why we love our principals

Happy Thanksgiving!

I wanted to tell you something I am truly grateful for today. Good administrators!
Nothing changes a school's culture faster than a good admin, and Pasco has some of the best. I don't know them all personally, so I asked you lovely readers to give a shout out to your favorite admin, and this is the response I got.





"I choose Barbara Pierce at Twain. She stands with her teachers, makes it very clear that she wants to help us all be successful so we can help our students be successful. She does not talk down to teachers nor play favorites. Barbara loves being at school with the kids and the teachers. She works behind the scenes in so many ways we will never know but we do know that she is fighting for us. We are VERY LUCKY AND BLESSED to have here"

"I second that! There are many great princpals, but Mrs. Pierce is amazing! We missed her when she left McLoughlin but know some elementary kids (and teachers) were lucky to have her!"





"I love Mr. Wallwork at Chiawana. He attends all student events, not just sports. He came to a silent auction fundraiser for the marching band. Just a great guy... speaking as a parent."

"Agreed. John Wallwork is amazing! I don't know how he does it, but he seems to be at EVERY event!"

"He's a pretty awesome and supportive boss too! I concur with you."

"We loved him at McLoughlin, but then he moved.  :(  "

"I have to agree on John Wallwork. Not only does he attend NUMEROUS events, I'm thinking he and his family probably live in a bus just to travel from school function to school funtion. They also get to know each and every kid (it seems) on a personal level as well as the families. He is definitely a GREAT FIT for our High School."

"It's great to see him at so many different school functions. He was great when he was at McLoughlin as well."






"My favortie vice princiapal is Shannon Lockard at Ochoa... She cares about kids and teachers! "





"My favorite principal is Jaime Morales at McClintock... he is no nonsense and has integrity."

"I am really enjoying Mr. Morales. He has helped a lot with getting my son back in school. He was having a hard day and he took him on a walk until he was calm enough to go back to class."




"Mrs. Sparks was great at Livingston."



"Mrs. Aragon was good when she was at Twain."



"I loved working with Victor Silva and Scott Raab."



"Mr. Mahaffey is the best!"



"Mrs. Cissne!"




I'm sure there are many, many other great admins out there, and we thank you all. Thank you for taking time to get to know our kids. Thank you for treating your teachers as professionals and equals. Thank you for being awesome.

Music to my ears.

The music programs here in Pasco are one of our most celebrated accomplishments.  We have great music! Great students, great teachers, great opportunities, great variety. Great. Great. Great.

Our music programs are so awesome, we literally throw parades just to listen to them!  ;)

In the not too distant past our music programs stunk. They were almost non-existent. Thanks to some positive decisions at the district level and some heroic efforts in the classroom, Pasco music is the envy of many other districts throughout the state.

But just as great things don't happen by accident, things don't stay great by accident either.

Our music programs are in trouble. Not huge trouble. Not immediate trouble. But trouble none the less. And if we want to keep music as one of the things that PSD is great at, then there is work that needs to be done right now to keep it that way.

So here's the problem.  Middle school music is the heart of our music success. It is when students transition from being just kids with instruments to being true musicians. This transition lays the foundation for our amazing high school programs.

This year things are changing. Normally a middle school teacher has three years to whip kids into shape, but with the transition of sixth grade back to elementary school, that window of opportunity has shrunk.  Middle school teachers now only have two years in which to work three years worth of magic. Sixth graders who previously had a multitude of musical opportunities and daily exposure to things as varied as jazz band, guitar, mariachi, and world drumming now are lucky if they have the option to do basic band, orchestra, or choir once a week.

To make matters worse, we have increasingly inconsistent quality of music programs in our elementary schools.  Our elementary music programs have always varied in intensity (based on interest, teacher quality, and principal preference and support) sending kids to middle school with a broad range of abilities. Sixth grade was typically the year used to catch kids up and create a more consistent educational opportunity district wide. Now that middle schools don't start until seventh grade,many students are essentially falling a year behind.

A major contributor to this problem is the way music is implemented in our various schools. Some schools are offering band and orchestra during the school day, while some offer it before school. The time of day a program is offered has a tremendous effect on which students will participate. Many kids won't do before school programs because their parents can't bring them. Others won't do during school programs because they don't want to miss out on other fun school activities.  Some of our schools offer band and orchestra five days a week. Some only offer it one day a week (what kind of skills do you think a child will gain with only one day a week of instruction?) leaving beginner students foundering.  Imagine the difference between a sixth grader who was receiving 40 minutes of music instruction in middle school every day of the week vs. a six grader who is now getting 30 minutes of music once a week at the elementary school. We certainly can't expect the same level of achievement when so much less effort is being given.

