An unchallenging environment? ACE parents say Amherst schools need to refocus on excellence

By Mary Carey
Staff Writer

Published on December 21, 2007

It was standing room only at this week's Amherst Regional School Committee meeting as 60-plus parents turned out to hear an updated presentation about proposed changes in the ninth-grade science curriculum and from the new group called ACE.

Amherst Committee for Excellence members read aloud their mission statement and current priorities along with a letter signed by 315 parents and members of the community.

"If Amherst can rededicate itself to a culture of excellence, we are committed to finding the resources needed to make that possible for our schools and for our children," the group writes in the conclusion to its statement of priorities.

Among its current goals, ACE asks that the school district undertake a "rigorous evaluation of the middle school" that weighs "the cost and benefits of the current balance between social/emotional and academic/intellectual considerations" and a comprehensive evaluation of the kindergarten through sixth-grade math curriculum.

Updating the district's Web site "to emphasize academic excellence and provide links to academic resources" is another of its goals.

The discussion was broken into a longer and shorter session, punctuated by everyone having to evacuate the high school library by the sound of a fire alarm triggered by a basketball referee taking a shower in the men's locker room.

Science curriculum

The science presentation was limited, for the most part, to a talk by ninth-grade science teacher Nick Shaw, who explained why the science faculty believes an ecology/environmental science curriculum would benefit ninth-graders most. Earth science has been the primary science course for ninth-graders since 1992, with some students taking biology, an option that would no longer be available to ninth-graders.

Parents at last week's School Committee meeting raised objections to the proposal, which in retrospect should have been more comprehensive before it was presented the first time, Superintendent Jere Hochman said.

Hochman asked parents to review an updated summary of the proposal which would receive a thorough hearing by the School Committee, with public comments welcome, at the committee's next meeting on Jan. 8.

ACE concerns

School Committee members and parents discussed ACE's concerns for about an hour before the fire alarm, and a dozen so parents continued it after the unplanned break.

Several parents who spoke said they are not impressed with their children's homework assignments and that the courses are not as challenging as ones offered in other districts with which they are familiar.

Joel Wolfe said his son is in the fourth grade and brings home math homework that says "third-grade math" with the "third-grade scratched out." His son tells him he gets his homework done while the other children in the class are putting their snow pants on. "He's not a genius; he's clever," Wolfe said.

Hochman said parents should speak to their children's teachers about their concerns, but parent Janet McGowan said she had talked to teachers and principals about her child not being challenged enough and she didn't feel her concerns were addressed. She asked whether other parents had had the same experience and many raised their hands.

Parent Kate Troast said her family moved here in 2005 and learned soon after that her daughter's high school classes had 29 to 31 students in them, compared to 21 in the district she had come from.

Good times

School Committee member Michael Hussin said his children had good experiences at the school, although not all teachers and courses were excellent. He has also seen the effects of increased pressure on schools from budgetary to the imposition of the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System tests.

When his daughter began taking Latin, the classes were small. By the time she finished, there were 35 students in the class, Hussin said, a result of budget constraints.

The School Committee is forced to discuss "where's the best place to short shrift someone. It's a ridiculous question to ask, but we've had to ask that question," Hussin said.

School Committee Chairwoman Elaine Brighty urged parents to stay involved. Usually no one attends School Committee meetings, she said. "For five years now we've been cutting and it's been an empty room."

Committee member Andrew Churchill said he found the ACE statement of priorities "inspiring." But education issues are complex, he said.

"Differentiation," which means that children of all skill levels are taught in the same classroom but in a manner that challenges them all, is not easy to achieve, Churchill said. "Tracking is bad," he said, referring to the practice of separating children with different skill levels into different classrooms. "Grouping maybe OK as long as it doesn't involve tracking," he said of separating children within the same classroom into groups.

"This is complicated stuff." He encouraged ACE parents to "stay positive and keep pushing."

Part of the problem, parent Lise Halpern said, is that the schools may not be doing a good job at getting the word out about all the positive things they do. Parents and children aren't hearing the message that the schools are striving for excellence, she said.

A couple of parents said their children have had positive experiences in the Amherst schools.

"So far, my experience has been excellent, I have no complaints," said Claudia Donald, whose child is in kindergarten at Fort River.