Wednesday, May 18, 2016

New Superintendent announced

Anonymous wrote:

New Post:v The Board of Directors for the Pittsburgh Public Schools just announces its Candidate for Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Anthony Hamlet.
Board Decision Unanimous on Superintendent Decision
" I would like to state that I am a true Transformational Leader, not just by words but by action and performance. Transformational Leaders are charged with identifying the needed change and creating a vision to guide the change through inspiration. I lead by allowing others to take greater ownership for their work, understanding of their strengths and helping them with their weaknesses. True leadership is earned by ones actions, not bestowed by virtue of having “Administrator” in your title. I am humbled to be in the service of others, not being served by them. Displaying humility and integrity, not hubris and self-interest. I am one that listens more and talks less, while knowing what questions to ask rather than knowing all the answers. I believe in connecting ideas, people and resources, not controlling them. I strive to create opportunities and remove roadblocks, as we focus on the journey not a destination: for it is a process, not an outcome.
A successful superintendent has to satisfy many constituencies, keeping high achievers in the system while devoting resources to those who need them most. The focus should always be on what the students in our classrooms need to meet the demand of the standards through building the capacity of the teachers within our school centers. As research in the area of education evolves, so should our district-level leadership in order to prepare our school leaders and teachers for the complexity and level of cognitive work our students must achieve in order to become college and career ready.
Additionally I truly believe that if we develop our school leaders, establish school-wide systems of operation, build teacher capacity, use data to drive decisions, provide job embedded professional development, and monitor the fidelity of implementation of the School Improvement Plan, then there will be a positive increase in student performance and the achievement gap will close." Dr. Anthony Hamlet Remarks "

Saturday, May 7, 2016

Happy Mothers' Day! A PPS mom looks back

Mark Rauterkus wrote:

"New post, good news. My wife tells a story about being a mom and attending the Phillips Elementary School music concert. The last part is about going to a swim meet. 

http://rauterkus.blogspot.com/2016/05/mothers-day-weekend-radio-show.html

Enjoy the weekend and Mothers Day! "

Monday, May 2, 2016

PPS schools at polling places

Apologies, this was sent in by Anonymous last week:

"*New post please*

Right now I am so angry I can barely type without spewing venom. My daughter attends a PPS elementary school. In the spirit of anonymity, I won't identify the specific school, but I will say that before yesterday, I felt it was a safe and secure place for my daughter. Any time I've gone to the building, I have had to be buzzed in, as the doors are always locked and gaining entry requires identification. Yesterday, however....oh, yesterday. My daughter's school was turned into an easy target for anyone with ill intentions, as the building was used as a polling location.

Polling locations are outside of PPS jurisdiction and must not be locked. The general public has easy access without the need for any identification. REALLY? Pardon me while I retch. While on any given day metal detectors may be used to screen potential threats, yesterday, the masses traipsed in and out of elementary schools throughout the district unencumbered. School police, already stretched to the limit as far as their ability to cover all buildings with few staff, were not assigned to individual schools, meaning that any issues (and there were issues) were dealt with on an "as we can get there" basis.

Dr. Lane, your obvious and blatant disregard for the safety of our children has gone from the ridiculous to the sublime. Every single person who entered that polling place, without having to be screened for ID or weapons, had the potential to do harm. The fact that you put my daughter in the crosshairs is beyond disgusting. I am infuriated and think there's a lawsuit here somewhere. The safety of our children should be your first priority, and you, Dr. Lane, ignored that responsibility. You dropped the ball and gambled that your indiscretion wouldn't end in a tragedy. You invited the possibility of mayhem into our buildings with little to no regard for my daughter or any other child. I have to wonder if your child was a student in one of those buildings, would you have felt differently? I am beyond disgusted at your wanton actions, and I'm surprised and disturbed that no one else has called you to task and held you accountable for such poor judgement. "

CTE in entertainment technology at U Prep

Anonymous wrote:

"

New Post:CTE and Entertainment @ UPrep in the Fall
http://www.post-gazette.com/news/education/2016/05/02/Milliones-to-offer-entertainment-technology-program/storie
"