| 1. |
I would like to know more regarding the reason for the increasing
enrollment at Cabot. For example, regeneration -- younger families
moving to the community -- that's one thing (positive), approving
single family homes for multiple unit convresion or apartments is
another. (what is the impact) Are there any reasons for the increase
that we should look at and address at the same time? Also, if we were
to have border zoning, it should be done with consideration for
families with siblings already in paricular schools to keep families
together.
|
| 2. |
Thanks for taking the time and effort - very much appreciated.
|
| 3. |
I think we need to have a cut-off on the number of children who can
enroll to avoid a chaotic and potentially unsafe situation. New
families would not be guaranteed enrollment in their neighborhood
school because of overcrowding. Give them a choice of two or three
other schools, offer smaller classes, provide transportation and
reassure families that their children will be able to attend a quality
after school program. I would not be adverse to larger class sizes if
their were a teaching assistant or team teachng.
I do not think the arts should be given short shrift because for some
children, this may be the only area in which they can excel. We need to
honor and provide for artistic intelligence. Adding trailers is
preferable for the short-term, but may not be feasible economically. No
one mentioned lobbying the state for more money for education.
Massachusetts is near the bottom in terms of money spent on public
education (hopefully that will change with the new leadership!). I have
been looking into Stand for Children's enegy effeciency campaign which
proposes that the schools should undergo an energy audit. From that
audit, substantial amounts of money can be saved by inplementing energy
saving solutions, e.g. using more energy efficient light bulbs.
|
| 4. |
The most important thing is continuity for students already at Cabot
School. Taking them away, or splitting up siblings, is bad strategy.
A modular classroom is the best solution to keep kids together. Modular
classrooms worked befrore, and became permanent, which demostrates
their longevity.
|
| 5. |
Vouchers for students that opt out of an overcrowded school.
|
| 6. |
My vote is for modulars.
|
| 7. |
I believe every effort should be made to keep the current students at
Cabot. Modulars should be used to accommodate the existing students.
The school committee should be given the authority to use "border
zones" to assign new students to 1 of 2 schools only when overcrowding
occurs (based on a pre-set definition of overcrowding, e.g. * 20
students per K classroom)and only if the "displaced families" are given
the option to return to the other school the following year. Also,
although we have lived in our Newton home for nearly 10 years, I don't
think that families that have lived here longer should receive
preferential treatment. I think this will cause animosity in our
community and could potentially depress property values. Finally, Cabot
renovation plans must be kept on schedule. My kindergartener rushes
home everyday to use our home bathroom because she will not use the K
bathroom because of its condition! (As a side note, she has no qualms
using other public restrooms.)
|
| 8. |
First of all, I don't think Cabot should allow any transfers ins from other districts.
Obviously, there is no easy solution, but I think moving an entire grade would be the best, keeping those kids together.
|
| 9. |
The survey requires you to answer every question. Some of the questions
did not have any options that expressed my opinions, making the survey
somewhat biased (as you HAD to answer even if you did not agree with
any of the options.) That being said, I think it would be extremely
detrimental to separate ANY grade level from the school for any period
of time. It will fracture the community of the school, a community we
have worked hard to keep strong and involved. I would prefer a modular
classroom addition to Cabot School over ANY of the other options
outlined in this survey. If the modular is not a possibility, then It
seems like the most obvious solution is changing the borders within the
city to help enrollment "even out" at all the elementary schools across
the city. None of the other options seem educationally sound to me,
with the LEAST desirable choice being moving a grade or some classes
out of Cabot for a year.
|
| 10. |
Excellent survey, educational for me! I hope my opinions help. My
family is new to Cabot and we would feel less welcome in the
neighborhood and community if we were told we couldn't go to our
neighborhood elementary school because we were NEW to the neighborhood.
I believe new should not be the criteria for excluding a student. How
would that effect house sales or interest in moving to a neighborhood
in Newton. Would your realtor like to tell prospective buyer, "oh by
the way, you can't go to the local school, you'll get bussed to....."