As Pasco continues to grow and add more schools, this problem will only get worse. The more schools we have, the more varied the quality of elementary music will be.  This isn't anyone's fault. This isn't intentional. This just is. Over crowding and under-staffing continue to compound this problem.

Fortunately it doesn't have to be the death of music in Pasco. For every problem there is a solution. It may be different for each building, but it does exist. There is always a solution. we just need to find it. Why are some elementary programs more successful? Because people expect them to be.   At some point someone (perhaps a principal or a music teacher) made the decision that they were going to have a great music program, so they do. They found the source of the problem and then found a solution. If we want to have consistently successful music programs, we need to expect it. We need to expect it, demand it, and make it happen.  If you are a parent with a child who is not getting the quality music instruction you expect, go talk to the teacher and the principal. and make it happen. If you are a teacher and struggling to get enough time to teach, talk to your administrator, talk to your parents, work together to find a solution. It's worth fighting for.

In a district where so many things are going wrong, we need to hang on to what's going right.  So ask questions, get involved, find out what your school is doing and what you can do to help.  Don't wait for it to become a problem. Be proactive. If your children are two young for elementary school band, talk to the teacher about it anyway. Let them know that it's a priority to you.  If you don't speak up now before it affects your children, it may be too late when it does. With a little bit of effort, Pasco music will continue to be something to sing about!

Logic vs. Emotion

Remember that time in Finding Nemo when the dentist brags about how he found Nemo "struggling for life out on the reef, and I saved him!"

That well-meaning dentist is our school board, and they want to "save" all the fish.

Building a pre-school to help underprivileged children sounds like a great idea right? I mean who wouldn't want to help all these cute little kiddos?

Feeling warm and fuzzy in support of a preschool!

Former board president Ryan Brault claims that large numbers of Pasco students come to kindergarten 2-3 years behind grade level and having never held a book or a pencil. When asked how to improve tests scores and graduation rates, he said he felt our best option was to build a mega-preschool.

In fact the entire school board has been shedding public tears over the disadvantaged preschool students  in our district. They included a pre-k center on the bond that failed in 2011. This could have been in indicator that voters didn't think pre-k was the best place to spend our tax dollars. But the board was not dissuaded from their goal. Despite not getting voter approval, they took 7.5 million dollars last spring and set it aside for the building of  a giant pre-school (the total cost of the preschool was estimated at 15 million dollars, but the board is hoping to get matching funds from the state- yeah the same state that our board claims is failing to fund k-12).

Feeling a little bit disenfranchised by my elected representatives.

It's no surprise that not everyone supports this idea.  The board claims we can't afford to fairly pay the teachers we already have. They have failed to provide curriculum for the students we already serve. Buildings like New Horizons are in unconscionable disrepair. We are over crowded and bursting at the seems. In many ways we are failing the students we are currently responsible for, yet the board feels the best use of our money is to bring in even more students!

Mouse droppings in classrooms at New Horizons High School
Photo credit: Eric Hayes

It doesn't really seem like the best use of funds at this particular moment does it?

Fortunately the community has made a pretty big fuss, and the school board appears to be listening. They've actually scaled back their plan a considerable bit. They recently announced that they were looking at purchasing a building and renovating it (for $2.5 million of our dollars plus another $2.5 million in hoped for matching state funds) to make a pre-school center. Monetarily speaking this is a much more fiscally responsible idea.

Cautiously Excited!

I'm excited that the board is looking at other options and that the price tag has come down dramatically. I love the idea that our community could support the needs of our population. This feels like a solid compromise. It feels good.

But million dollar decisions shouldn't be based on feelings. They should be based on fact. Just because this new idea is better than the last doesn't mean its actually a good idea.

I love children. I LOVE adorable, chubby, little, baby-faced preschoolers!

Oh  my gosh! Can't you just eat these little darlings up!

I want what's best for them. What is REALLY BEST, not just what FEELS GOOD.
So what is best?

Starting to get confused again.... having doubts....

