PTO Pizza forms are due back TOMORROW- May 22nd. Pizzas arrive on May 29th. Thank you for your participation. This will be the last order of the school year.
Lost your form? Pick one up in the office or email Tammy at kuypers5@yahoo.com
Dishes!!!! There is a whole bin of dishes in the office, full of dishes that belong to generous Flynn families that have made food for bake sales/staff appreciation over the past few months. If there is no label on the dish, it ended up in this bin - are you missing a dish??? The bin is located under the staff mailboxes - come take a look and retrieve your stuff. All leftover dishes will be donated at the end of the schoolyear. In the future, be sure to stick your name on your dishes so we can return them to you - Thanks!
Response from Superintendant Jeanne Collins: At the end of this post is a letter that will be printed soon in the Free Press. Please read about how Burlington is reponding to issues of race and equity.
Check your Calendar...
- Fridays in May - Back by Popular Demand - Freezy Pop Fridays!!! $.25/pop (right after school)
- May 21 - Chess Club at 2:30 - Last one of the Year!
- May 22 - Orientation at Hunt Middle school for 5th grade PARENTS
- May 24 - Principal's Coffee, 8:15 in the Library - Everyone is invited! Homework is on the agenda... (see below - another article on the HW debate - thanks John Boone!)
- May 24 - Flynn Chorus Concert at Hunt MS (Kids to Hunt by 6:15)
- May 26 - Plant and Yard Sale at Hunt Middle School (formally the Flynn Perennially Green Sale) 8:30am-2pm - Lots-o-bargains!!!!!
- May 28 - No School
- May 30 - School Tour, St. Joe's campus on Allen St. at 3:30, 6:30 pm - 3/4/5 Families
- June 4 - Flynn Olympics - Parent help needed!
- June 6 - 5th Grade Bridging Ceremony, 6:30 pm
- June 8 - Early Release @11:30
- June 11 - Last Day for Flynn!!!! Early release w/ parade at 11:30
Does Homework Work?
By David Shenk
Sep 14 2009
School's back, and so is Big
Homework. Here's what my 7th grade daughter has to do tonight:
1 Math review sheet,
1 Science essay,
French vocab for possible quiz,
History reading and questionaire,
and
English reading and note-taking
About two hours, give or take. This
is considered a pretty light load, so as to ramp up gently. Over the next few
weeks, it will get up to three hours or more.
Most of us give very little thought
to this long-lived combination. School and homework seem as interconnected as
cars and gasoline. Kids need homework to get smarter -- right? It's supposed to
be how they pick up a good work ethic.
Only maybe it isn't. Maybe most
homework is a giant waste of my daughter's time and a needless cause of family
stress.
Two 2006 books make that argument:
Alfie Kohn's The Homework Myth, and Sara Bennett & Nancy Kalish's The
Case Against Homework.
Homework does not improve children's
work habits, argues Kohn. It does not reinforce skills, and "isn't even
correlated with, much less responsible for, higher achievement before high
school."
Bennett and Kalish write:
There's absolutely no proof that homework helps elementary
school pupils learn more or have greater academic success. In fact...when
children are asked to do too much nightly work, just the opposite has been
found. And study after study shows that homework is not much more beneficial in
middle school either. Even in high school, where there can be benefits, they
start to decline as soon as kids are overloaded.
The new thinking is that, instead of
piling on onerous, rote assignments, homework, kids ought to be encouraged to
use their after school time to explore their own curiosities, read books of
their own choice, to play, and to get adequate sleep.
Kohn again:
Most kids hate homework. They dread it, groan about it, put
off doing it as long as possible. It may be the single most reliable
extinguisher of the flame of curiosity.
Any parent reading this has high
expectations for his or her child. We all want not what's easiest, but what's
best. If that means a lot of homework, so be it. But it seems the time has come
for all parents to revisit this subject with considerable skepticism.
_
Some interesting links:
• 2003 NPR report, "Homework: How Much is Too Much?"