Thanks.
|
| 11. |
n/a
|
| 12. |
If there is an option in place to request transfers to other schools
due to overcrowding, then families should be made aware of the
classsize numbers and space issues at other local elementary schools.
Perhaps a website could be established quickly providing that
information. Also, it is important for people to know where the
"border" areas are so that they can be prepared for all possibilities.
I may be in a border area but don't know it. Bottom line is decisions
may be made on information that is not readily available to families
and that's going to create problems and many hard feelings. Open
communication and availability of the important details is critical and
needs to be addressed now.
Moving the kindergarten or 5th grade are the only sensible options for
moving whole grades. It is not reasonable to move a mid grade for a
year and then "hopefully" bring them back. That will make drop off and
pick up for families with kids in different schools too burdensome and
unfair.
|
| 13. |
I think re-districting is the fairest policy, grandfathering in kids who have siblings already at Cabot.
|
| 14. |
If any class schould be moved it should be the K class. K's can attend
different schools and the begin at Cabot in 1st grade. Many parents
already send their Children to different K's and begin at Cabot in the
1st grade. This would free up 4 rooms...then maybe add a modular and
things could be better.
|
| 15. |
if increasing class size is a viable option (is there room for more
desks and kids in each class??) then increase the number of teachers
(perhaps have some floating teachers, assistants, student teachers) in
order to foster more or at least consistent amount of individual
attention.
Also, if any class should "move" it should be the oldest (5th) as they
would be leaving next anyhow.
Can a modular type classroom be put up somewhere to accomodate the
entire 5th grade?
|
| 16. |
Short term should be a short term solution. Some years are overcrowding
and some might be less. There is a range of capacity to a neighborhood-
so, in a way, the city should know the max. of childrens that can live
in a neighborhood. So split siblings is not an option. I also think,
it's important to children to play after school time, with the same
kids that attend with them to class, running into them at the street,
at the playground and etc. Art and music giving the kids apportonitty
to express themself in a less formal way which is very important to
their development. It's is much more important then to maintain small
class size.
|
| 17. |
This survey was very well done. I think it is a no brainer to assign
students in border zones to less crowded schools and to encourage
voluntary transfers by willing parents to less crowded schools.
|
| 18. |
Thank you for the opportunity to provide input. My first choice is a 2
floor modular at Cabot thus keeping all current kids and teachers
together and welcoming new kids into Cabot. My second choice is to move
the incoming Kindergarten to another school since the Kindergarten is
already quite separate from the rest of the school adn parents are used
to having their kids in different places if the kindergartener is a
sibling.
thank you!
|
| 19. |
I have not been very generous with my willingness to compromise - but
given that I leive three blocks away from the school - makes my
willingess to bus my children elsewhere unacceptable. IF anything - I
thinkt he City of Newton MUST limit the teardown of single family home
and replacement of multi-family in this neighborhood - at least put a
moratorium on this type of conversions until the space crunch is
addressed.
|
| 20. |
The survey is a great idea! We're newcomers to the neighborhood, but
not to Newton. The Cabot School is the main reason we chose the
particular house we bought. We would be absolutely devastated should
our children not be able to attend Cabot after we worked so hard to get
there. The Cabot community has a reputation for being warm, welcoming,
inclusive, and high energy. May it remain so and find a way to get
those modular classrooms so that no child in the neighborhood is forced
to leave Cabot.
|
| 21. |
Thank you for asking for my opinion. The most important thing is to
keep the community together. I vote for modular units and if this does
not work, music and art on a cart. I want all grades to be at Cabot.
Every child who lives in the district should be able to attend Cabot.
|
| 22. |
How this could affect after school options. As we did not get many
days/hours this year, I may be interested in moving to a school that
had access to after school program access. However, if we moved
temporarily, would we lose our "status" in CASP? It's hard to say
without knowing which school our child would move TO! We would like to
know which way they are leaning - the sooner the better so we can look
into alternative options (like private school or moving out of Newton!)
|
| 23. |
Not sure what the next question means. Do you mean OTHER children who aren't already attending?
|
| 24. |
All address in Newton should be in multiple
School districts ie Cabot/Underwood/Ward etc. not just border zones.
