After two years at Saint Mary's Early Childhood Developmental Center, our daughter, Sarah, was ready to move on to Kindergarten. My wife, Paddy Blanchette, and I started exploring our options late last Fall.
We have many advantages; therefor, so does Sarah. Private school options would have been financially onerous - yet possible. But we think removing students with a less challenging path to success from public systems is a recipe for disaster for public education. So we concentrated our efforts on public school options - and there are many.
There are 4 magnet programs, a charter school and a neighborhood Primary center as options for every family within the boundaries of the South Bend School Corporation. I wrote about our own process of decision making on the blog Progressives, South Bend . The series began with The Kennedy Academy Cattle Call . As I reflected on that institution's focus on "students ready to learn, I developed some concerns which I discussed in The Other South Bend - The Education Component .
The Next Stop On Our Kindergarten Odyssey switches back to our own process, and the epilogue (I hope) ties things together.
So, I've been thinking about this for a while. Along the way, I have drawn some conclusions and also have identified things I need to learn more about. In the coming weeks I hope to meet with teachers, administrators and parents to share the benefit of their experience(s). Should I be selected to serve on the Board, that process will be ongoing.
Donald W. Wheeler
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