“My special child, pushed out of Kindergarten at a NYC charter school"

[proud2BlibKansan]

This is a mother’s personal story about having child with different needs “counseled out” of a NYC charter school. It’s also testimony of how inclusion, a smaller class size, and the supportive attitude of a great public school made an astounding difference in my son’s life. My name is Katherine Sprowal and I’m the mother of a delightfully spirited and rambunctious son whose name is Matthew. Like most children his age, he’s a vision of pure joy and enthusiasm: often bursting with energy to play all day, every day!

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During the first week of school, I noticed immediately how HSA classes were fully stocked with educational supplies and how nice and shiny their classrooms were in comparison to the existing public school space, which appeared dingy and dark. I thought to myself that it seemed a bit odd for HSA to share a building with another school, but never common areas of the building at the same time. The students didn’t eat, play in the yard or even use the same stairs together. I wondered what negative psychological effects this could have on students at both schools. I felt privileged to have my son in HSA and embarrassed all at once. I was anxious to meet the HSA and co-located parent reps to discuss these issues. I was also curious as to why parents didn’t appear to be welcome beyond the HSA entrance doors during drop off and pick-up. I had to literally force myself into the HSA school area during school hours the first couple of days of school.

When I did, I noticed that the HSA school staff and children didn’t seem to laugh or smile much. I couldn’t help notice there were none of the typical sounds of laughter one would expect to hear in an elementary school. The atmosphere appeared sterile, militaristic and robotic, as the children walked the halls in silence. There were many other things that raised an eyebrow and gnawed at my gut as “not right,” but I quickly dismissed them because “We won the HSA lottery.” I was reassured the physical appearance of the school and academic mode seemed to resemble a few of the prestigious private schools we had previously visited. Additionally, Eva and other faculty enrolled their own children along with Matthew. I was certain all my concerns had reasonable explanations and my questions would be answered by Eva directly or by the PTA at a later time.

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Matthew continued to be held in detention frequently for one reason or another over the next few days. I wasn’t too concerned about it until it was apparent he was no longer excited about attending HSA. He began to have frequent emotional meltdowns before going to school and complained of stomachaches. He became increasingly anxious about school work and not being able to behave as his teachers wanted him to. This was known as going “Beyond Z.”, a widely used HSA motto meaning that students should behave like little soldiers, work hard and keep quiet. After about a week of this, the principal blatantly stated my son was “not performing at the school’s social expectations.” She said he had poor interpersonal skills, was un-focused and disruptive to the teacher and the entire class.

more . . . http://nycpublicschoolparents.blogspot.com/2011/07/my-special-child-pushed-out-of.html

[Starry Messenger]

1. Poor little guy.

:( k&r

[proud2BlibKansan]

4. He's a cute kid!

[Starry Messenger]

5. I hate the thought of him puking every morning, afraid of his charter school day.

He's adorable.

[KamaAina]

2. The "little soldiers" schools are gonna get all the gleaming, shiny toys.

Schools that still attempt to, you know, educate kids in that outdated, 20th-century way :sarcasm: will be left with yard-sale crap. :grr: :banghead: :cry:

[proud2BlibKansan]

3. NYT article:

In 2008, when Katherine Sprowal’s son, Matthew, was selected in a lottery to attend the Harlem Success Academy 3 charter school, she was thrilled. “I felt like we were getting the best private school, and we didn’t have to pay for it,” she recalled.

And so, when Eva S. Moskowitz, the former city councilwoman who operates seven Success charter schools in Harlem and the Bronx, asked Ms. Sprowal to be in a promotional video, she was happy to be included.

Matthew is bright but can be disruptive and easily distracted. It was not a natural fit for the Success charters, which are known for discipline and long school days. From Day 1 of kindergarten, Ms. Sprowal said, he was punished for acting out.

“They kept him after school to practice walking in the hallway,” she said.

more . . . http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/11/nyregion/charter-school-sends-message-thrive-or-transfer.html?pagewanted=1&ref=michaelwinerip

[Snoutport]

6. kr important stuff!

[Shagbark Hickory]

7. I still don't get it. Charter schools are for the Lisa Simpsons, not the Bart Simpsons.

I don't see why that would emotionally harm him.

