I stronly suspect that the difference in school grades can be largely attributed to social/economic factors. Walton High School is an interesting case study. The school grade has varied from a B down to a D and has done so through three principals. Usually, they make a C. The two Bs and two Ds were earned under two separate administrations with basically the same teaching staff, so I don't think that personnel is the issue. It seems to be more difficult at Walton to move the bottom 25% up each year. In any event, despite the grade there, that school produces tremedous kids every year go on to college, etc., and are successful. The grade will come up again. They have already identified the individual students that need to perform better and are getting them the necessary help.. Thanks.
South Walton High School Gets A+
- Thread starter Tigertail
- Start date
-
Trouble logging in? Send us a message with your username and/or email address for help.
I stronly suspect that the difference in school grades can be largely attributed to social/economic factors. Walton High School is an interesting case study. The school grade has varied from a B down to a D and has done so through three principals. Usually, they make a C. The two Bs and two Ds were earned under two separate administrations with basically the same teaching staff, so I don't think that personnel is the issue. It seems to be more difficult at Walton to move the bottom 25% up each year. In any event, despite the grade there, that school produces tremedous kids every year go on to college, etc., and are successful. The grade will come up again. They have already identified the individual students that need to perform better and are getting them the necessary help.. Thanks.
Do you feel like the investment made in the new school and now a 6.5 million dollar football field will really help in any way ?
What will the total investment in the Walton High be with this new expenditure?
Yes, I really believe students perform better and teachers' teach better in clean, modern, nice facilities. I know Walton's school grade went down to a "D" the first year they were in the new building. But, there were reasons for that decrease that are correctable.
The building itself cost 38 million. Sadly, we built it at a time when the price for construction was probably at its highest. The site was a challenge and that added to the costs. The good news is that we were able to put away enough money on the capital side to pay for it without borrowing money. And, our maintenance costs have gond down. The old building was falling apart; leaking roof, electrical problems, etc....
The outdoor facilities will cost approximately 6.8 million. Although, it could come in a little lower than that number. That cost is considerably less than what we would have had to spend had we started from scratch and constructed them when we built the building. Those outdoor facilities don't meet ADA requirements and we have never really spent any money out there. It's time to get them updated. There are huge problems out there not only with ADA requirements, but, inadequate sound systems and some other safety concerns. And, this project also includes a pretty large stormwater run off project. That site has never really had that done.
By the way, we are going to have to do some of the same changes at South Walton and Freeport, although not on such a large scale.
I think teachers (and the level of support they get from the parents) far outweigh a shiny new building in determining how well kids do.
Obviously one's environment can detract from teaching and some technological tools help teachers communicate, but I have definitely gotten the majority of my "good educating" from great teachers in crumbling classrooms.
And have gaps in my education from classes with subpar teachers using all sorts of fancy technology.
Obviously one's environment can detract from teaching and some technological tools help teachers communicate, but I have definitely gotten the majority of my "good educating" from great teachers in crumbling classrooms.
And have gaps in my education from classes with subpar teachers using all sorts of fancy technology.
I don't want to overstate a building's importance. Certainly, quality teachers, parental support and an enthusiastic administration are more important. But, it is hard to teach in an environment where the AC and heating do no work consistently, the power fails, the roof leaks and there is constant maintenance. Again, a building is not a panacea, but, it certainly helps. Especially one with state of art technology.
Last edited:
[FONT="]I spent k through 3 in a Catholic school in a large inner city. Most of the kids were from the lower socioeconomic group. Some of them were dirt poor, from large struggling families. Without exception every one of us, and I do mean every one, learned to read and read well. Grades 4-6 were at a private school with small classes and motivated students. That school had ancient wooden floors, no a/c (we opened the windows in hot weather) and nothing more than desks and a blackboard. By the time I got out of there for seventh grade in a large and well-regarded public school with lots of fancy facilities, I was miles ahead and bored to tears. What my first two schools had in common was great teachers who took it for granted that each child, no matter how poor, was teachable, a highly flexible curriculum, and lots and lots of mandatory exercise breaks. And we still had time for art, music and basic science and we read lots and lots of books and practiced penmanship ad nauseum. I don?t know how you recreate a solid, basic education like that in today?s world, but I?m convinced it can be done and has to be if we are going to give kids a foundation for the future[/FONT]
Great post. How do we recreate that world? The key factor is having parents that value education and care. That doesn't mean that the constantly battle the school, but, rather support and defend discipline decisions when their children are involved. Second, I believe we need to strengthen the curriculum. We need to understand that reading should be required, but, that the reading that is done in classrooms and for homework should be literature that the children might actually find interesting and challenging. Not just reading passages for the purpose of identifying content in a mechanistic fashion. Third, I truly believe that art, music, P.E. are essential parts of any education and they should be part of the curriculum, not something you take a kid out of to teach them those mechanistic reading "strategies" so your FCAT scores are better.
Will we ever return to a model that the poster experienced? Probably not, but, we can create classrooms where children learn in a respectful and disciplined enviroment. Frankly, that exists in most of our classrooms in Walton County, but, there are too many exceptions.
BTW, is mechanistic a word?
I don't know how we do it either, but improving reading skills would be at the top of my list if I was in charge for a day...I believe if people are taught to not only read, but encouraged to enjoy reading, then almost everything else will fall into place because the reading will open up doors of opportunity.
Each day I work with college students who need or want help with their writing. My first question to them is: how much do you read?
There is no question that the ones who read a lot are better writers, faster learners, and more curious about the world around them...
and yet we are not funding our libraries or schools the way we should; time for reading for pleasure is not factored into the "FCAT dominated school day" and too many of our students spend too much time either watching tv or playing video games instead of traveling the world through a good book.
Each day I work with college students who need or want help with their writing. My first question to them is: how much do you read?
There is no question that the ones who read a lot are better writers, faster learners, and more curious about the world around them...
and yet we are not funding our libraries or schools the way we should; time for reading for pleasure is not factored into the "FCAT dominated school day" and too many of our students spend too much time either watching tv or playing video games instead of traveling the world through a good book.
I just wanted to add that in my supposedly "honors" freshman English class, we read two books the entire time. When I changed schools as a sophomore the amount and rigor of the reading was perhaps the single largest difference.
My freshman year there was still block scheduling and that made it difficult to read more simply because there were less nights for homework. But even if it was a full year class, that would mean we would have read 4 books the entire year rather than only 2.
Also, don't you think there is something to be said for the importance of reading "critically" rather than just reading for content? I think if the honors classes involved more analysis of texts, rather than just knowing the plot of the story, they would be much better classes.
Of course basing an English class on discussion requires people in the class to have actually done the reading; which is not always a given at South Walton or other high schools across the country.
My freshman year there was still block scheduling and that made it difficult to read more simply because there were less nights for homework. But even if it was a full year class, that would mean we would have read 4 books the entire year rather than only 2.
Also, don't you think there is something to be said for the importance of reading "critically" rather than just reading for content? I think if the honors classes involved more analysis of texts, rather than just knowing the plot of the story, they would be much better classes.
Of course basing an English class on discussion requires people in the class to have actually done the reading; which is not always a given at South Walton or other high schools across the country.
Last edited by a moderator:
I serious question the label "honors" if you only read 2 books and didn't analyze them.
My english teachers would consider that "remedial" if you did that in a week, let alone an entire class.
They also flunked you if you didn't do your homework.
My english teachers would consider that "remedial" if you did that in a week, let alone an entire class.
They also flunked you if you didn't do your homework.