Share Brown School Experiences???

[deemqueen.livejournal.com]

I checked the "schools" tag for info on schools close to Davis Square. There weren't any postings I could see. I know this isn't exactly a topic for hipsters but ... would anyone be willing to share their experiences (either positive or not) at the Brown School? We'd really love to stick around Davis AND send our child to Somerville public schools.

We had an appointment with the principal today ... and frankly didn't
get too much of a sense of what the school is all about. Maybe we
didn't ask the right questions. What else could we be doing to make
an informed decision?

Comments

[venusunder.livejournal.com]

Hi! My kids are students at the Brown (grades 3 and 5). The principle you met is new. That may be part of the problem with the interview you had. Honestly, I'm not happy with the direction she's pushing the school in (heavy heavy emphasis on MCAS scores), but I'm not sure how much influence she'll actually have in the long run. The Brown has tremendous parent involvement, and a small student body. It's this culture of active parenting that's kept our family at the Brown, not the academic standards, which seem to slip every time someone yells MCAS at us. Thankfully, most teachers are more dedicated to the idea of education than they are to test scores, despite strong pressure from the school committee and above.

My children started school in Boston, so that's the only other school system I can compare the Brown School to, and it's really not a fair comparison, because the neighborhood surrounding the Brown is fairly affluent. The teachers in the Boston schools we attended were dealing with a different student body with different issues - families trying to make ends meet at minimum wage, gangs, drug use in the community.

I don't know if this is actually useful or not. I feel like any unhappiness I may have with the Brown is actually a problem with decisions in the higher administration, and that the parents and teachers here are doing a wonderful job of combating government pressures. Every year, parents volunteer to lead special interest clubs - last year there was an improvisational acting workshop for the younger students, and an art workshop for the older students. There was also a Chinese club and the drama club put on a wonderful play. One of the things I like best about the Brown is the one-time fundraiser at the beginning of the year. It's a good replacement for the constant candy-bar and plastic ornament sales!

I'd be glad to put you in contact with other Brown parents if you'd like.

[tracy-rolling.livejournal.com]

My son is in the Choice program at Healey and so far so good.

The No Child Left Behind thing puts pretty huge pressure on the schools. The principal and above aren't emphasizing this stuff to ruin your kids' education. They're doing it because if they don't meet those standards the school gets taken over and people start losing their jobs.

[seaweedgirle.livejournal.com]

I highly suggest you consider the Choice program. It's a wonderful program offered by Somerville.

[venusunder.livejournal.com]

I didn't mean to imply that the principal was trying to ruin anyone's education, just that she's responding to the pressure differently than I think she should, which is her prerogative since she runs the school and I don't.

[seaweedgirle.livejournal.com]

I taught in another elementary school in Somerville. We were always jealous of the praise that the Brown school received (for MCAS scores, etc)...

[ron_newman]

Brandon Wilson, who works for Historic Preservation in City Hall, is a good person to talk to about the Brown School.

[ukelele.livejournal.com]

I'm definitely interested in this thread, since I'm pregnant and I just bought a house a block from the Brown school :). (Although I teach at another school which I'm very enamoured of. But it's all-boys and expensive, so it may not work out; don't know if I'm having a boy or a girl.)

Anyway. I can tell you some things I would do to evaluate the quality of a school, though honestly I'm weak on elementary school; I'd find it much easier to evaluate 7-12 (I teach 7-9).

What you're doing, trying to find out parent satisfaction (or lack thereof), is huge, so do that in as many fora as you can :).

If you know some elementary school teachers, ask them what they think a quality elementary school should be doing. Is there any particular kind of work the students should be producing? Are there particular skills or content they need to be acquiring? What markers would these teachers look for to decide if a school was outstanding, adequate, inadequate? See if you can find those at Brown. (In higher grades it's easier because you can look at things like the variety of courses offered, the pacing of the math and language curricula -- stuff that most schools have on their web sites these days. But elementary school curricula are fuzzier and a lot of elementary school is about acquiring less tangible skills anyway, and it's outside of my specialty, which is why I say to ask elementary teachers what they'd look for.)

Ultimately the only way to really know a school is to spend a lot of time there, but this is hard for people with, you know, jobs and lives. If it's posisble for you to visit a classroom, do so (it may not be; many teachers will feel really uncomfortable with this even if you can schedule it). Look for whether the students are engaged, interested, learning cool stuff. Look for the rapport the teacher has. Or you could look into volunteering at the school if you have a *lot* of time to spend learning about it...this will really show you what's going on, what people are happy and unhappy about, etc.

You've probably already done this, but if your child has any special needs (learning disabilities, gifted, socially awkward, medical conditions, talents you particularly want to nurture...), make sure to ask what kind of support the school has for those. Not merely the content of the answer but the wy it's delivered will tell you a lot.

[ukelele.livejournal.com]

Oh, and if you know or can find any substitute teachers who work in Somerville -- the subs know *all* about which schools are good or bad and why.

Great input

[deemqueen.livejournal.com]

Thanks everybody for the great input so far.

Share Brown School experiences

[sommom.livejournal.com]

Somerville schools hold open house week in January, ending with Kindergarten registration on Saturday. You should definitely visit the Brown School and any other school you're considering during that week. Also, check out the city's school dept website; under Schools, you can find websites for each school. The Brown School has its newsletters online, as well as pictures of recent PTA/extracurricular events and clubs, and most teachers have their own websites under Classrooms.

Our family has been very happy with the Brown School and we plan to send our youngest there, too. We've also been at 2 other schools, and it's the smallest and most intimate one. It has a real sense of community, and the teachers are great. But I know people who've also been very happy at other schools in Somerville; it depends what you're looking for in a school and what your child needs.

I agree with the comments about MCAS having an impact across the board in Somerville. It's important for parents to be active in the schools and not just in their individual school, but to take an active role in the whole city's school system, to let the superintendent and maybe even our new mayor know what we want our schools to be and to aim for. MCAS wasn't meant to be the end all and be all of education reform, and we need to remind the adminstration of this. The teachers already know.