Notes from Camp Springs Civic Association (CSCA) Meeting

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Jan. 14, 2004 - Thurgood Marshal Middle School

CSCA Meeting

Mtg at Crossland last night was well-attended & impressive (for county informational brochure, see this link to PDF)

Brinkley & Allentown Rds will be widened & traffic rerouted & repairing bridge over creek - CSCA is recommending sidewalks for school children & repairs to residential streets & improvement of signs - point to Camp Springs instead of other towns

CSCA adopted part of Old Branch by Kaiser

Henson Creek Planning Area booklet - can get online or at Allentown Swimming Pool

Need to get more excited about education - support your local school - volunteer to make some phone calls or something

3 area principals invited to speak:

Ms Chisolm - Crossland HS - 1700 community youth. She came from FL, was youth detective but wanted to prevent youth problems, has 30 yrs now in education, 20 at Crossland. There are 150 adults working at CHS. Have several technical classes, but not "vocational" in the traditional means. Hard to find gpood, experienced teachers. There are group homes in community w/ extra needs; ~250 spec. ed., incl. learning & emotional problems. Parents need to spend time in school - they stress that. Believes tests don't give proper picture of how they're doing. ~350 are reading below grade level in 9th; comprehension is problem - they need to read to someone & discuss what it means; 127 repeating 9th because lacking basic skills; AAFB coming in every Wed. to help. Need help w/ math skills also. Don't allow kids to talk to you in non-standard English - they can learn to write if they can speak proper English. State will assess kids & need to pass or won't graduate. She's dedicated - at ball games on weekends, working every evening - parents need to be dedicated, too. It takes eveeryone - this generation is neglected; no child wants to be a failure - they all want to succeed. She tells them how to succeed, but they need help. Tutors needed 1-on-1; Jan. 23 starts 2nd semester. Many students have very young parents who don't know how to parent, so they try to help parents, too. Class sizes are 32-34, but supposedly fewer students than building was built for.

Mr James - Allenwood Elementary (profile handed out)- use Comer dev.model to bridge the gap from home to school. All kids live within ~5 mi. Class sizes 18-27; look for teachers who are more than qualified - dedicated; 93% experienced in that school & provide training for new strategies. Have science fair, music program, character education & celebrate good morals & behavior in children. AYP - yearly proficiency - many groups have to pass & all affect school rating. (SRI Comparison passed around - scholastic review - shows progress from Oct.- Dec.) Need volunteers & esp. parents to help w/ reading - let kids think of ?'s about the story they read - it helps them think & formulate ?'s.

Mr. Adams - Thurgood Marshall MS - 1st yr. here - safe & orderly environment is #1. 98% African American - many read below grade level - need better comprehension - higher level of thinking. MD Assessments don't prepare children for life - they need higher thinking & reading comprehension. ADD celebrated by society w/ entertainment & fast-moving games that don't make them think. Kids at different levels but all must be challenged or they'll get bored & act out. No camera or security system, but need them. 9th grade is most critical level, but they need to be prepared in MS. Volunteers are welcome!
Member comments: Coming out w/ differentiated diplomas - 6 tiers. Need multiplication in elementary school or can't pass MS tests. Schools aren't tell you everything so you (parents) need to go to the schools to find out. How do they really spend the day? What's in the library? What's in the Thornton bill they want so much money for? $300,000 group home on Allentown Rd.? We need to find out what's going on. Mr. James doing a great job at Allenwood - outstanding school. We should be againsTV ouchers & tell our leg.'s not to take funds away from our schools.

- submitted by Joyce Dowling

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