons for the length of development of that transition. The two most telling statements in this paragraph are these: "Mind you the modular is one floor in the shape of a T. If you stand at the T-Intersection, you are able to see every single classroom, every single child."
In response to paragraph 5 of this letter from the principal, the use of the term "punch list" is extremely misleading. We have heard for more than a year that there was a construction punch list. This term was also used in the letter and transition plan outline sent to parents in this past Friday's Friday Folder. Again, extremely misleading to a group of people who have, for more than a year associated this term with the new building. Regarding the overall point of this paragraph, the Hamilton Avenue School Community was always promised that we would all move together. In addition, it must be pointed out that it was just this past November and December that plans by the Superintendant and the Principal would keep the Pre-K students in their host schools until September 2009. It was because of the community's outcry that this was changed and Pre-K was going to move into the new school with the rest of the students had the move happened in December. It is troublesome to me that the Pre-K seems as easily moved back and forth as pawns on a chessboard.
With regard to Paragraph 6 of this letter, while the children of Hamilton Avenue were sent to host schools that already had in place plans and procedures, our children were not familiar with these procedures and learned them as the situations came to be. They were not familiar with fire drill procedures and learned them with the first fire drill. They were not familiar with the lunch procedure, again learning on the fly. Staffing the host school classrooms with an additional adult was extremely helpful to both the classroom teacher and the children. There is no reason that this couldn't happen upon our move to the new building. While two weeks might be a bit long for such a plan, one week seems reasonable. It is also very bothersome to me that there were issues that were not shared with the parent community at that time. We were made to understand and assured that everything was being placed on the table for all to see and understand.
As to Paragraph 7 of this letter, the CMT's, while important, are not the be-all and end-all of an education. Yes, many parents and students are to be commended for their willingness to sacrifice so much time and effort to help the children do well on these tests. Praise must also be given to the other 200+ children and their families for putting in the effort on the home front to help their children do their best as well. The voices of these parents are as important and carry as much weight in this issue of moving as those that get their children to school at 7:15. The teachers and staff also deserve as many accolades for their dedication to improving students' tests scores. What puzzles parents, who know their children best, is how a 5 week transition plan that has students "visiting" their new building isn't seen as even more distracting than a cut and dried move. The excitement that these "visits" will stir up in these children will be more detrimental to their concentration and focus than an all out move would cause. Bringing Hamilton Avenue School to the level of a Vanguard School was an amazing accomplishment for all involved, students, parents, staff and administration. It did raise the value of our school in the public eye. It did help to raise the morale of the entire community. Nothing can take away from that accomplishment and no one is even attempting to do so.
As to Paragraph 8, no one takes away from the work of the principal in raising expectations for our community. No one intends to demoralize our teachers for their hard work and dedication to our children. What has been demoralizing to teachers and staff is the persistent message that their best is not enough. The constant demand for perfection 100% of the time. Our teachers work harder than any others in the district. These individuals, who became educational professionals not for the money, but for the goal of helping minds to grow, are no longer able to experience the love of teaching they envisioned. They are not able to pass on this love they have of learning onto the very students they teach. Our teachers cannot help our children develop a love of learning in an atmosphere of "never good enough". In the grand scheme of things that a child's education entails, the CMT's are not as important as the health and happiness of our children. Our children should be learning to love learning. Make no mistake, every parent believes high student achievement is important, but the principal is correct in stating it is not as important as she insists it should be. To find out how our teachers and staff feel about a move now or in April, I urge their Union Representative to hold a sealed ballot vote, with no possibility of coercion to skew the results. Let the teachers and staff have their say and let it count. Also ask their Union Representative to develop a list of concerns the teachers and staff have with a move that takes place sooner rather than later. Our teachers and staff have had to pack and unpack so many times that it is time to remove this burden from them completely. While it is understood that this is a very difficult economic time, this is money that is necessary to spend at this time.
With regard to Paragraph 9, I wish to remind everyone that it wasn't until meetings held at the announcement of dispersement that it was revealed to all just how many children had suffered from identical symptoms as parents compared notes and shared symptoms in that public forum. For the record, our children are almost always confined to their rooms. They have very little time outside their rooms, even during nice weather. The first activity to be cut, for any flimsy reason, is recess. Some of our childrens' current PE curriculum is watching the Olympics. I urge the parents whose children have exhibited signs similar to last year such as nosebleeds, sinus infections, coughs, nausea, and headaches to write in and let you know just how many students are suffering again. The statement from the principal that the modulars are probably the cleanest in the entire district is disturbing, at best. The parents were assured in August in a meeting with the Superintendant, the principal and Bob Brown of Hygenix that all the leak problems had been fixed. That the roof was repaired completely. That being the case, how can the building still be leaking? It has been leaking since we returned as evidenced by notices sent home by the principal. As we were all educated, willingly or not, leaks are the breeding ground of mold and just replacing ceiling tiles does not fix the leak, it just keeps it from being noticeable.