Are we sure pre-school is even a good idea? While we are here squabbling about making sure our kids haven't fallen behind, other countries are actually trying to slow down early childhood education.  In Finland (where test scores and international rankings are nothing to sneeze at) children don't even start kindergarten until children are seven years old. The country has just began compulsory "pre-school" starting at age six. SIX!!!

Read more about it: HERE    and    HERE

We are trying to load up 3 and 4 year olds on a bus to make sure they get to their mega pre-school in time to learn to read. While our more successful European friends are keeping kids out of school until they are much older, and even then they focus on play and social skills. Not reading and writing.

Amy Phillips claims that pre-school will have the single most powerful long-term affect on student achievement. But research doesn't exactly back that up. Unfortunately their are no studies showing whether having curriculum is important (apparently in every place but Pasco that is already a given). But there are studies showing a lot of other contributors, namely quality teachers and parental involvement.

Here's a report that the number one factor in school success is good teachers:click HERE
And another one: HERE
And here's one that sites parent involvement as the number one factor in academic success: HERE
And another one that points out parents as the key: HERE

If improving educational opportunities for all of Pasco's kids is our goal, then quality teachers and parent involvement need to be on our list of things to get done. But how?

A lot of the issues surrounding attracting quality teachers have begun to be addressed thanks to the recent teacher strike:  providing adequate instructional resources and supplies along with competitive wages. Now how do we improve parent involvement? For the sake of brevity let's just look at this issue in respect to pre-school and kindergarten students. If the goal is parent involvement shouldn't we be focusing on helping parents become better teachers in their own homes? Wouldn't bringing books to the children be more beneficial than bringing the children to the books? (The READY for Kindergarten program does this, and it's amazing! Read more HERE!)

But under-privilaged kids need pre-school, right? To reduce the achievement gap, right? It would be wrong not to help them.

Now I have guilt!

First let's recognize that public schools are charged with the task of providing an education to children in grades k-12. That's it. They do not have a mandate to provide school to children under the age of five. BUT for the sake of argument lets assume that getting kids an early start would make providing that k-12 education easier later on. Let's assume that kids MUST go to preschool and talk about ways to make that happen.

Many parents simply put their own children in private preschool. What if parents can't afford it? What if the preschool can't provide for the special needs of a child with a disability?

There is actually already a program in place that serves low income and/or disabled children in our community. It's called Head Start and ECEAP. And it's a great program!   Read more about it HERE.
Families qualify based on need and students get an amazing preschool education that includes whole family activities and classes for parents (remember how important that parent involvement thing was?).

What about kids who aren't poor enough to qualify for head start? Or what if their parents work and can't take them to pre-school. What about the kids who are just in daycare all day?

I'm glad you asked.

This year our state legislature passed a law requiring ALL state licensed day-care facilities to provide preschool type services.  Seriously!  All licensed day-care centers have to also be preschools. So all those kids who are sitting in day care all day long are actually already going to be getting to go to preschool!

I'm confused. Why are we building a pre-school?

Who is left? What kids are we talking about that still need access to a pre-school and don't have it?

The answer is none. NONE.

Pasco school district is trying to do something that feels good, but it MAKES NO SENSE.
Building a pre-school for underprivileged little children feels like a good idea. Unfortunately when you take away the emotion the logic behind it doesn't stand up to scrutiny.


The good news.... if we don't need to build a pre-school, there is still plenty of money left in the bucket to relocate New Horizons! Let's get 'er done!

Oh the places you won't go!

I am hesitant to touch this issue as I have mixed feelings on the subject.  I really should just let it go and hope it blows over, but.... I give myself such very good advice and I very seldom follow it, so I'm going to go full steam ahead and tackle this topic anyway.

Last week the school board discussed new guidelines regarding weekend travel. These guidelines have come as a result of a huge uproar last month about a band trip taken by Pasco High School. So first lets talk about what happened to start this drama, and then we'll talk about the results.

There is a marching band competition every year in Everett. The bands from Chiawana and Pasco High go most years but not every year. There are actually several big marching band competitions around the state each year (including one here called Cavalcade of Bands) and both high schools attend about three competitions per year. Of those three one of them is usually an over-nighter.  The reason these trips are over night is because they begin early in the morning and go late into the night. In order to be at a competition on the other side of the state our band kids would need to get on a bus at 4 AM, compete all day long, and then hop back on a bus at midnight to ride four or five hours back home. It's not practical. This year, for the Everett trip, Chiawana left Friday night and spent the night in Everett. They competed all day Saturday and came home late that night arriving around 2AM on Sunday. Pasco High decided to do something different. They decided to leave early Saturday morning and stay in Everett that night. So both schools had planned to stay overnight one night in order to avoid the extreme fatigue of an early morning AND a late night combined.