All new students should potentially have to attend not there first
choice school. Both parents and the school dept should have some say as
to were new students will be placed. Proximity and sibling attendance
should have a high priority. Newton must use available space before
other more costly solutions are arrived at.
|
| 25. |
Has the city looked into the possibility of "taking back" former school buildings now that we NEED them?
|
| 26. |
Incentives to encourage school transfers: *offer free busing,
especially to students who are bused to/from school already. if you can
catch them before they enroll in an overcrowded school and direct them
to a nearby, less crowded school then they shouldn't mind as much.
*inform people about after school options available at other schools
(extracurricular classes, after care programs) that are not available
at overcrowded schools.
guiding principles:
* don't waste time and money on more short term solutions, please look
at long term solutions. e.g., instead of spending hundreds of thousands
of dollars on modulars, put that money into actually upgrading the
schools that need it.
* look into how so many other towns have managed to build beautiful new
elementary schools recently. friends in weymouth, hudson, clinton, etc.
have children attending state of the art new elementary schools while
ours are overcrowded and run down -- how is that possible?!?
|
| 27. |
temporary structure while building permanent larger
building and upgrade to existing building. shift kinder to different
school for 1 yr. while building
goes on with large permanent double decker modular is built. also
implement border zone as a permanent
help to cabot to keep numbers down. do long term view of future real
estate development for incoming numbers. new developments have "adult
only" condos
to keep numbers down.
|
| 28. |
If I could afford a house in a school district that had lower enrollment (ie Ward) I would move.
Entering students with no older siblings should be assigned to another school.
|
| 29. |
I bought my home ~3 years ago so that my daughter could attend school
in Newton, specifically Cabot. The ideas presented to defer and
re-route children, eliminate art and music, are completely off base.
Two of the most important reasons people come to Newton is for the
quality of the schools and sense of community - you are disrupting more
than the classrooms when you break up schools, eliminate programs, or
turn children away, you strike at the very heart of what makes Newton a
wonderful place to live. Our ONLY option is to MAKE MORE ROOM
available, cutting corners won't cut it. The modular classrooms and
expedited renovation appear to be the only viable options on the table;
otherwise, you are opening up a huge can of worms.
|
| 30. |
You should be able to alter your survey answers if you have second thoughts.
|
| 31. |
It seems to me that The school committee look very closely at a
permanent solution which would mean redistricting the neighborhoods. I
think any incoming/new students should be reassigned to less crowded
schools near by and not every child should be able to attend their
immediate neighborhood school. I also think Cabot needs to keep
planning renovations because it really needs to be fixed. I think it
would make sense to have students attend Underwood or Horace/Mann
depending on numbers. I also think if students are reassigned that
there be enough teachers in those schools to accomodate the number of
students going there. I don't think that families that have more than
one student in a school should have to send children to two or more
different schools but this may have to happen in order to help the
situation. This is a complex issue which I think the School committee
needs to be more proactive and figure out sooner rather than later.
|
| 32. |
It is hard to understand how we could take anyone out of district from anywhere at this point.
|
| 33. |
I think that in addition to managing the short term crisis, the School
Board needs have a long term focus. I believe that the school Board
should focus on rehabbing the Carr School and redistricting the whole
City so that there is excess capacity at all the elementary schools. A
short term solution, whatever it is, will be much more palatable if it
is presented with a long term plan to ensure the short term plan is
truly an interim solution.
|
| 34. |
There has not been widely advertised information about the possibility
of school transfers. While we would not entertain that option because
our children are deeply entrenched into Cabot, it gives families
choices. It seems a reasonable first step to determine whether folks
voluntarily would be willing to shift because it fits their family
needs.
BTW, I am deeply opposed to limiting METCO as a way to resolve
overcrowding. We need a greater mix of children in our schools. It is a
critical part of everyone's education.
|
| 35. |
I believe it is very important to keep siblings together.
|
| 36, |
Perhaps having a staggered schedule where the younger children (K - 3)
go to school earlier and the older children (4 - 5) begin later in the
morning, that could potentially reduce the demand for maximum use.
|
| 37. |
This was a well-constructed survey. Thanks for taking the time to do
it! I would like to emphasize that for me, proabably the most important
thing is to allow students who have started at Cabot to continue there
with their current cohort. Of course, there are those who will
voluntarily decide to leave, but I don't think this should be mandated.
