By Antonio D. French
Filed Thursday, June 28, 2007 at 10:01 AM
St. Louis Public Schools Superintendent Diana Bourisaw recently announced the hiring of three principals to head the district’s new alternative schools. SLPS will launch a new K-12 initiative, designed specifically for disruptive students, at the start of the 2007-2008 school year. Labels: Press_Releases, Schools
Bonita Jamison has been named principal of Des Peres Elementary, 450 Des Peres Ave. Jamison previously served as a principal intern for the district, as well as a classroom teacher for SLPS and the Riverview Gardens School District.
Sean Nichols will be principal of Turner Middle School, 2615 N. Billups Ave. Before his new appointment, Nichols served as an SLPS assistant principal.
Kacy Seals will take the reins of Kottmeyer High School, 1530 S. Grand Blvd. Seals previously worked as an SLPS assistant principal and principal intern.
"We have hired instructional leaders with a strong understanding of the needs of alternative students," said Bourisaw. "Our goal is to offer curriculum that encourages students at all levels to achieve academically and socially."
The district is implementing its new initiative with assistance from The Big Picture Company, an organization that specializes in developing individualized instruction for students. Enrollment at each school will be limited to 150 students.
13 Comments:
The "Big Picture" is that only (2) of the (22) staff employees of the "Big Picture" are African-American according to their website, and their experience has mostly been in East Coast schools for affluent neighborhoods.
How much is the "Big Picture" costing the St. Louis Public Schools?
How did we come about awarding a contract to the "Big Picture" or could they be volunteering?
One of the two African-Americans on their staff is in charge of gathering up the "NEGROES", oops I mean "COMMUNITY OUTREACH."
We better be careful as always from this day forward.
6/28/2007 11:17 AM
The "Big Picture" of Slay and his cronies is gentrification with ethnic elimination!
6/28/2007 12:07 PM
Anon 12:07;
Damn right.
1) Destroy SLPS
2) Create isolated neighborhoods for well-off whites moving back into the city to escape high gas prices
3) Create extensive network of sickeningly underperforming charters passed off as superior to public schools.
4) Since these whites moved to the county because they did not want to be around black people in the first place, and the SLPS will probably be more racially polarized than ever, they will naturally send their kids to charters (not being able to afford the likes of John Burrows + MICDS)
5) Since the mayor controls the public schools, and the charters are such pieces of $h!t, no-one in the city except the people from John Burrows and the like (rich) will be mentally competent to realize when they are being screwed in one way or another, be it taxes, eminent domain abuse, etc.
A nightmare vision to be sure, but my dreams seem to be coming closer to reality these days.
6/28/2007 12:46 PM
You anonymous posters are totally unbelievable. For years I have heard parents and teachers crying for the establishment of alternative schools to make the children's environment safer. I have heard was how horrible Roberti and company were for closing alternative schools (due to a major budget crunch). Yet now the district is finally reestablishing alternative schools and all you people do is whine and bitch about it and (of all the hypocricy) moan about the cost. Some people would complain if you handed them $20. I believe YOU are those people.
6/28/2007 2:35 PM
umm, i didn't see anyone bitching about establishing alternatives.
6/28/2007 2:56 PM
The re-establishment of alternative schools is DEFINITELY a good thing. According to the article the district was getting "assistance" from Big Picture...(maybe with the one-on-one curriculum?)
This was done under the elected board, by the way. You know, the one that wasn't doing anything for the students?
I think problems could include: the limited scope (150 students each), the possibility of making a bureacratic mess out of the qualification process (making it difficult to get kids in and out), and (as always) expense.
The limited scope thing could possibly be addressed by having some type of in-school program as well for those who are not as severe. Often, just removing them from the regular classroom is all that is needed, not from the school...(they should also be tested separately) Use the counselors, social workers, parent liasions, in-school suspension monitors we already have, but more teacher's aides are what is VITAL for success. You could also try giving one teacher in that grade level those kids but limit the number to 5 or 6 (combine grade levels in smaller schools but LIMIT THAT NUMBER or you will just be warehousing them and they won't learn squat. You might also endanger the teacher.
As far as the potential for bureacratic mess...who knows? maybe The Big Picture and Mr. Sullivan will prevent that, not add to it. I am afraid if we depend on his idea of a corporate or private sponsor for each school (not just the alternative schools), more bureacratic mess is exactly what we might get. But, we have to do something (that works) or student achievement will never come up.
And expense...
Hiring teacher's aides is not as expensive as hiring teachers. If corporate sponsors could be found who are willing to commit just MONEY to use for specific purposes (hiring TAs, social workers, attendance monitors, etc.) that might be nice (and avoid the bureacratic mess of having 100 different corporations trying to use the schools as billboards). The money problem is, of course, a b***ch.
6/28/2007 4:18 PM
Big piture was hired before the board approved it?
Friends of Bourisaw?
Big picture costing a lot.
What about AU?
Brousiaw best friend runs the office in St. Louis. Very large contract.
All a complete joke.
Invest in Charter Schools if you want our children educated. This system is going no where fast.
6/28/2007 5:29 PM
Can't argue with "facts" like those!
6/28/2007 5:50 PM
Elf, send me $20 anytime! I promise I won't bitch!
6/28/2007 5:58 PM
It is surprisingly difficult to do searches on things like the "big picture" and "texas can".
Education stuff is boring, so what you get are selfpraising websites and schools for the most part---and not much interest in detatched observations.
From what i could discern, there seems to be quite a difference---Texas Can is being used as a model by dese to set up a charter in st. louis. It claims to cost a lot
less per student---very efficient.
Big Picture costs a lot more, and it focuses on the fact that it gets the job done, limiting the number of students per school.
Yes--it is an apples and oranges comparison, but there are subtle outlines of attitude---
Now that the rest of the people of Missouri own the slps---what will they do--spend money more efficiently, or focus on getting the job done.
Bourisaw and the dese look at things quite differently.
One would expect Mr. Sullivan to be more receptive to something like Texas Can-----unless he looks at it and thinks maybe in the bigger picture---texas can't.
6/28/2007 7:26 PM
I s Sullivan looking at anything or is he continuing the same path as everyone that comes is, keep the same and change nothing. Great things will completely fall apart and DESE can do a full takeover. Sounds like a plan.
6/28/2007 8:16 PM
Good question (Is Sullivan...). I have been denied access to the Transitional Board's new website...anybody else?
6/30/2007 2:14 PM
I question the hiring of such inexperienced educators to lead these buildings. The elementar PRINCIPAL has just come out of a leadership program for aspiring principals and isn't even certified to date. This person went fromt the classroom and spent the last year in a magnet school building as an intern--- clearly nothing like the experience of an alternative school. The high school principal went through the same program but does have one year as an assistant principal. It would seem that high-profile new alternative schools would need experienced leaders.
6/30/2007 4:23 PM
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