Although as a C student myself, I could see how being thrust into a more intensive curriculum could cause an emotional meltdown.
I would've broken out in hives.

[proud2BlibKansan]

8. Telling a 5 year old EVERY DAY that he's bad is harmful

Read the whole piece.

[Warpy]

10. Try reading the whole article.

Matthew is performing ahead of grade level since he's been out of that place.

Lisa Simpson would be ejected the first time she let a few jazz notes flow out of that saxophone.

[PDJane]

12. It's not the curriculum that is at issue.

It's the treatment of children who won't conform to their rigid ideals of what they have to do to become academically successful.

The best and the brightest don't conform, as a rule. I am the parent of a 'special' child. He's an adult now, and an expert at VOIP, among other things. If I had listened to his grade 2 teacher, I would have given up on the child! He was supposed to be ADHD. He was supposed to be behind in math and reading. (This is the child who read 'Pride and Prejudice' to me in grade 2....and at ten was reading 'The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire.') This is the kid who was fascinated by fractals. He was 'disruptive', he was 'always causing trouble.' He was, in fact, bullied; the teacher who thought he was causing trouble was ignoring the bully in her class. When his transit tickets were stolen, she made him walk home, a distance of abour ten miles.

I moved him that year, to another school and another teacher. Oddly enough, he did very well, joined the computer club and the carpentry club and the drama club and the choir.

In his senior years of public school, he went to a school for the gifted. He's a disciplined, intelligent, detail oriented man, and has been for years. I've been blessed.

If you can't deal with the gifted child, how do you teach the rest? This approach to education turns out automatons with a penchant for fascism.

[Shagbark Hickory]

13. Do you by any chance mean...

They don't put up with students that goof around?
Because I was yanked out of a couple of schools for doing just that. I was told I was being bad. And I was. They put me back in general population where I made Bs and Cs instead of Ds and Fs. It was a win-win for everyone.

[proud2BlibKansan]

15. Define "goof around"

What I read in the story sounds pretty normal for 5 year olds. Of course they don't walk like disciplined soldiers in the hall. THEY ARE FIVE.

[Shagbark Hickory]

16. Precisely! I define goof around as being a normal 5 year old. nm

[proud2BlibKansan]

18. Do you think it's right to kick a normal 5 year old out of school

for goofing around?

[Shagbark Hickory]

21. If it's a special school for nerds then YES!!! nm

[PDJane]

24. No. Sorry.

My son was a nerd...the kind of kid who spends hours reading, does his homework, had a vocabulary equal to high school graduates (in grade 2). He would not have done well in a totally silent, don't ask questions, don't talk back school.

The school is for automatons; children forced into a mould and given no chance at a normal life. This is NOT the way to teach children, especially gifted children.

It's to instill a fascist mentality. Simply and only. It produces children who conform and are always looking for external direction. Period.

[Shagbark Hickory]

33. Ok, excuse me. "AUTOMATONS". I was busy goofing off in class the day they taught us that word. nm

[MattBaggins]

32. Does that special school for nerds

deserve to take tax payer money on top of the private grants, take over the choicest parts of schools, demand the best hours at libraries and other public facilities denying public school kids access during those times, all the while demanding total segregation from the other kids?

[Shagbark Hickory]

34. I don't have enough information to judge whether their use of the facilities is fair, however

I don't have a problem with it receiving public funds so long as it's a public school.
In fact, that's one of the things I really like about this whole topic is they seem to recognize that their funds are limited so they kick out the students that aren't right for the program to make better use of available resources.

[PDJane]

17. No. I don't mean 'goof around'.

I mean he was a curious and questioning kid. He wanted to know WHY. He wanted to know the WHY of everything. He learned at home, on the way to school, at school.....and he brought a great many questions home with him.

[Shagbark Hickory]

22. There's nothing wrong with that IMO, but it sounds like that particular school was not for

students who question or are overly curious but instead students that want to put their nose to the grindstone and not get out of line.

It's an early lesson. Not every school, nor workplace, nor home, nor city is right for each individual.

Their loss.

