Anonymous
02/20/2016 09:11
Subject: Re:DCPS trying to kill Fillmore again
Anonymous wrote:I hope they are successful this time. What a waste of time, busing kids to a mediocre program.
+1 tend to agree. But the schools need to b given more than two teacher salaries. They need to be given a significant bump to properly outfit an in-school arts program (supplies, instruments,etc).
Anonymous
02/20/2016 09:07
Subject: Re:DCPS trying to kill Fillmore again
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I hope they are successful this time. What a waste of time, busing kids to a mediocre program.
-1! My child really reaped benefits and enjoyed it. No program is perfect, but I genuinely believe that the music and arts programs at Fillmore make for more well rounded students. Every parent should support arts education, and the Fillmore provides the added benefit of a dedicated arts space which draws students from several students together.
I think you misunderstood the PP who you are +1ing. Pretty sure he/she meant hope they are successful this time in closing it. I'm not a huge Fillmore fan. All the time lining up and busing is a huge time suck. My child had a teacher last semester who has a reputation for having kids sit out the whole class on the rug or sending them to another class. This is a once a week class! If Fillmore stays open, she needs to retire. She def falls into that category of being an artist not an educator and doesn't have good classroom management skills. Would personally prefer to see arts brought in-house to the schools. The problem is space since all the schools are packed as is. Art on a cart stinks.
Anonymous
02/20/2016 08:57
Subject: Re:DCPS trying to kill Fillmore again
Anonymous wrote:I hope they are successful this time. What a waste of time, busing kids to a mediocre program.
-1! My child really reaped benefits and enjoyed it. No program is perfect, but I genuinely believe that the music and arts programs at Fillmore make for more well rounded students. Every parent should support arts education, and the Fillmore provides the added benefit of a dedicated arts space which draws students from several students together.
Anonymous
02/20/2016 08:53
Subject: DCPS trying to kill Fillmore again
Anonymous wrote:We are trying to envision what art and music programs for 4-5tn graders look like when there is no extra space. I assume instrumental music is out of the question. Ceramics/pottery too. No theatre. Other than drawing in the classroom, what is there? I think the school is allocated 2 teachers for this, but no extra money.
I've taught drama in a regular DCPS classroom. It wasn't at all ideal, but the kids learned a lot, and it can be done. Same for visual arts (painting, drawing, multimedia), if there's a dedicated cart for supplies. Instrumental music and dance would be much more difficult.
Anonymous
02/20/2016 08:34
Subject: Re:DCPS trying to kill Fillmore again
I hope they are successful this time. What a waste of time, busing kids to a mediocre program.
Anonymous
02/20/2016 07:19
Subject: DCPS trying to kill Fillmore again
We are trying to envision what art and music programs for 4-5tn graders look like when there is no extra space. I assume instrumental music is out of the question. Ceramics/pottery too. No theatre. Other than drawing in the classroom, what is there? I think the school is allocated 2 teachers for this, but no extra money.
Anonymous
02/20/2016 05:47
Subject: Re:DCPS trying to kill Fillmore again
Anonymous wrote:If your child is interested in art, it may be a great program. My child is interested in music, dance, and the performing arts (sounds pretentious, wish dc were as taken with Writers Workshop). DC really enjoyed Fillmore for the two years (grades 3 and 4) that she attended a Fillmore school. Her choices included chorus, advanced strings, and musical theatre with the fabulous Mr. Lee (I think) who is now retired. Another teacher -- whom I pegged as a dud during an open house -- apparently improved dramatically and became really popular the following year, even among demanding parents. At a student showcase, I was really surprised (in a good way) to see that yet another teacher succeeded in teaching my DC and several other students a jazz routine to "A Train" that was far more complex than anything my DC had done at WSB student performances. Thanks to Fillmore strings program, DC figured out that reading music is important in advancing as a violinist, and requested that we change her private lesson music teacher to someone who would teach sight reading.
I think my DC really enjoyed being able to choose an adventure independently. In one case, a class was not working out, so DC took the initiative to transfer into another. On some level, DC viewed the teachers as role models because they were working artists. DC is now at a non-Fillmore school and after the first month asked "But when do we start going to Fillmore?" DC misses it so much. For DC, Fillmore filled a strong need that I did not know existed. Really disappointed to learn it may not survive.
Amending to clarify teacher I pegged as a dud was NOT "A Train" teacher.