While the co-presidents of the Hamilton Avenue School PTA and some of the executive board members support the transition plan, as evidenced by the number of emails that have been sent, many more no longer do. Ask them why.
Respectfully,
Laura J. DiBella
I wish to respond to and address issues raised in the Letter to the Community authored by Hamilton Avenue School Principal, Dr. Damaris Rau.
Dr. Rau admits to not being as forthcoming as she should have been and I want to acknowledge and applaud that admission. Unfortunately, the failure to be upfront has caused a major division within the Hamilton Avenue community. Not unlike the division that developed with the emergency dispersement in March of 2008. After that incident fences among the community were mended, however it took many, many months and a summer break to accomplish the repair. I fear that this new division won't be mended as well or as quickly as the previous one.
In response to Paragraph 4 of the principal's letter I wish to make the following statements. The transition plan to the modulars began with former principal Dr. Carol Sarabun. It continued under Assistant Principal, Dr. Philip Williamson, and was mostly complete during Interim Principal Susan Wallerstein's tenure and finished up under Dr. Rau's administration. There are many reasons as to why this transition plan took such a long time to develop. Some of these reasons were taking a 56,000 square foot building and attempting to fit it into a 24,000 square foot space. There were many "housecleaning" issues, inventory issues and packing issues that needed to be addressed. The entire school needed to be inventoried and storage had to be found to accommodate anything that would not be moving to the modulars with us, but would eventually return to the new building. In addition, much time was spent on planning a PE program for a building that did not have space for PE. One of the PE items that a lot of time was spent on was a swimming program at GHS. It took months to plan and was then found not to be feasible, so another swimming venue needed to be found. Busing needed to be arranged for students that had never had to take a bus before. These are just a few reasons for the length of development of that transition. The two most telling statements in this paragraph are these: "Mind you the modular is one floor in the shape of a T. If you stand at the T-Intersection, you are able to see every single classroom, every single child."
In response to paragraph 5 of this letter from the principal, the use of the term "punch list" is extremely misleading. We have heard for more than a year that there was a construction punch list. This term was also used in the letter and transition plan outline sent to parents in this past Friday's Friday Folder. Again, extremely misleading to a group of people who have, for more than a year associated this term with the new building. Regarding the overall point of this paragraph, the Hamilton Avenue School Community was always promised that we would all move together. In addition, it must be pointed out that it was just this past November and December that plans by the Superintendant and the Principal would keep the Pre-K students in their host schools until September 2009. It was because of the community's outcry that this was changed and Pre-K was going to move into the new school with the rest of the students had the move happened in December. It is troublesome to me that the Pre-K seems as easily moved back and forth as pawns on a chessboard.
With regard to Paragraph 6 of this letter, while the children of Hamilton Avenue were sent to host schools that already had in place plans and procedures, our children were not familiar with these procedures and learned them as the situations came to be. They were not familiar with fire drill procedures and learned them with the first fire drill. They were not familiar with the lunch procedure, again learning on the fly. Staffing the host school classrooms with an additional adult was extremely helpful to both the classroom teacher and the children. There is no reason that this couldn't happen upon our move to the new building. While two weeks might be a bit long for such a plan, one week seems reasonable. It is also very bothersome to me that there were issues that were not shared with the parent community at that time. We were made to understand and assured that everything was being placed on the table for all to see and understand.
As to Paragraph 7 of this letter, the CMT's, while important, are not the be-all and end-all of an education. Yes, many parents and students are to be commended for their willingness to sacrifice so much time and effort to help the children do well on these tests. Praise must also be given to the other 200+ children and their families for putting in the effort on the home front to help their children do their best as well. The voices of these parents are as important and carry as much weight in this issue of moving as those that get their children to school at 7:15. The teachers and staff also deserve as many accolades for their dedication to improving students' tests scores. What puzzles parents, who know their children best, is how a 5 week transition plan that has students "visiting" their new building isn't seen as even more distracting than a cut and dried move. The excitement that these "visits" will stir up in these children will be more detrimental to their concentration and focus than an all out move would cause. Bringing Hamilton Avenue School to the level of a Vanguard School was an amazing accomplishment for all involved, students, parents, staff and administration. It did raise the value of our school in the public eye. It did help to raise the morale of the entire community. Nothing can take away from that accomplishment and no one is even attempting to do so.