Ideally, I would like to see class sizes remain where they are now, but
I would prefer a slight increase in class size to mandated
redistricting. I alsao think the option of having one entire grade move
offsite would be ok, and I think it makes the most sense for this to be
the kindergarten as that schedule is somewhat different anyway. but t
|
| 38. |
We'd rather see a plan that impacts more people slightly than fewer
people severely. Maintaining the ability to walk to school for those in
range is also important. (We do it daily regardless of weather.)
Keeping costs under control is, of course, desirable, but minimizing
cost to the town seems excessive.
|
| 39. |
I think the only feasible options are modulars (for the short-term) and
renovation (for the long-term). Other solutions (apart from border
redistricting, citywide) would simply be too disruptive and unfair to
students.
|
| 40. |
The integrity and quality of Cabot -- or any elementary school -- is
deeply connected to its ability to evolve into a caring community of
children and adults, including students, parents, teachers,
specialists, and administrators. This is the foundation for everything
else that happens at the school, academically, socially, and
healthwise. I believe that the top priority in decision making should
be related to ability to keep the Cabot Elementary School community
intact. For example, moving classes of students and teachers from each
grade level to another location would fragment and fracture the
community. I think this is a completely unacceptable and harmful
solution. I feel the same way about forcibly moving all border zone
students to other schools since it would force current students out of
the Cabot community. Bringing in some modular units while keeping long
term planning in progress would be the least fracturing of our
community. A mid-level compromise might be to move the kindergarten
grade level to another location. While not ideal, and understandably
difficult to younger siblings of current students, this would keep the
current student population intact and allow for the incoming first
grade children to join the Cabot community, just within a different
timeline. Again this would not be my first choice, but as mid-level
compromises go, the least harmful, I believe.
One comment about the survey. Many of the questions contained too many
variables so that I was concerned about my answers truly reflecting the
meaning that I wanted to convey. Otherwise, you did a fantastic job,
and I appreciate the hard work of the volunteers who put this together.
Thank you very much.
|
| 41. |
The optimal decision depends critically on how long the over crowding
will last. How good are your estimates? Relocating a class to another
school should only be considered if it is a one to two year problem. If
the over crowding last longer then modulars are optimal. If
overcrowding lasts more than 5 years, the permanent structures are
optimal.
|
| 42. |
As I commented at the 10/25 session, the School Committee and the
Superintendent need to institute a better capacity planning process,
including improved projection techniques and allowing for spare
classroom space. Managing by crisis is not managing at all.
|
| 43. |
Consider not ading new MEDCO students till overcrowding is solved.
|
| 44. |
We just purchased a home in the Cabot district and our children attend
Cabot school. We would be very disappointed if our children were
involuntarily reassigned to a different school, since Cabot was the
appeal for us to move to the neighborhood (and pay a premium price for
our house!). If there is a decision to redraw borders, it should not
affect current students, and people considering the sale or purchase of
a home in the district need plenty of advance warning.
|
| 45. |
I think the current conditions at Cabot are already adversely impacting
learning and disrupting the community seems like a very difficult
solution. Although expensive, I think a modular would be the best
temporary fix as it keeps our community intact.
|
| 46. |
Thank you very much for all your efforts!!
|
| 47. |
I believe that building modular classrooms does not remedy the problem
of overcrowding in other areas of the school such as gym, auditorium,
assembly and library space.
Regarding the last question (#13), I want it to be known that I believe
an entire class should be moved to a less crowded location so keeping
siblings together in that respect would not be desirable to me. I do
believe that siblings should not have to go to a different school
during their entire elementary experience.