Anonymous
02/20/2016 05:43
Subject: Re:DCPS trying to kill Fillmore again
If your child is interested in art, it may be a great program. My child is interested in music, dance, and the performing arts (sounds pretentious, wish dc were as taken with Writers Workshop). DC really enjoyed Fillmore for the two years (grades 3 and 4) that she attended a Fillmore school. Her choices included chorus, advanced strings, and musical theatre with the fabulous Mr. Lee (I think) who is now retired. Another teacher -- whom I pegged as a dud during an open house -- apparently improved dramatically and became really popular the following year, even among demanding parents. At a student showcase, I was really surprised (in a good way) to see that the teacher succeeded in teaching my DC and several other students a jazz routine to "A Train" that was far more complex than anything my DC had done at WSB student performances. Thanks to Fillmore strings program, DC figured out that reading music is important in advancing as a violinist, and requested that we change her private lesson music teacher to someone who would teach sight reading.
I think my DC really enjoyed being able to choose an adventure independently. In one case, a class was not working out, so DC took the initiative to transfer into another. On some level, DC viewed the teachers as role models because they were working artists. DC is now at a non-Fillmore school and after the first month asked "But when do we start going to Fillmore?" DC misses it so much. For DC, Fillmore filled a strong need that I did not know existed. Really disappointed to learn it may not survive.
I think my DC really enjoyed being able to choose an adventure independently. In one case, a class was not working out, so DC took the initiative to transfer into another. On some level, DC viewed the teachers as role models because they were working artists. DC is now at a non-Fillmore school and after the first month asked "But when do we start going to Fillmore?" DC misses it so much. For DC, Fillmore filled a strong need that I did not know existed. Really disappointed to learn it may not survive.
Anonymous
02/20/2016 00:11
Subject: DCPS trying to kill Fillmore again
My kid graduated a couple of years ago, so I may be out of date, but the Fillmore program always struck me as wildly age-inappropriate. They tried to get kids to do things that the average kid in the class wasn't ready for, maybe one kid was, but the rest just sort of faked it.
I also wasn't thrilled by the amount of time spent riding the bus. Many of the kids seemed to not enjoy the bus ride. Many of the teachers were artists who weren't skilled at educating, although word I hear is that has improved.
I was on my school's LSAT, and I can tell you that Fillmore was popular for a whole lot of reasons that had nothing to do with art. The big one is that the cost to the schools of participating in Fillmore is less than the cost of having music and art teachers on staff, so the school was able to satisfy the art and music requirement with a smaller chunk of the budget. Also, the way Fillmore worked was that the entire school went to Fillmore on the same day, which made it possible to have staff meetings and prep time every week. Our school was chronically overcrowded so if art and music were done in-house there would be no place other than the classroom, the Fillmore facility is better.
I also wasn't thrilled by the amount of time spent riding the bus. Many of the kids seemed to not enjoy the bus ride. Many of the teachers were artists who weren't skilled at educating, although word I hear is that has improved.
I was on my school's LSAT, and I can tell you that Fillmore was popular for a whole lot of reasons that had nothing to do with art. The big one is that the cost to the schools of participating in Fillmore is less than the cost of having music and art teachers on staff, so the school was able to satisfy the art and music requirement with a smaller chunk of the budget. Also, the way Fillmore worked was that the entire school went to Fillmore on the same day, which made it possible to have staff meetings and prep time every week. Our school was chronically overcrowded so if art and music were done in-house there would be no place other than the classroom, the Fillmore facility is better.
Anonymous
02/19/2016 22:22
Subject: DCPS trying to kill Fillmore again
My child is at a Fillmore partner school, but is too young to bus there yet. I have heard mixed things about the quality of the program and the instruction. Could any current parents comment on the instruction?
Anonymous
02/19/2016 21:47
Subject: DCPS trying to kill Fillmore again
Anonymous wrote:Elementary school students can do art and music in their classrooms.
spoken like the parent of a kid under 7. Fillmore provides at least 9 different subjects: band, strings, drama, dance, art, pottery, culture, design, and computer design efficiently to schools that absolutely don't have the space or supplies to do it in-house.
Anonymous
02/19/2016 20:27
Subject: DCPS trying to kill Fillmore again
Will that expand hardy's population?
Anonymous
02/19/2016 20:22
Subject: DCPS trying to kill Fillmore again
Elementary school students can do art and music in their classrooms.
Anonymous
02/19/2016 18:27
Subject: DCPS trying to kill Fillmore again
Because it is not cookie cutter and middling. It's artistic and creative and off their usual grid. I hope parents fight for it to stay.
Anonymous
02/19/2016 17:57
Subject: DCPS trying to kill Fillmore again
My kids aren't huge fans, but there is no room for art or music facilities at their overcrowded school, so it's Fillmore or no art or music. Why does DCPS hate Fillmore?