As to Paragraph 8, no one takes away from the work of the principal in raising expectations for our community. No one intends to demoralize our teachers for their hard work and dedication to our children. What has been demoralizing to teachers and staff is the persistent message that their best is not enough. The constant demand for perfection 100% of the time. Our teachers work harder than any others in the district. These individuals, who became educational professionals not for the money, but for the goal of helping minds to grow, are no longer able to experience the love of teaching they envisioned. They are not able to pass on this love they have of learning onto the very students they teach. Our teachers cannot help our children develop a love of learning in an atmosphere of "never good enough". In the grand scheme of things that a child's education entails, the CMT's are not as important as the health and happiness of our children. Our children should be learning to love learning. Make no mistake, every parent believes high student achievement is important, but the principal is correct in stating it is not as important as she insists it should be. To find out how our teachers and staff feel about a move now or in April, I urge their Union Representative to hold a sealed ballot vote, with no possibility of coercion to skew the results. Let the teachers and staff have their say and let it count. Also ask their Union Representative to develop a list of concerns the teachers and staff have with a move that takes place sooner rather than later. Our teachers and staff have had to pack and unpack so many times that it is time to remove this burden from them completely. While it is understood that this is a very difficult economic time, this is money that is necessary to spend at this time.
With regard to Paragraph 9, I wish to remind everyone that it wasn't until meetings held at the announcement of dispersement that it was revealed to all just how many children had suffered from identical symptoms as parents compared notes and shared symptoms in that public forum. For the record, our children are almost always confined to their rooms. They have very little time outside their rooms, even during nice weather. The first activity to be cut, for any flimsy reason, is recess. Some of our childrens' current PE curriculum is watching the Olympics. I urge the parents whose children have exhibited signs similar to last year such as nosebleeds, sinus infections, coughs, nausea, and headaches to write in and let you know just how many students are suffering again. The statement from the principal that the modulars are probably the cleanest in the entire district is disturbing, at best. The parents were assured in August in a meeting with the Superintendant, the principal and Bob Brown of Hygenix that all the leak problems had been fixed. That the roof was repaired completely. That being the case, how can the building still be leaking? It has been leaking since we returned as evidenced by notices sent home by the principal. As we were all educated, willingly or not, leaks are the breeding ground of mold and just replacing ceiling tiles does not fix the leak, it just keeps it from being noticeable.
While the co-presidents of the Hamilton Avenue School PTA and some of the executive board members support the transition plan, as evidenced by the number of emails that have been sent, many more no longer do. Ask them why.
Respectfully,
Laura J. DiBella
PLEASE SEE DR RAU'S DRAFTED LETTER THAT WAS SUBMITTED FOR BETTY STERNBERG'S APPROVAL
GREENWICH ROUNDUP EXCLUSIVE: FROM BETTY STERNBERG'S INBOX - THIS LETTER IS COMING HOME WITH HAMILTON AVENUE SCHOOL CHILDREN SOON
LOOK HOW PRINCIPAL RAU AND BETTY STERNBERG ARE TRYING TO GET THEIR STORIES STRAIGHT
WHY THESE TWO STOP LYING AND PLOTTING AGAINST THE PARENTS AND SINGLE FAMILY HOMEOWNERS OF GREENWICH
THIS IS B*LL SH*T: SMALL CHILDREN ARE LEFT IN WET MODULAR CLASSROOMS WHILE SAFE AND DRY CLASSROOMS SET EMPTY AT THE "NEW" 31 MILLION HAMILTON AVENUE SCHOOL.
SHAME, SHAME, SHAME ON THE GREENWICH BOARD OF EDUCATION AND ANY ONE ELSE GOING ALONG WITH BETTY'S BULL CRAP
Dear Betty,
If you feel it is appropriate, I'd like you to forward this message to theBOE members and to Peter Tesei. I am home on line or 917 445-7796
Dear Community Leaders,
Please let me take a few minutes to address some of the concerns expressedby some parents regarding delaying the move to the new building untilApril.
Certainly Betty has expressed it clearly, but I would like anopportunity to have you understand my point of view as the buildingprincipal and as a human being.......
PLEASE ALSO SEE:
1/30/09: Hamilton Avenue School Building Committee Receives a Temporary Certificate of Occupancy (TCO)
Please send your comments to GreenwichRoundup@gmail.com or clickon the comments link at the end of this post.
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