Also, I do not have a preference which class gets removed from Cabot
school. I chose Kindergarten because on the surface it seems the least
disruptive. Families can choose to keep their Kindergartners in a
pre-school/Kindergarten class or move them to Cabot. However, it may be
nice for the 5th grade to have their own space to put on plays and
other older activities. I'm not sure what the options are so it's hard
to determine what activities can happen at a separate location.
|
| 48. |
centralized all K students. Bus them to a specific school where K students from Newton meet.
|
| 49. |
If I was told my child had to leave her current school, I might refuse it. What then?
|
| 50. |
Communities such as Brookline have "buffer zones" which are
geographically located equi-distant between two schools. All families
moving into these zones know that their child will be assigned to one
of these schools based on enrollment patterns. These zones tend to have
children who go to both schools, so no new child is left isolated as
the only one going to a different school. Children who live one block
from the local school are not assigned to another school much further
away as these zones are truly between two schools. Flexibility is built
into this system as census patterns change over time. I hope we can get
modular classrooms to help with short term planning, and introduce this
buffer zone system to address both short and long term planning issues.
Thanks for doing this survey!
|
| 51. |
I was unclear about the wording in the following question: I would
assign entering students to schools randomly in the event of
overcrowding. Are ENTERING children just NEW children? If so, I
strongly agree.
I believe strongly that a modular is without a doubt the best SHORT
TERM option as long as Cabot would stay on the same track for it's
upgrades. Thanks.
|
| 52. |
Keep class size small at all cost!!!!!!!
|
| 53. |
I would not object to children from the same neighborhood being
assigned to different elementary schools, provided the assignments were
random or at least based on something OTHER THAN "seniority" or length
of time having lived in the area. Newton is insular enough without
making it still harder for newcomers to be integrated into their
communities.
|
| 54. |
I would recommend maintaining geographically contiguous neighborhood
zones for the schools; it was an important part of the school
experience for us to be able to have our kids walk to school, and for
the three of them to be able to attend the same school.
I understand people think Cabot is a great school and have may moved
here to be able to send their kids there. However it won't be such a
great school any more if Art and Music are relegated to itinerant
"visits" and class sizes exceed 25.
Therefore the most sensible alternative would seem to be to redistrict
border areas to neighboring schools.
None of this will affect us, since we are moving on next year - maybe
that makes us unbiased? However we do live very close to Cabot and
would probably have been unaffected by the plan I'm recommending, so
maybe some bias is showing through anyway.
I would say this: if we had been redistricted somewhere else I would
have been furious given our proximity to Cabot. Then again I'm sure
other people will have other reasons for being unhappy about whatever
plan you settle on - best of luck and thanks for soliciting our
opinions.
|
| 55. |
As a new parent and the product of a large urban school system
(Baltimore), I don't have strong ties to Cabot itself (yet). But I do
believe very strongly in a local school where the community has a
strong voice (and that Cabot seems to have!). I personally spent a year
in an "off-site" location, due to overcrowding, at a former monastary
and the hardest part was not interacting with friends in the same year
as me. If classes need to go off-site, I'd advocate keeping those in
the same year togeather.
|
| 56. |
Thank you for the Survey; it is really good. Our family can only
imagine a solution, where the goal is to keep the Cabot Community
(teachers, students, parents, siblings) together and all other issues
(renovation, extra class room) are less important. We do not think that
it is a good idea to make harm in the Families (especially in
children!), to distroy a nice community - based on "space problems".
There is a saying in our country: "Many good people can live in small
space." We believe in this, as well as in the Cabot Community.
|
| 57. |
Please put information about buffer zones and option to choose schools
on the website where it can easily be accessed so parents going forward
have this information.
|
|
58.
|
If a class/grade moves to a different school, why not make them part of
the community of the new school. It seems to me that the underlying
assumption is that they would still be part of the Cabot community. But
may be it be nicer/easier to make them part of the other school's
community.
|
|
59.
|
I'd like to mention and expand on one comment from the school committee
meeting relating to zoning residences for three possible elementary
schools. (a long-term space crunch consideration) Couldn't families who
have children entering Kindergarten under this type of zoning select
1-3 their order of preference and then be assigned an elementary school
based on a set of clearly defined criteria. Criteria could include a)
where siblings currently attend, b) length of time the family has lived
in Newton, c) class size.
