Are other schools like this?

[boysrus]

I have been a hardcore homeschooler since my ds was born, pretty much, and he is 10. This year we have put them in school. I was so nervous because of my own experiences and the horror stories I have read and heard. Thye just started this past week and I can't believe it. It has me wondering if other stories are exaggerated or are we just really lucky. I would love to hear about other people's local public schools.
I have been worried about homework and the load they have to carry. My first grader will have homework, but it will only be about 30 minutes a week. I am not sure about the other two yet. But, they don't bring textbooks home, just worksheets, so they won't be hauling books.

My son's first grade teacher said if anything is a hardship, just talk to her. She even said, if your child doesn't have tennis shoes, let her know and she would help us get a pair.

The district has a policy of no high sugar foods: no cookies, cakes or candies will be served at events or pn the lunch menu. The lunch menu has a vegetarian entree choice almost every day and they do have an organic salad bar every day. There is also no soda or juice mixes in the vending machine or served at lunch.

The district has an autism specialist and our school has an amazing special ed teacher who is doing everything in her power to accomodate my son.

They offer weekly music, 90 minutes a day of reading, and three recesses all the way up to the fifth grade.

The school has started a new program to compost all the lunch waste

They have a garden that the kids plant and work in

They have an afterschool program to encourage girls in the areas of math and science.

My formerly unschooled unscheduled boys love this school!!

Is this the norm for public education in the country? I know the organic salad bar isn't, but what about the rest of it?

[Momily]

A lot of that is true for both the school I work at and the school my DS attends (both Charter schools which are a form of public school).

Both schools are junk food free (one school does cupcakes once a month for every kid who had a birthday that month), offer vegetarian choices every day, and never serve beverages other than milk, water, or 100% juice.

Both schools have strong special ed programs, and can call in outside people if they need to.

Both schools prioritize recess (although not 3 times a day -- that's awesome! At my school the kids walk 15 minutes each way to the park so we do 1 long recess and 1 more in aftercare).

Both schools have afterschool enrichment programs -- not neccessarily science for girls, but something cool.

Both schools use curriculums that are very hands on, lots of science, lots of individualization -- creative writing, children reading books that they select, little to no worksheets, no textbooks etc . . .

I read what people write about "public schools" and it bothers me that they paint public schools with such a broad brush. Yes, some really really need help, but there's a lot of good going on too. I think that rather than saying "I would always choose public" or "I would never send my kid to public" parents need to look school by school and district by district.

[mojomom]

My kids school sounds like the OP's school experience.
MY first grader gets home work but it is just review and takes my ds about 10 minutes to finish. The teacher sent home a not saying that she understands families have hectic schedules at time so if the homework can't get done that night, just turn it in when it is finished.
My dd's 4th grade class has a big family/community feel. Everyone helps each other out. They gave their class a community name and all this week it has just been about projects about themselves what their likes are, who they are. They created a little museum like tour thru out the class romm, each kid displaying different items about themselves.
My kids school also has the no sugar treats, both my kids classrooms went over what good snack choices would be and made it a group decision to bring in healthy snacks. When there is holiday's or parties the school encourages doing book exchanges or passing out special art supplies and the like.

They also have a mentoring program where the older kids take the younger grades under their wing and help out with the playground and reading time.

The school has a special ed program where they really include the kids into as much of the grade level class activities as possible. My dd gave up her recess last year to go and help in the special ed class by reading to the kids or playing games with them.

In fact I also hs'ed my kids until last year. My dd's 3rd grade teacher ran her classroom almost like a homeschooling enviroment. Very hands on and creative ways of doing work. Her teacher worked really hard to get extra funding for field trips, my dd had a filed trip almost once a month last year.Her teacher was the to me the kind of HS teacher I tried really hard to be. This teacher this year seems to be so far just like her.
I really like how the whole school staff all seem to be on the same page. I think that makes a big difference

I am glad your children are enjoying their school year and it was an easy transition for you.

[UUMom]

Ime, there are lots of public schools with very fine folks who are not trying to turn children into lemmings, robots for the man, put duct tape over their mouths, or feed them crap all day. My son's public high school had a good vegetarian selection each day, a lovely salad bar, and while they have a couple of soda vending machines in the buidings, they are not turned on until after school lets out. So, yes, if you are in an afterschool activity, you can buy soda. But you can't buy during regualr school hours...lol hey, it's something, and keeps teens who might, from driving to the nearest fast food place.

