'Choice programs' offer range of teaching styles

PA Weekly, please give the benefits of our wonderful neighborhood schools some attention when you write these articles. Every year you write about the choice schools and make NO MENTION that an excellent available option is to go to a neighborhood school where children and parents find and build friendships with their neighbors. They will establish a cohort group with whom they will move through secondary school. Our neighborhood school was a wonderful experience. By the way, BOTH of my children were VERY well prepared for the upper grades. They have been very successful academically and socially, thanks to our neighborhood elementary school!

Please include this important option in your reporting.

@Hurray - no need to worry, the neighborhood schools are not lacking students. They don't need any publicity! All of the schools except for just a few are currently either full or over capacity. All of us who go to our neighborhood schools know how great they are and that's why we chose them. Let the Ohlone and Hoover parents duke it out.

Unfortunately, neighborhood schools do not mean the nearest school to your home.

I don't want to get into the choice school debate, but I do think it is important for people to realise that getting into their nearest neighborhood school in some areas is not a sure bet. Many schools at the kindergarten level have to resort to lotteries of various types to those who live within their boundaries. For those who do not make it, driving across town to whichever school has space is becoming the norm.

So saying that there are lotteries to get into the choice schools is one thing. Following up by saying that there are also lotteries to get into the neighborhood schools is equally important.

All of the choice schools used to be neighborhood schools. Try looking at a map of the district with all of the choice schools converted to neighborhood schools. It's VERY interesting.

Also, if we reassigned attendance boundaries more than once every decade (or more), a lot of the overflow problem would go away.

Thank you for the subject. For the last few days I tried to find any parents blog or forum describing direct instruction program in Terman. Any input on it?

I'm not sure the automatic acceptance of siblings is a fair practice. The lottery should be true and fair with all kids being equal, not biased like that.

If you register on time for kindergarten, you almost always end up at your neighborhood school.

Kindergarten "overflows" for the past three years (students that did NOT end up in their neighborhood school. This does not include the choice program deliberate transfers.

2010/2011 24 kindergartners
2009/2010 37 kindergartners
2008/2009 40 kindergartners

Siblings and VTP students receive first preference, then other students.

Re: Direct Instruction at Terman

Terman has a new principal so things may have changed or may be changing. The prior principal believed that DI was almost the same as the regular program. She also said that it may require a bit more work. I do not know if the new principal has any new ideas about the program. The old one was just not that excited about it.

My child is in DI at Terman. The idea is supposed to be that students work more independently. They learn from the teacher or book as a class unit, but they do less group projects (and produce more work that is done by one student working alone). This is the philosophy. I think the reality does reflect this, but other non-DI classes can work this way also.

I do not know if the DI kids get more homework or not. This would depend on the teachers that they assign to DI. Sometimes they rotate them.

However, this is what little I know about DI (and please don't anyone get too mad at me for saying these things):

1. A student out of the Terman catchment area but within PAUSD can study at Terman through DI. This makes sense for kids who really don't want to be at the other two schools for whatever reason. For example, a family who has moved from Barron Park to another part of Palo Alto might want their child to attend Terman with his friends from elementary school.

2. By selecting DI you are going to be with the other families that have made that choice. Therefore, if you know lots of people who all agree to pick DI then your child has a good chance of being with kids he/she knows. This is great for kids who want to do homework together. DI is not all that sought after so one really can pick the group in this way. If your child doesn't get in, and his/her friends do, it is really not a big deal. No one will care after "Tiger Camp" which makes everyone feel comfortable during the first few weeks.

3. Some people think that Hoover families tend to pick DI. I don't think that is overwhelmingly the case. My child does not think this is the case either. About four DI kids this year opted in from Barron.

4. The kids don't get why DI exists. They don't mind being in it or not, but they don't get it.

5. Is DI harder? The grading may be a bit harder in DI, but being in DI probably won't help a student to get into advanced math. If anything, the slight increase competition, would decrease these chances. Terman only has a few spots in Algebra 1 for 7th graders, maybe five or less, so one won't get such a spot unless one is really ready to jump through hoops of fire. However, most kids are going to get PreAlegra A in 7th grade no mater what .. that is the Terman "philosophy" as dictated by budget and classroom constraints.

6. Can avoid, or get, certain teachers by being in DI? Unless you have inside information, this is NOT possible. You get what you get at Terman.

7. Is there a blog that discusses DI? Not that I know of. DI, as of now, is not a strong choice community like Ohlone, or SI, or Hoover.

One more thing, if you have a child with special needs who really cannot stand a teacher that is very strict, or one that sometimes will put a kid down who has trouble, then let the principal know. She may not do anything about your placement, but at least you will feel like you did the best that you could for your child.

P.S. My child loves Terman. It is a lot of work. A few of the teachers are not great, but we have at least one that totally exceeds our expectations.