Traditional or Year-Round?
Ok, so it has come to my attention that the Menifee School District went to traditional instead of year-round. I am curious how the year-rou...
http://www.menifee247.com/2009/08/traditional-or-year-round.htm
Ok, so it has come to my attention that the Menifee School District went to traditional instead of year-round. I am curious how the year-round affected children other than mine.
My child, and many, many of her classmates, had strong feelings about the segregation of the year-round system. Many felt that the children being labeled A, B, C, and D affected how they viewed themselves over their school career. My child spent all of her elementary and middle school years here in Menifee, went on to Paloma, and found that she was still "stuck" with the same group that she had been placed with on the track system. After talking to a number of students from all tracks, they all had the same response. Very few kids "crossed over" from track group to track group.
What was sad was that the kids labeled each other. Whether one was an over achiever or a misfit, a success or a failure, in each other's eyes, were based largely upon the track to which they were assigned in Kindergarten. These views stayed with many, many of the kids all the way through school, until graduation.
I would like to hear Menifee's thoughts on this, as this was a very informal poll, done by me alone.
How did your kids fair?
My child, and many, many of her classmates, had strong feelings about the segregation of the year-round system. Many felt that the children being labeled A, B, C, and D affected how they viewed themselves over their school career. My child spent all of her elementary and middle school years here in Menifee, went on to Paloma, and found that she was still "stuck" with the same group that she had been placed with on the track system. After talking to a number of students from all tracks, they all had the same response. Very few kids "crossed over" from track group to track group.
What was sad was that the kids labeled each other. Whether one was an over achiever or a misfit, a success or a failure, in each other's eyes, were based largely upon the track to which they were assigned in Kindergarten. These views stayed with many, many of the kids all the way through school, until graduation.
I would like to hear Menifee's thoughts on this, as this was a very informal poll, done by me alone.
How did your kids fair?
Traditional is far superior
ReplyDeleteHave kids not been placed in a certain “category” for as long as public school has been around?
ReplyDeleteKids make friends as soon as they enter school and maintain the same group, for the most part, the entire time they are in school. Why is this something new?
Our "kid" did great. We loved year round. Our student loves school and we enjoyed vacations off season. Child care was never a problem. While kid had close friends in track, other activities introduced kids from other tracks and schools. Lots of friends were made and we noticed our child was able to find common interests with different groups. Our child seemed to drift towards older friends/role models in high school and was never in a group labeled by track there. Graduated from a private university and is in grad school. Great and terrible staff at Paloma, I was able to find more info re college than their counselors, but this is sadly the norm. Too bad you found track isolation. I didn't with our child or friends.
ReplyDeleteMy kids are out of school now but they went to year around....didn't have the problems you speak of....but this was in a different city....perhaps this is just a Menifee thing? I am glad to see a charter school forming, we need more choices.
ReplyDeleteMy 3 children went to Callie and Bell Moutain for almost 2 years... and I never heard or experienced this at all. The track is selected by the parents, depending on what schedule works best for them.... I had a good experience with both schools, but the high school choices in Menifee were unacceptable to me, so we switched our kids out to a fabulous charter school in Temecula. Hopefully the plan is still in the works to create a high school out of the Perris School District for our Menifee kids.
ReplyDeleteI like the elementary schools in Menifee. Many are distinguished schools recognized by the state.
ReplyDeleteMy kids never had problems. We liked year round so this new schedule will get some getting used to. I think there are 11 or 12 elementary schools now in Menifee.
Met son for lunch today. He started at Callie and graduated from Paloma. He agrees he had close friendships within his track in elementary. He had several friends from activities with kids from other tracks and schools. We laughed at the labeling of tracks. Couldn't remember what track was supposedly what. Didn't feel "labeling"" carried into high school. Do recall a mom switched her kid to the more "academic" track from son's track. Son was accepted to several colleges which would be good fits. He Is a grad student now working on Masters.
ReplyDeleteWe loved year round.
Both of my boys are in the district. On just graduated elementary school and is now in a charter school. My other is at ridgemore and is in the second grade. I know the kids on my block never seem to look at one track as a lesser class or not as smart. I did hear them tease each other (ha-ha you have to go to school and I don't) the one thing I liked about year round is that the kids aren’t away from school too long. I just feel that if you have a child out of school for two and a half to three month they start to forget and it takes them longer to get back it to a learning mode. However if they get three smaller breaks. They are back into it in a week. Not to mention the kids get to have a vacation in more then one season. We liked having the winter vacation and a summer vacation. This is just my opinion. I just hope the school district isn't doing this just to save money, and they are making changes that are the best for the kids.
ReplyDeleteI loved the year round system and so did my children. I have two in elementary school. My kids have made very close friends being in the track system. And they have never associated who they were based on the track they were on. Now with everyone on the same system you have to deal with more traffic around the school, what a nightmare that is! My 4th grade daughter is now in a combo class because there is just not enough room for all the kids to be at the school at one time. If she has a question now, while the teacher is teaching the other grade she has to ask a neighbor. So how is this beneficial to my daughters education?
ReplyDeleteMy kids did very well the the track system and I haven't heard of any of the issues you described. I wish we would go back. There is way to much traffic now.