[proud2BlibKansan]

14. They kept him after school to teach him to walk in the hall

OMG that is sick. Seriously sick.

Glad your son is doing well. Also glad the little boy in the story is in a better place now :)

[KamaAina]

30. And who gets to separate the Lisas from the Barts?

Principal Skinner?

Standardized testing? Oh, wait, they tried that, and Bart managed to game the system and come out ahead.

I know! Groundskeeper Willie!



:sarcasm:

[Warpy]

9. I'm with Ms. Sprowal. I'd have taken a child out of such a joyless environment

before they ever got a chance to crush his spirit. Also, given the articulate nature of her quotes, I'll also expect Matthew to rapidly outpace the Stepfordized kids at HSA in achievement.

Anyone who treats five year old children as though they're already being groomed to be cogs in the corporate machine needs a reality check. I hope this series of articles gives the HSA bunch just that reality check, but regimented people like that always think they're right and everyone else is wrong.

[proud2BlibKansan]

23. +1

[Odin2005]

11. Eva Moskowitz is an evil POS.

[JDPriestly]

19. It is shameful that charter school receives public funds.

If it receives public funds, it should welcome and care equally for each child assigned to it. That is a misuse of public funds in my opinion.

[no_hypocrisy]

20. IMO the kid was lucky to have been evicted from this charter school.

Is "success" worth total control of a child's individuality?

[XemaSab]

28. I don't know why the mom wanted to keep her kid

in a school that he hated. :shrug:

[Drahthaardogs]

25. This is what our educational system would be reduced to if vouchers prevail.

It appears that Mathew is a bit of a pain in the wazoo, they don't want to put up with it, and they do not have to. Public schools take everyone, accommodate kids that needs special attention, and do it for less pay than your average insurance salesman. Support public schools so kids like Mathew do not get kicked to the curb.

[proud patriot]

26. kick rec and shared

[BOHICA12]

27. Homeschool ..... the public side is not a fit. nt

[KamaAina]

29. Time to bring out this old standby

apparently every bit as true now as it was last year.

Based on available statistics, however, charter schools have fewer of these families, including the poorest of the poor. One problem with “school choice,” as writer-activist Jonathan Kozol noted, is that the “ultimate choices” tend to get made “by those who own or operate a school.” At stake is not just who gets in, but who stays in. Studies show “selective attrition” in the KIPP chain, among others, with academic stragglers—including those seen as disruptive or in need of pricey services—leaving in greater numbers. In one flagrant local example, East New York Preparatory discharged 48 students shortly before last year’s tests, among them seven poor-scoring third-graders. (Citing financial mismanagement, the Department of Education plans to revoke the school’s charter in June.)

At Harlem Success, disability is a dirty word. “I’m not a big believer in special ed,” Fucaloro says. For many children who arrive with individualized education programs, or IEPs, he goes on, the real issues are “maturity and undoing what the parents allow the kids to do in the house—usually mama—and I reverse that right away.” When remediation falls short, according to sources in and around the network, families are counseled out. “Eva told us that the school is not a social-service agency,” says the Harlem Success teacher. “That was an actual quote.”

In one case, says a teacher at P.S. 241, a set of twins started kindergarten at the co-located HSA 4 last fall. One of them proved difficult and was placed on a part-time schedule, “so the mom took both of them out and put them in our school. She has since put the calm sister twin back in Harlem Success, but they wouldn’t take the boy back. We have the harder, troubled one; they have the easier one.”

Such triage is business as usual, says the former network staffer, when the schools are vexed by behavioral problems: “They don’t provide the counseling these kids need.” If students are deemed bad “fits” and their parents refuse to move them, the staffer says, the administration “makes it a nightmare” with repeated suspensions and midday summonses. After a 5-year-old was suspended for two days for allegedly running out of the building, the child’s mother says the school began calling her every day “saying he’s doing this, he’s doing that. Maybe they’re just trying to get rid of me and my child, but I’m not going to give them that satisfaction.”

[Tatiana]

31. Affluent parents rarely, if ever, send their children to charter schools.

They do, however, send their children to public magnet, Classical, or selective enrollment schools. Why don't they trust their children to charter schools? (This is a rhetorical question.)