Race to Nowhere at Crozet Methodist – 9 September 2011

Mark your calendars – Race to Nowhere at Crozet Methodist Church.

I recommend we all go – so that we can see and affirm that we’re not alone in recognizing that our educational system has failed. And then we can figure out what to do about it.

Watch the video then read this at RealCentralVA.

When:  Friday, September 9, 2011
Time:  7-9 p.m.
Where:  Crozet United Methodist Church Sanctuary
Sponsor:  Coalition for Childhood

Advanced tickets sold on line for $10.00 or at the door for $15.00.


Update from the comments:

Did you know about the Bartleby Project?

“The Bartleby Project begins by inviting 60,000,000 American students, one by one, to peacefully refuse to take standardized tests or to participate in any preparation for these tests; it asks them to act because adults chained to institutions and corporations are unable to; because these tests pervert education, are disgracefully inaccurate, impose brutal stresses without reason, and actively encourage a class system which is poisoning the future of the nation.” Read John Taylor Gatto’s full statement on the Bartleby Project (it’s long).

Update 2: Seth Godin writes

Large-scale education was never about teaching kids or creating scholars. It was invented to churn out adults who worked well within the system.

As we get ready for the 93rd year of universal public education, here’s the question every parent and taxpayer needs to wrestle with: Are we going to applaud, push or even permit our schools (including most of the private ones) to continue the safe but ultimately doomed strategy of churning out predictable, testable and mediocre factory-workers??
?
As long as we embrace (or even accept) standardized testing, fear of science, little attempt at teaching leadership and most of all, the bureaucratic imperative to turn education into a factory itself, we’re in big trouble.?

?The post-industrial revolution is here. Do you care enough to teach your kids to take advantage of it?

Walking from Trailside Coffee to Henley Middle School

More context to come, but for now …

I asked Crozetians for the services of a teenager to photograph the walk from Trailside Coffee in Old Trail to Henley Middle School. From sidewalks to paths to the bridge back to a path, it looks like a pretty nice walk to me.

To the kid who took the pictures, thank you. To the administration of Albemarle County Schools, please be reasonable and allow kids to walk to school.

Update: Thank God for bureaucracy. How ever would our children survive without it?

realcrozetva (realcrozetva) on Twitter-1.jpg

Related:

How many residents in Old Trail walk to School?
Walking to School – do you do it?

Update: a very relevant and timely story, Are We Overprotecting Our Kids?

Update #2: From Jessica with the Crozet Trails Crew:

Thanks for the slide show. The Crozet Trails Crew would like to work with Old Trail, the Schools, and the County to improve and/or maintain this trail so that school officials, parents, and kids feel like it is a safe option for getting to and from school. We would be happy to meet with all interested parties on site and to schedule a workday as early as September 4th. Please contact [email protected] to volunteer or with suggestions.

Continue reading “Walking from Trailside Coffee to Henley Middle School”

Henley Makes National News

Thanks to its decision to remove A Study in Scarlet from the 6th Grade reading list.

A sampling of the national attention:
Forbes
Time
The LA Times

– The Toronto Star points out that the issue may have been less about the content of the book and more that the curriculum wasn’t addressing the context:

What clinched it for Koleszar was that teachers “weren’t dealing with these issues. Sixth graders might not have an understanding that it has a bias.”

Continue reading “Henley Makes National News”

Crozet Schools Growing. Unexpectedly?!

Now … how are we going to pay for it?

Aaron Richardson at the DP reports:

According to the report, Meriwether Lewis Elementary, Crozet Elementary, Monticello High School andWestern Albemarle High School all will need expansions in the next five years. The cost of renovations to Western Albemarle, which the committee recommended accelerating by three years, could run as high as$15 million.

“We do see accelerated population growth in the western feeder pattern,” he said. “We are now expecting [Western Albemarle High School] to go beyond its capacities earlier than expected.”

I’m baffled how anyone who’s been here for more than five years can be surprised by the fact that Crozet is growing fast. Crozet’s population in 2000 was 2,820 and the population in 2010 was 5,565.

I wrote more about this at my real estate blog, looking at this “surprise” from the APF angle.

Albemarle County Zoning Sign # 91 in front of Henley

Whenever I see these signs, I always try to remember to look them up. This time I actually remembered. If you’ve seen and wondered about Sign #91 in front of Henley, it’s for Henley’s Wind Turbine:

VA201100003 Henley Middle School Wind Turbine (Signs #91): Request variance to increase the maximum height for a proposed wind turbine structure from 35 to 51 feet. Property is located on the north side of Route 250 West just past the western intersection with Rt. 250. Tax Map 56, Parcel 17A is zoned Residential (R1) and Entrance Corridor Overlay (EC). 

I’m searching for an update on the status of Henley’s Wind Turbine …