Short-term I feel it is very important to keep students where they are
presently unless individual families volunteer to attend a different
school. I feel strongly that the City of Newton must and can find the
means necessary to fund the construction of modulars at Cabot for a
short-term solution to space crunch issues there.
|
|
60.
|
I am a strong advocate of public education. I am proud to be part of
the Cabot community. I am extrememly pleased with the quality of
education at Cabot. However, I'm quite dismayed at the state of the
buildings/facility and the lack of classrooms across Newton. My husband
keeps advocating pulling our children out of public school and into
private schools everytime the facilities issue or class size is brought
up. I want to make Public schooling work in Newton and I'm upset this
situation has been aloowed to go on so long..
|
|
61.
|
We need better methods of forecasting. Just by looking around Cabot
district these last few of years, at 2-family conversion to condos,
amount of construction, # of home sales, etc and factoring in home
prices and impact on residents (1/2 of 2-family or townhouse has become
de facto new "entry level Newton housing") it was eminently foreseeable
that Cabot would become overcrowded. Why wasn't action taken
previously? e.g. redistricting for new families in border zones
(grandfathering of current students) or other?
|
|
62.
|
Inform NEW families with pre and school aged children of the
overcrowding issues and let them know what other schools they could
send their children to are and help with teh process. Give students
already enrolled at Cabot and with younger siblings the option to
switch schools but DONOT force them to redistrict. I think all siblings
should be kept together at the same school unless the parent(s) feel
two different schools would benefit their children and family.
|
|
63.
|
Along with many school related issues, I see this as an equity issue.
If one school can maintain small class size, have gym, auditorium, art
and music rooms and others can't, then those schools should be expected
to give up space or have increased class size so Cabot, Zervas, etc.
can enjoy the same distribution of resources. Newton residents who were
"unlucky" enough to move to crowded districts are still paying the same
taxes and deserve access to the same level of quality in education.
|
|
64.
|
Keep in mind that the decision to split up the Cabot students entering
6th grade between Day and Bigelow has had a negative, and perhaps
unexpected, impact on many students and families. For me, this
experience highlights the critical importance of keeping the members of
a community together and therefore would support, and should be
considered when making, any decision to keep siblings and tenured
families at Cabot and to place new students at alternative locations.
|
|
65.
|
very good survey. i feel that i was given a good oppty to express my views by the questions asked. great use of surveying.
|
|
66.
|
I think the first choice should be a modular. If we can't get that, I
think we should move an entire grade, either the incoming Ks who have
no experience in the school, or the 4th or 3rd graders who are
established but are not in their final year. In the long run, the
school committee should create "flexible districts" for entering
families but should keep kids and families at schools once they are
there. No individual child should bear the burden; move a whole grade
at a time. Small class size should be maintained, and any movement
should be accompanied by free busing.
|
|
67.
|
I've heard of other families making requests for other schools to which
they live closer (namely, Peirce School). These requests are always
rejected. It seems that requests to other good schools such as Mason
Rice, would be denied as well. If they are all crowded, I'm not sure
the idea of border areas is worth the effort.
However, immediate improvements in zoning must be made. Single families
houses cannot be torn down and replaced with townhouses. It's created a
density which the infrastructure was not built to suuport. Existing
multifamilies can stay but the rest of the city must be converted to
SR1 if we are to preserve the schools without building a new one.
|
|
68.
|
Am disappointed in the lack of leadership by our principal on this
issue. She has done a poor job of communicating anything other than her
annoyance at parents for raising this issue.
Stongly value siblings being kept together
Needs of curriculum and class size should take precedent over any
consideration given to CASP.
