Week 2- Focus School Meeting

On Wednesday I had the opportunity to attend a meeting at Bridgeport Middle School about focus schools. My PDS was named a focus school this year. At first I was unsure what it meant to be a focus school but after attending the meeting I feel like I have a better idea. My PDS is a focus school because the gap between the "low" students and the core group is too large. When teachers were talking about this during the in-service days at the beginning of the school year I  thought that people from the board of education or the state was going to come in and "take over". At the meeting they said that a group called RESA will be coming one day in September. At this time their "team" will observe classroom, interview students and teachers, and really just get a feel for what it means to be a student/teacher at Johnson Elementary. They will then take this information and make recommendations on how we can bring our low students up to the high students.  The county has assigned one person for each focus school to help with planning and implementation of anything new. At the beginning of this school year, I thought that being a focus school was a terrible thing and the "vibe" at my PDS would change dramatically, but I really feel like it is going to benefit everyone, but mostly the students. Being in a special education inclusion classroom currently, I fully understand this "gap" but that doesn't mean we should lower our standards so that the "low" students achieve, we should give them support so that all students succeed. By attending this event my view and attitude about being a focus school has changed completely. I only hope it truly benefits everyone!