"What Did You Do Today in School?"
by Ronnie Citron-Fink

Anyone who has children understands that being a parent requires hundreds of decisions and choices each day. From toilet-training toddlers to accompanying 17-year-olds on college campus tours, parents make choices for and with their children. For most of us, however, deciding where our children go to school is not a choice: they go to their local public school. It's free, the neighborhood kids go there, and it's the primary means of socialization into their next "big" thing... adulthood. For some it's an educational journey unparalleled to anything else they'll do in life and for others it is a means to an end, whether college or employment.

Eighteen Septembers ago, as my daughter was learning to tie her shoes, I joined the ranks of public school parents. As I carefully packed my five-year-old's backpack with newly sharpened pencils, notebooks and granola bars, I watched her ascend onto the school bus. I had this intense urge to follow the bus as it wound around the roads in Rhinebeck, all the way to Knollwood Drive. I fought the urge, but like all parents with school age children, when my daughter came home I asked her, "What did you do today in school?" "nothing," came the response.

Children go off to school for at least six hours each day and when they arrive home they often answer the proverbial "Nothing" to this question, which they get asked way too often. Over the years I have tried to mix up the question. I even recruited my husband in a dinnertime activity that attempted to get to the heart of the matter. Some nights at dinner we would go around the table (the four of us) and ask, "What was the best part of your day, and the worst?" My kids never got tricked by this variation, usually answering "gym" or "recess" as the best, and everything in between as the worst.

In New York State there are a whopping 3,699 public schools! I decided to look closely at our local public schools and found that each district provides relevant information about policies, mission, programs, activities, calendars, committees and projects that are specific to each district on their websites (see below).

To take a closer look at the 1,231 students and their families in my own Rhinebeck district, I talked to Superintendent Joe Phelan and Board of Education member Dean Vallas. I found two forthright, caring individuals with very different roles and a similar mission—to provide the Rhinebeck community with the best public schools. Like many superintendents across the country, Phelan began his career as a teacher. As head administrator he is accountable to the school board on behalf of the employees of the district. As Vallas mentioned, "The head administrator sets a tone." The main role of an elected school board member is to hire the superintendent and oversee the school budget. Vallas, a parent of two, ran for the school board because, "I felt I could make a difference. I ran with an agenda to provoke a conversation forward and I also knew it was important to keep passing the school budgets." Both men feel strongly that school employees and the board need to work together.

Rhinebeck's Comprehensive Education Plan does just that. Some of the touchstones of the Plan mention facilitating self-directed learners, complex thinkers, developing generosity of spirit, a passion for learning, respect, responsibility and recognizing the whole child. Phelan explains, "While the public schools are taxpayer supported and available to all, they can't be all things to all people. [The Plan] provides the communities with a good educational system. The downside is that there is little freedom in public education and it is highly regulated. The restrictions can be maddening and I find that sometimes frustrating... , but we now have this framework to work with." Vallas agreed, "Before the plan, each teacher was able to pick and choose what he or she taught. Aligning the K-12 curriculum was really a very strong outline and guide for the teacher, and they can still teach creatively."

For years, Rhinebeck and Red Hook have engaged in what seems a healthy competitiveness, much of it revolving around sports and the size of the district. Red Hook is three times the size of Rhinebeck and to some, that also makes it stronger. I asked Vallas if size matters. "The resources that a bigger district gets often determine the outcome in the national ratings of the school. If, for example, Red Hook gets a different mix of high school courses, say the International Baccalaureate courses that Rhinebeck doesn't have, they get a higher rating in the college guides. It really doesn't make a difference on the school level because Rhinebeck sends its kids to really good colleges."

For a long time, the overcrowding of public schools have been making headlines. Large class sizes and cramped classrooms make it all the more difficult for teachers to teach. I asked Phelan how Rhinebeck deals with this. "Seven years ago we looked closely at class size and the impact it had on student achievement. Ideally, it would be 14 15 per class. Obviously, for management sake, a small class size is optimal. The board made a commitment in the primary grades to keep it at around 20." Even in a class of 20, how can the schools make sure that kids don't "fall through the gaps"? Phelan feels that the answer resides in the size of the district. "The advantage that Rhinebeck has is that it is a small public school and we really get to know the kids. While we don't always hit it on the mark with all kids, generally there is someone who knows what is going on with individual children. Teachers make personal connections; the building principals know the kids and I make every effort I can to know the children. If there is a problem, the teachers, social worker, school psychologist and principal can connect to identify and help a kid who is not making it."

The more we learn about child development, the more we know that not all children learn in the same manner. Providing for children with "special needs," as well as the "talented and gifted" can provide a challenge for public schools. I asked Phelan how Rhinebeck deals with the different sets of needs. "Most grade levels have a section of an inclusion class that includes a regular education teacher and a special education teacher. They team-teach the class. The goal is to pull the special needs child out of the classroom as little as possible. The other children benefit from having another teacher in the classroom and from learning about diversity.

As for "talented-gifted" kids: "The role of the public school is to provide enrichment opportunities for all of the children. I feel bad when anyone leaves our schools because they feel their needs are not being met. The teachers work with the children in the classrooms and we provide opportunities for enrichment in our before and after programs for all of our students."

As a teacher, administrator and parent, over the years I have heard complaints from parents that "this school is pushing my kid and they are failing" or the "work is too easy and my child is bored" or "my child seems to be falling through the cracks in such a large class of 25" or "the fourth grade is just a year of teaching to the test." Ask ten different people what their opinion is of any given school and you'll get ten different answers. How do the public schools keep everyone happy? In my opinion, neither a "dumbed-down" curriculum or an overly advanced one seems to work for the masses of public school children.

Did my own children have some high and low points? Certainly, and as a consumer who's over-educated on this subject, was I happy with their educational experience? Sometimes... maybe... no... yes... Well, I consider myself a hard critic. What I did learn quickly as a parent was that there are many talented and dedicated teachers out there that my own children's experiences often had little to do with the school and everything to do with the teachers. Both my kids seem to have found the college that suited them, which speaks well of their public school experiences.

One of the best ways of knowing what your child does all day is to get involved in the schools. Most teachers want parents to participate in their child's school experience to some degree or another. Rhinebeck has the Parent Teacher Student Association and numerous other opportunities for parents to contribute and advocate for the children of the community. For a few years when my kids were young, I taught an after school knitting class. As the needles clicked away, I heard all the nitty-gritty about what went on in the classrooms. Sport coaches also have the opportunity to interact with kids on a very different level. Parents are key players in facilitating how their children spend their day.

After teaching in public and private schools, I have discovered that not all schooling situations are the perfect fit for all students. Each individual learner comes with their own set of particular needs and some schools fit better than others. Some families have a choice as to how they want to educate their children. The next article in this series about schools will address some of the alternative choices to the area's public schools. Public school may be the only choice for many Hudson Valley families, but I am convinced that our local public schools possess breadth in their programs and seem to provide a solid foundation for most children to be able to reach their potential and go off to the next "big" thing. So, what did the kids do today in school? Keep asking: it was probably something pretty extraordinary.

Websites of Local School Districts

rhinebeckcsd.org
redhookcentralschools.org
pineplainsschools.org
germantowncsd.org
hudsoncityschooldistrict.com (includes Livingston, Greenport, etc.)

Last year's article on Red Hook's new School Superintendent.