Do not believe census at school justified recent ban of parents from
the school building at the start of school.
|
|
69.
|
I think solutions that minimize impact on individual families are
desirable. For example, a family with two or more elementary age
children shouldn't have to send them to more than one school. A family
with one elementary age child would more appropriately be asked to send
that child to a less crowded school.
|
|
70.
|
When taking a survey, one always wonders what the outcome is. I'd like
to know and I'd like to know any analysis of the survey is. thank you
for taking the time to put together the survey
|
|
71.
|
The space chart that the town put together does not include how much
storage space each school has. Does every school have A/V equipment,
copy machines, and other supplies in the corridors like Cabot does? Has
the fire chief been through each of the school buildings and approved
the way stuff is stored in the hallways, which are also the means of
egress in the event of a fire? I would recommend that the school
district central office have a larger role in the enrollment of new
students. When we moved into the area, we should have been told that
Cabot was a bit crowded and we should have been given one or two
choices of other local schools that were not suffering the same space
constraints. What does the state building code (or Mass School Building
Authority) say about the number of square feet required per student.
Some schools have larger classrooms than others. The number of students
assigned to a particular room should be based on what the room can
safely accomodate. This is usually disctated by the State Building Code
or the State Education Department. The fire inspector is then the one
who enforces the building code/state education department policy by
approving/rating a room for a maximum number of occupants.
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72.
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What about MEDCO students? Why are we still accepting them if our
school is overcrowded? What about adding enough aides and assistant
teachers to help with the larger classrooms? Where's regular
communication on rennovation plans/timing?
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73.
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The modular classroom is the obvious solution. Let's see some
leadership for once and have the school committee get the modulars in
place for next year.
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74.
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If redistricting is involved, I would like the issue of Cabot being
split between 2 middle schools addressed. I would prefer that we all
attend 1 middle school.
This is a very clear and well constructed survey.
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75.
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I think the idea of moving an entire grade to another space is an
excellent short-term solution (the only reasonable one in my opinion).
Of course, the most logical grade to move would be the kindergarteners
since they have not yet started at Cabot. I think it would be much more
difficult on children to be moved in the upper grades. The truth is,
the least integrated into the fabric of the school are the
kindergarteners. So one more year in another place would not be at all
detrimental to them. Then in first grade, they can become full members
of the Cabot community and remain there through 5th grade. One might
make the argument to take the 5th grade out but I think that is a
terrible idea. They long look forward to being the oldest kids in the
building and have a right to be able to have one last year of innocence
before they head off to the large and socially challenging world of
middle school.
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76.
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Modular classrooms would be (by far) the best alternative. Many people
puchase their homes based on elem. school districts. For example, my
wife and I bought our home because we can walk to Cabot with the kids
and Cabot has an after-school program. Changing schools would be a real
problem.
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77.
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I am curious if anyone has asked why so few kids are enrolling in the
Ward School? Is there a problem or a reason why so many new people
moving to the area choose not to go to that district or to enroll
there? It seems that it would be worth looking into this pattern of
high enrolment in neighboring districts yet low numbers in the Ward.
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78.
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Optional Zones may even be appealing to new K & 1 families, as well
as those in the current school who wish to move to get a "fresh start".
I cannot stress enough the negative impact cohort redistricting could
cause, especially if only a subset of a grade is forced to move. Cabot
School students are already impacted enough by being split up for
Middle Schools. To do this two times to them is short-sighted. The
emotional and academic impact is likely to be significant.
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79.
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Regarding moving classes or an entire grade to another school, my first
thought was that if you move the entire grade, then you guarantee that
some families will have children in two different schools. But then I
wondered if there's any way to realistically avoid that. It would be
very interesting to see a list by grade of how many students have no
siblings in other grades. I suspect the highest numbers would be for
oldest children entering kindergarten and youngest children finishing
5th grade. So maybe the answer is to move one kindergarten class and
one fourth or fifth grade class. Of course, there's no good solution.
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80.
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Survey was comprehensive and hit on all the points. After decisions
have been made to alleviate overcrowding, it might be useful to
understand how Newton got into this situation in the first place. What
can we do proactively to avoid these painful decisions in the future?
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81.
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The burden should be borne by all, not just new kids, not just kids who
have siblings. If a family has kids in two different schools, it will
be very burdensome to attend all the events, teacher meetings...
FAmilies should stay together if they want.
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82.
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I would not use some of the beginning questions in the survey. They did
not seems totally sensical to me. I think you should really rely on
question 12 to gauge the community's views.
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