What was not mentioned was that PHS wanted to spend the next day (Sunday) in Seattle site seeing. It was a fun trip, but a trip without a purpose. The school board denied this overnight request (I have no idea why the trip was denied. There are a million reasons that have been suggested: extended trip lacked educational value, paper work wasn't filed on time, some didn't like the idea of Sunday travel. Whether the truth is among these reasons is unknown.) People were in an uproar claiming that the board was retaliating against teachers by canceling a student trip. The truth is, however, the trip was NEVER being canceled. It was just being shortened. They were still being allowed to go and to compete.  If they had won they would have been traveling home at the same time as the CHS team Saturday night.   But after the huge fuss that was made, the board relented and allowed the students to stay overnight after all. Unfortunately PHS was eliminated in the early rounds of the competition and could have easily been home by 9PM Saturday night. With the boards permission though they stayed over night and spent Sunday out touristing the Seattle area. There were a small number of parents who wanted their kids home early, so they went and picked them up Saturday night and brought them home. 

The truth is this trip (and it's alleged cancellation) was made out to be a big deal when it shouldn't have been.  People got really worked up over what wasn't a big deal. And because people got really worked up, the board got worked up in return. Now we have  a board that is trying to implement a policy of only allowing one day of weekend travel. They claim this is being done in order to protect family time. And while family time is a noble cause, it shouldn't be used a the scapegoat here. PSD has no problem infringing on family time by busing kids across town for the sake of "balanced" schools.  PSD has no problem taking four and five year olds away from home for the sake of a coveted kinder center or preschool. PSD took teachers to court because they were sure (legally, on paper, totally sure!) that a few extra days of family time was going to cause "irreparable harm" to 17,000 children. But now weekends are sacred?  PSD seems to think the best place for kids to be is at school, so why the sudden turn around? Why do they suddenly care about weekends and family time? 

Teams travel. Bands travel. Clubs travel. Classes travel. Of course we don' want them traveling for no reason. Of course we don't want them gone more than necessary. But can't the rules of reason and logic be applied to each individual situation without needing a blanket policy that bans two day travel on the weekend? If this policy is fully enforced it will stop all kinds of amazing learning opportunities for our students. If it is only partially enforced (ie not letting band kids attend competitions but still sending our football team on to a championship game) there will be huge uproar from the parents whose children are being slighted and the perceived favoritism will land PSD in another lawsuit.

This is just one more example of PSD's over-reaching policies infringing on families' rights. They apparently don't trust parents to make good decisions for their own children. They don't trust that parents know when to say no. They don't trust that parents can decide what is best.

It's also another way PSD is showing they don't trust their teachers. They can't trust teachers to choose positive learning opportunities for kids. We can't trust teachers to make decisions based on a child's over all well-being. 

I don't blame the board for wanting a policy in place. After the ridiculous hullabaloo people made over the non-issue of the PHS band trip, I'm sure they are just trying to cover their butts. Unfortunately two wrongs don't' make a right. Just because the people who made a fuss about PHS's band trip were a little off base doesn't mean we need a far reaching policy in place to stop all future disagreement. What we need is more dialogue.  I  believe if there had been more dialogue at the board meeting when this issue was first raised, a lot of this confusion could have been cleared up. People could have seen what the real issue was and the board wouldn't need to make this broad policy sweep in order to protect themselves.

So I guess what I'm saying in all this mess is.... the board isn't so wrong this time.

Yes you heard me right. I said the board isn't wrong.

I don't exactly think they are right. But they probably aren't wrong. This time.

They didn't DO anything. They just talked about stuff. I don't agree with everything they said, but they haven't DONE anything the be up in arms about.  They set a guideline (not an engraved in stone commandment), and they discussed how there will have to be exceptions made. In the end, I don't think anything will change. It's all just talk.

BUT...

I could be wrong. We all still need to be aware of what's going on, so that we can raise alarm should things go of track. And when that happens, we will be armed with facts, right people? Let's not go all crazy accusing the board of retaliation when in fact no such thing occurred. Let's not scream that the sky is falling, field trips are being canceled, and that kids are being punished when that is not the case at all.

If we can react civilly, maybe, just maybe the board will respond with cool heads as well.

