What's up with Garrison?
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Anonymous
Sadly, the majority of the parents who were so involved in the "Go go Garrison" have moved onto another school. It was really a flavor of the month type thing. |
Anonymous
The previous principal was semi-coherent and was also suspected of cheating. |
Anonymous
That said this is the second year with devastating test results, so it can't all be on the previous principal. |
Anonymous
Hope this does not happen. Seaton still has a long way to go but they have worked hard to get to where they are now. |
GarrisonPTA
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Hi there, it's me, Ann McLeod, Garrison PTA president.
I was really disappointed about the test scores. I haven't talked with the Principal about it yet so I don't know what his explanation might be. I can offer one that I am quite sure will not be adequate for DCUM but I can try. Last year was the first year after many school closures. Our enrollment went up 20%. We received students from Prospect Learning Center which closed and so our special education percentage increased even more. So, our enrollment increase was not just because an additional PS/PK class was added, it was also from students in upper grades who came from other schools. I've said it before and I will say it again...my son has been at Garrison since PK. He will be in 3rd grade this year. He has learned to read and do math at Garrison. I certainly did nothing to teach him this. Really, I let him watch way too much TV and have his own iPad on which he plays MineCraft way too often. His cousins who are the same age (one is the the same grade, the other is one grade above) go to school in Potomac Maryland. HE READS AND DOES MATH ON THE SAME LEVEL AS THEM. He learned it all at Garrison. Why are other students not on this same level? I don't know, they have had the same teachers. All I can really point to is that our school is 99% low income and probably 30% special education (this is a MUCH higher sp ed percentage than a lot of other Title I schools). My son is in neither of those categories and that's the difference. If my son, who has a stable home life and inherently knows school is important and that he has to listen and behave was not learning, then I would know there was a problem with the teachers or the administration or whatever other reason you want to give. But that is not the case. As a person who has spent the majority of her free time working to support the school, it is extremely disheartening to read many of the comments about Garrison and many other similar schools. A school should not be judged on test scores alone. "Hype" about a school is not worth it if the test scores don't go up?? No school is ever going to improve unless we all support the students who are enrolled and each other and stop being so negative. If more involved families don't start attending, of course nothing will change. So perhaps instead of asking "What's up with Garrison?" how about we ask "How can we help Garrison?" or "What is DCPS doing to help Garrison?" maybe the original poster did not mean the question in a negative way, and maybe I am reading into other posts, but it seems all of the discussion is so negative rather than trying to really figure out what is wrong and what to truly do to help the kids who need help getting to the level where they should be according to some data point. I would give up reading DCUM but as the PTA president it is my responsibility to come here and read all of this and respond. And you can feel however you want to about what I have said, bash me, or whatever. All I know is I am trying to support the school and our students, who are such great kids, and I'm also really sad that they are not reading and doing math on grade level. I guess on a positive note, at least people are paying attention to Garrison. Thanks, ann |
Anonymous
| ^^As someone who is IB for a different 99% FARM school, working hard to make it better, I wholly agree with you. |
Anonymous
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Thank you Ann for your insight and the great work you have done on behalf of Garrison students.
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Anonymous
+1 Thank you. I didn't realize Garrison had taken in so many new older elementary students this year. |
Anonymous
+1 I just wish you more of the families in your neighborhood would commit to the school as you have. It does seem that many of the people I have heard advocating for the school send their own children elsewhere. |
Anonymous
Another +1 and huge thank you to Ann. And yes, we live a few blocks away and are sending our kids to Garrison. I think there are a lot of gems in the neighborhood and I hope the best for all of them. It makes me sad to hear the comparisons made in earlier postings. I support improvements for all of these local schools and think they can all be winners. |
Anonymous
What you're missing is that some other schools already ARE winners and Garrison still have a VERY long way to go. It's great that people are willing to commit and put in the effort to help the school change, but it's unfair to people considering it to try and pretend that it's something that it's not. |
Anonymous
| How is Garrison with special ed? They have a high percentage, but nothing specific like what kinds of targeted programs the might have for autism like Hearst and Tyler. Interested in learning disabilities, not cognitive or physical. I asked on the special needs forum and didn't get much. TIA |
Anonymous
| I'm sure someone will chime in with more recent info, but when I looked at the school a few years back they had an autism program with I believe a few classrooms, plus they were planning to start an inclusion classroom at the PS/PK level. |
Anonymous
There is a large autism program at Garrison -- I think at least five classrooms -- and, I think, some other special education classrooms as well. |
Anonymous
| how does special ed affect test scores? |