I have several friends who teach and there arr some very thoughtful people and programs out there in the public school world. Gardens are becoming less uncommon, and recess is making a big comeback in many places. My children's old K teacher would always say "Childhood is a journey, not a race".

[BusyMommy]

I teach and my kids go to school. We all love it. No, we don't have organic salads, though.

We are blessed at both of our schools to have wonderful staff, open communication and flexibility and many support services. However, my kids go to a "high end $" school and I teach at one of the lowest income schools in our district. Fortunately, our state (& feds) make up the difference btw the schools w/all sorts of grants, etc. Interestingly, both of our schools just received merit pay for high achievement even though we're on opposite ends of the "scale."

I have heard horror stories here on MDC but have never seen anything remotely similar IRL.

[Ruthla]

The public schools my kids went to before we moved weren't like that- the only lunch program was through the PTA and only offered one choice per day and was the same every week- every monday was pizza, every tuesday was chicken nuggets, etc.

There was one recess a day and they had resource room for kids who needed extra help in certain areas and a school psychologist. They had art once a week, gym 2-3 times a week, and overall were a very good school.

The problems I had with them were much more subtle. I had the teacher tell me "She doesn't have A.D.D. she has L.A.Z.Y." I had the school phschologist treat me like a 12yo and imply that the only thing wrong with DD was my bad parenting. Both she and the principal refused to move DD to another class when she was constantly butting heads with her teacher. This same teacher was wonderful with DD1- it was just a very bad fit for DD2 and nobody at the school was really willing to work with me.

The school had lunch ladies who refused to let my kids leave their jackets off if they got too hot during recess- it was cold in the morning when they left for school (so they needed a jacket) but by recess it was hot and they were running around. It was a huge PITA to send in notes every year giving my kids permission to take their jackets off if they got too hot.

It was just a general lack of respect for my parenting- and a lack of respect for the kids themselves- that I noticed at that school. The staff was definitely people who enjoyed working with children and meant well, but we didn't see eye to eye on a lot of things.

[mattemma04]

Our local K-3rd sounds similar to the school RUTHLA mentions as far as lunch and recess.

My dd does not enjoy her second grade class all that much.She said her teacher was ok.Only one thing I remember is she told the kids not to count with their fingers,or they needed to go back to 1st grade. Already dealing with a girl bothering my dd,so we will see how the school handles it.Art teacher got mad at dd because she got creative with her drawing and added fish.Guess no fish were allowed.

My 5yo K child does not say much about his day,though he does mention it is hot(no ac),and the food at school is yucky.Oh, and he is thirsty at times.Other than 2 water breaks and lunch they don't get anything.

Some of the schools mentioned sound wonderful.

[~Megan~]

Our school isn't quite like that. It is a really great school as far as public ones go though, I think.

The recesses sound great. dd will be starting Kindergarten tomorrow, half day, and will get one recess. I think the older grades get 2 a day.

The class rooms have one teacher, one aide, and one parent volunteer everyday.

They also encourage non sugary snacks for kindergarten and don't serve soda. I don't really know about the lunches but we plan to send lunch everday if she goes to first grade.

Sounds like your school is pretty great.

[wildmonkeys]

We have no compost for lunch waste, no organic salad bar and only one recess per day by 2nd grade, but otherwise...sounds much like our public school experience.

No sweet treats for b-days. Lots of time set aside for reading. Lots of diversity. School supplies & whatnot available for those who don't have them. About 10 minutes of homework Monday - Thursday as well as 15 minutes of reading whatever we want. Truthfully, I don't get lots of the "public school" emails I read on MDC and other sites....though....there are some things I would like to see changed within our school. However, overall it has been a great experience for ds1.

[mojomom]

Originally Posted by mattemma04

My 5yo K child does not say much about his day,though he does mention it is hot(no ac),and the food at school is yucky.Oh, and he is thirsty at times.Other than 2 water breaks and lunch they don't get anything.

Some of the schools mentioned sound wonderful.

That makes me sad about your ds and being thirsty and only getting 2 water breaks.
Part of the voluntary school supply list the school sent home with my kids was to send in a reusable water bottle so the kids could fill it up and have it with them whenever they want a drink. They keep the bottle at their desk. One of my kids teacher included with the water bottle reguest a note saying "water helps keep our bodies healthy and helps our brain to learn." Not those exact words but something along those lines.
They also can bring in a snack and eat it at their desk anytime of the school day when they want to. It has to be a healthy snack and if it is not the teachers supply a healthy snack.

Also forgot our school does this cool fund drive, where they have a big metal bin outside for paper they gets picked up and delivered to a recycle center and they pay the school money for it.