• Sara Bennett's StopHomework.com
• Telegraph: "UK's biggest school to scrap homework"
• Letter from the principal of Grant Elementary
School in Glenrock, Wyoming, explaining that her school is implementing a no
homework practice
David Shenk - David Shenk is a writer on genetics, talent and intelligence. He is the author of Data Smog, The Forgetting, and most recently, The Genius In All of Us. More
David Shenk is the author of six books, including Data Smog ("indispensable"—The New York Times), The Immortal Game ("superb"—The Wall Street Journal), and the bestselling The Forgetting ("a remarkable addition to the literature of the science of the mind."—The Los Angeles Times ). He has contributed to National Geographic, Slate, The New York Times, Gourmet, Harper's, The New Yorker, The American Scholar, and National Public Radio. Shenk's work inspired the Emmy-award winning PBS documentary The Forgetting and was featured in the Oscar-nominated feature Away From Her. His latest book, The Genius In All Of Us, was published in March 2010. Shenk has advised the President's Council on Bioethics and is a popular speaker. Click here to follow him on Twitter.
Letter going to Burlington Free Press from Jeanne Collins:
It's My Turn
Jeanne Collins
May 15, 2012
The city of Burlington is engaged in a very important and sometimes difficult discussion about diversity within our schools and community. These discussions have been intense and heartfelt. Some have called for my resignation, saying that I have been slow to act on diversity issues; that I have failed to lead as the demographics of our community changed.
I have heard the criticisms. I take them to heart.
Jeanne Collins
May 15, 2012
The city of Burlington is engaged in a very important and sometimes difficult discussion about diversity within our schools and community. These discussions have been intense and heartfelt. Some have called for my resignation, saying that I have been slow to act on diversity issues; that I have failed to lead as the demographics of our community changed.
I have heard the criticisms. I take them to heart.
Looking back, I recognize that I have missed opportunities to drive an agenda of diversity and respect. Part of my regret is that I have not shared with the larger community the issues which Burlington 's students of color face everyday. To those of you who believe action has taken too long, and particularly to students in our district who have suffered from the racism which I know continues, I say that I am sorry. I do the work that I do because I cherish children, all children. During the coming school year, I intend to increase my time visiting with our children in our schools, so that I can hear directly from them what they are feeling and thinking.
I intend to listen and act.
I was moved by the students who had the courage to protest the continuing verbal abuse suffered by children of color, often from other students. In the coming days, I will be announcing a series of aggressive actions to attack disparities in the school system.
It is not my intention to step down. We will
create an environment where all students, regardless of race, ethnicity, or
class, are respected and related to with equity. We will work with community
advocates to close the achievement gap. With the Nellie Mae grant, we have the
opportunity, beginning with ninth graders, to address the concerns of ELL
students about being separated from other students as they are learning
English.
We will not tolerate acts of racism in our
schools, whether by students or staff. I recently met with all the
administrators of our schools to draw a clear line with accountability for such
acts. I asked them to inform everyone in their buildings of this standard.
After the protests at BHS, Principal Mellencamp had all teachers read a
statement about racism to the student body. We invited students to join in
planning sessions for a student-led activity for the entire school.
We will enter next school year with plans to ensure that our staff in every school knows of my insistence on zero-tolerance of racist acts and statements in our schools and in the community. The high school administration, ELL coordinator and I met with Somali Bantu parents and have planned more meetings to come. I look forward to the integration of the Task Force recommendations in the new strategic plan, but we are not waiting until next October to respond aggressively to the crisis we are facing.
My pledge is this – to do everything humanly possible to eliminate disparities and inequities in our schools. I look forward in this work to partnering with the many different voices in the community. My email is superintendent@bsdvt.org if you would like to add to the discussion.
We have an amazing school district, with a wide variety of people who are dedicated and committed to our youth. Together we can create Excellent and Equitable Burlington Schools.
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