ReplyDeleteMy daughter is in 6th grade and my son in 4th. They have said they are going to miss year round school. I actually miss it because we used to go on vacations when everyone else and their mother did. They are still young so maybe their feelings about being a number will change in time, but I highly doubt that because the now go to the school Santa Rosa Academy a charter school. Class sizes are smaller and there is more getting to know the students. I love it. Ok I think I have gone off subject. LOL
ReplyDeleteThat is absolutely ridiculous that the kids felt labeled! All of my kids were on tracks and had friends on other tracks since they were also involved in sports and other outside activities. I am proud of all my kids acheivements and feel the Menifee School District and its great teachers are doing a fantastic job. Please quit bashing our schools. It is the parents responsibility to encourage kids and help them feel good about themselves.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure that my kids actually realized which track they were in...so I guess they weren't affected. But my kids have also only been in school for a year - kinder and second grade. It may have made more of an impact on them if they had "tracked" longer. I too am excited to see more choices coming to Menifee.
ReplyDeleteNo problems noted that you speak of. It's people like you that create these types of problems by creating fictitious scandals. I don't think there's any data either to support your theory.
ReplyDeleteI asked my son and he said is was like that for him. He was a C tracker. the breakdown from his point of view was A track had all the smart kids, B track had a lot of trouble makers, C track had all the mexican kids (he went on to explain that back when the teachers were teaching bilingual the school grouped all the ESL kids on the same track, C) and D track was the leftovers. He did remain friends with many of the kids he tracked through with but didn't feel stuck in high school, he branched out and got involved in activities that opened up his world. of course now, his friends are mostly not from school.
ReplyDeleteMy kids attended year round and I also worked at schools for many years. I think the problem lies within the character of each child as labeling has been going on forever. While I think track labeling occurs for sure, I am sad to say however that I believe it just exists everywhere and won't cease until everyone cares enough to make it stop. A task that seems impossible for sure, but changing the views of one hurtful person at a time is a great start. Good luck to you :}
ReplyDeletemy children is in the menifee school system and yes you have a point but you got to remember sometimes things change and you sometimes have to put up with a new city, along with new ideas. just thank god we got that police chief from msjc out
ReplyDeleteI hink that sounds ridiculous. My kids have been on year round here in Menifee - and yes - i agree they tend to stay with the kids they know on their tracks - I find it hard to believe they label each other based on this. Kids label each other anyway - into cliques. Thats part of growing up. Smart ones, popular ones, nerd etc. Its life. But if your kids are always on traditional or always year round - thats all they know. They dont know any different. It does keep them from getting to know more kids - but now that were back in school on traditional - I dtill find that they hang out soley with the ones from their classes. Its just what they know and see on a regular basis
ReplyDeleteI had 3 chilfren in this district we came from a trad.school to yr round I have had a b and c track then finally all on a and yes the kids do get "stuck with the title of track they were on My oldest is in highschool and still only "hangs" with the friends from A track. My youngest in 4th grade still looks for his "A Track" friends. Hopefully for him this will change. I am very glad year round is gone
ReplyDeleteI've gone to school in Menifee since the third grade. I am now a junior at Paloma Valley High School. I've never excluded anyone as a friend because of what track we belonged to in elementary/middle school. But, a lot of other kids did seem to think that we couldn't talk or were scared to talk to each other because we had all been separated for so long. I always thought of it as a sort of Segregation. And of course when we were all mixed together during high school, some kids did clash. But, three years later things are alot better.. I'm just glad 'Tracks' are done with.
ReplyDeleteI have never heard of the labeling you are speaking of. I have been here 15 years. I enjoyed the varied vacations throughout the year. You could afford to take your kids to Disneyland, a National Park, or the beach some other time than the Peak Season. It was far less crowded and you got your monies worth. June is too gloomy to be out of school and August and Sept. are too HOT around here. We loved year round. We will be taking our kids out of school for some mid-year skiing and other vacations that you cannot do in the HEAT of summer or over the traditional crowded winter or Easter break.
ReplyDeleteWow Tina you are definitely old school with that thought. However, year round or traditional Menifee has bigger issues if the Governing Board continues to play politics with our children and their education process. The recent censoring of the President's speech was not only the height of disrepect but has allowed an institution to politicalcize something that was not.
ReplyDeleteMy kids never felt labeled and didn't really care. They never read into it. They are now in Charter School and absolutely love it. My daughter that once had horrible grades and hated school, now has a 3.17 gpa and loves going to school. The only thing I don't like about traditional is now we have summer with the whole world. I used to love planning little vacations throughout the year without the crowds.
ReplyDeleteI have been out of high school for many years now as a graduate of PVHS. I would just like to say that it is so true what the tracks did to the children in school. I can remember the A track was the more athletic types and B was academics and D god forbid you were a D tracker. It is sad how this distinguished people just by what track they were on.
ReplyDeleteI actually liked the year round schedule. I did not like the track system, though. (felt it sort of segrigated the kids in school, in a way, by track)
ReplyDeleteI did like that every three months my son got a month off from school.
It broke down the year more evenly. It felt more balanced than the traditional schedule.
I wish they had lost the track system but kept the year round, one month off every three months schedule.
-Ruth
its true thats how kids went by.
ReplyDeletein elementry threw highschool even though highschool did not have the tracks kids were still labeled.
elementry threw middle school you had to stay with your own track or you would be like pretty much going against your own,and even teachers were in it also they would say how our track was better because so and so and the other tracks are bad kids and stuff,not until 8th grade i finally didnt care anymore and hungout with other track kids ,but still got stuff from my own track for hanging out with people who were not on D track