And then instead of pointing fingers and pacing about worrying about what MIGHT happen, we can actually work together to deal with the things that really are happening.

Maybe.

No Matter What

It's a big day in Pasco. Election day!

Some big decisions are being made even as we speak. It's hard to know what the landscape of Pasco School District will look like tomorrow and over the next few months and years.

But no matter what side you are on, I have good news for you.

We have four good people running for school board. Four well educated, compassionate, and service-minded individuals hoping to have the honor to serve on our school board for the next four years.

No matter what happens, I am confident that all four individuals will continue to serve the students of Pasco in the best ways they know how.

Whether he is elected or not, I have no doubt that Aaron Richardson will keep attending board meetings, speaking out, and advocating for the children of Pasco no matter what.

Regardless of the election results, I believe Ryan Brault will continue to be an active volunteer in Pasco schools using his influence to help students on an individual basis no matter what.

No matter what the election results are, I believe Scott Lehrman has been the most thoughtful listener on the board these past two years, and will continue to be a possitive role model for Pasco kids.

Kathleen Barton has been a breath of fresh air during some very tense times, and I hope that no matter what the outcome of this election, we will see her on the school board eventually.

Waiting for elections results can be stressful!

So when you wake up tomorrow and check the news, I hope that no matter what the election results are, you will hit the ground running ready to work hard for Pasco's kids.

No matter what there will still be work that can be done.

No matter what there will still be work that must be done.

Our kids deserve our very best no matter what.

I'm sorry Pasco, but I'm not quitting you!

I need to apologize to everyone in Pasco.
And I mean EVERYONE.

To those who love me, I apologize for dragging you into my moment of despair last week, and giving you cause to believe I might be leaving.

To those who hate me, I apologize for dragging you into my moment of despair last week, and giving you reason to hope that I might be leaving.

Love me or hate me, I'M NOT QUITTING YOU, PASCO!

Right now Pasco is an okay place to live.
There are a lot of terrible cities and school districts out there. And I mean TERRIBLE, but Pasco isn't one of them.
There are a lot of amazing cities and school districts out there.  What if Pasco were one of them?
Why aren't we amazing?
What would need to change to make Pasco one of the most Amazing cities ever?
What is stopping us from doing that today?

Right now we are sitting in a place that is okay, but nothing ever stays the same. Everything is meant to change. The question is will it change for the better or for the worse?

Looking into Pasco's future, it is easy to see a district where schools continue to get worse. It's easy to see a future where amazing teachers flee to other cities where good things come more easily. It's easy to see a Pasco turned ghost town as families who are able to move on to districts with better resources, and businesses move on with them.

post apocalyptic Pasco

That's an easy future to see because it doesn't take any effort from us. We can just sit here and do nothing, and that is the future we will get. It's that easy.

Thankfully the future of Pasco is a choice.
It's a choice each of us are making every day.

We can choose how we spend our time.
Are you going to spend an hour on Facebook today, or are you going to spend that hour in an elementary school working with struggling readers.

We can choose how we spend our money.
Do you want that over-priced cup of coffee today, or will you grab a back pack from the Walmart clearance rack and bring it into a school for a child who needs one.

We can choose to vote.
Did you vote yet? Or did you decide that it doesn't matter because nothing will ever change?

We can choose to speak.
Are you using your voice to complain to your neighbor about what's going wrong in your child's classroom, or are you going to board meetings and offering suggestions? Are you complaining to the principal about what they are doing wrong, or are you calling and asking what you can do to help? Are you using your voice to build up or to tare down?

We can choose our attitude.
Do you believe change is possible? Or have you already given up? Giving up is the easy way out. Giving up is the lazy man's solution.

I'm not giving up.
I believe that things will get better. Not by accident. Not by the hard work of someone else.

By choice.
By me.
By you.
By action.
Now.

I see a future where Pasco is a city people flock to not flee. I see a future where the community of Pasco is the envy of all diverse communities. I see a future where Pasco teachers are admired for their amazing work and envied for the incredible environment and support in which they do that work. I see a future where Pasco schools aren't just the best in the Tri-Cities, but are the best in the state.

Tomorrow-land Pasco

So I'm asking you now, Which Pasco do you choose?

And What are you going to do to make it happen?


Don't just think about it. Say it.
Don't just talk about it. Do it.

Don't just want it. Be it.



I believe in Pasco. Do you?