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Author: Valerie
The Boy reports today that the bus driver doesn’t let them talk on the bus when it is raining.
Having driven a bus in Durham* with young passengers and having driven in the rain with squealing kids, I understand completely.
*Ask me if I think it’s a good idea that high school students can no longer drive school buses in North Carolina.
Author: Valerie
Thanks to Steve for the heads-up to results from the 2008 Teacher Working Conditions Survey.
You can see how Durham Public Schools teachers rated their work environments here and how teachers at individual Durham schools rated the same here.
Author: Valerie
The Boy reports you can choose strawberry milk (or chocolate or white) with your school lunch. He hasn’t chosen strawberry, but holds the option open for the future.
Author: Valerie
Everything’s organized, sorted, and labeled with a Sharpie. Lunch money counted out. Favorite shorts in the dryer now. Clean shoes; breakfast planned down to the vitamins. The Boy’s ready for the first day of school in the morning.
If there are not tears at the bus stop, it’s because I’m biting my inner cheek raw.
Author: Valerie
Costco was full of back-to-school items today, including mattresses for outfitting new apartments. Someone did not tie their twin set to the top of their car well this afternoon, and it landed on 15-501, the mattress on the shoulder and the box spring in the middle lane. Ouch. I narrowly avoided a crash navigating between these and another vehicle.
Author: Valerie
Although the majority of Durham Schools met the state’s ABCs of Accountability standards for growth last year, several did not meet Federal Adequate Yearly Progress standards. If subgroups of students do not meet AYP standards, the school fails to meet the standards (subgroups include categories of race, income, and special needs). As at least one principal noted, one major challenge for schools with a large number of English as a Second Language students is preparing them well enough in their second language to take the tests. (Currently ESL students have 2 years to learn English before taking the tests.) If you’ve ever seen an example test, you know that a high level of English literacy is required, even for the math problems.
But that’s a reason, not an excuse, and the schools are forging ahead by offering free tutoring services for students in schools who (a) are in a Title I school not making AYP in the same subject for 3+ years and (b) receive free or reduced-price school lunch.
Eligible schools are Bethesda, Forest View, Oak Grove, Burton, Glenn, Parkwood, Club Boulevard, Hillandale, WG Pearson, Eastway, Holt, EK Powe, Eno Valley, Hope Valley, YE Smith, Fayetteville, Merrick-Moore, and George Watts. (Many of these schools are considered to be desirable schools, with strong PTAs and community support, and success on other yardsticks of academic excellence.)
An application is required for the program, and parents can pick their top three choices of the available tutoring services.
Tutoring services participating are:
Academic Achievers by S&L Consultants
Academics Plus, Inc.
Accelerated Achievement at Measurement, Inc.
Achieve Success Tutoring by University Instructors, Inc.
Brainfuse
Bright Futures Learning
Capitol Educational Support
Failure Free Reading
Glosso Educational Services, Inc.
Huntington Learning Centers, Inc.
KnowledgePoints of the Triangle
MasterMind Prep Learning Solutions
NCCU Academic Enrichment Academy
Salient Learning, Inc.
The Enrichment Centers of NCLB, Inc.
Transportation is not provided.
Tutoring Provider Fairs will be held September 9 (at Hillside, 6:30pm) and September 11 (Southern High, 6:30pm). Applications are due September 25th, and placements will be made by October 2nd, with tutoring beginning November 5th.
Author: Valerie
Open House was held this evening for most of the Durham public elementary schools on the traditional schedule.
It was hard to find a parking space, but once inside, we found everything worked smoothly. The assignment letter had the room number on it, so we used that to find the classroom. We met the Boy’s new teacher, and she seems fabulous.
I confirmed that the teachers came back to work this past Monday. They had teacher in-service all day Tuesday, leaving very little time to get classrooms together and organized for Open House. That’s a tight schedule.
I filled out several forms while the Boy did a scavenger hunt to find his cubby, the in-class bathroom, the media center, etc. What a creative way for the kids to learn their way around. There were cookies and stickers.
On the way out, we picked up a t-shirt and Friday folder (homework and other materials go back and forth in the Friday folder).
This morning, he was fussy about starting a new school. As we left the Open House, he said he could hardly wait 4 days for school to start. Now that’s a successful evening.
Author: Valerie
Starting Friday, August 22nd, through September 14th, Find the Light Community Theatre in Downtown Durham will present Marmalade Gumdrops by Carol Lauck for ages “5 to 15 and parents of all ages.”
Shows are Fridays at 6:30pm, Saturdays 2:30pm, and Sundays 2:30pm. Tickets are $7.
Location: 124 W. Parrish Street, around the corner from the Bull.
Marmalade Gumdrops is about an imaginative 10 year old boy in his room. Characters include the boy, his bed, a chair, a bookcase, and a “not too bright” floor lamp.
See the Marmalade Gumdrops flyer here.
The director is Gennaro D’Onofrio. Yes, you’ve heard that last name before if you’re a Law & Order fan. Yes, that’s his dad.
Author: Valerie
Crape myrtles grow very well in North Carolina. You can plant them in any kind of soil, in the hottest, driest part of your yard, and ignore them completely, and they will grow beautifully. I think you should plant a whole forest of crape myrtles in your yard and we’d have a surplus in the bee population.
Something about digging holes in North Carolina is that there is clay (hence all the potteries around). This clay can be 1″ from the top of the ground, or deeper, or not at all. I’ve found if you start digging a hole and hit clay, best fill it back in and dig a hole somewhere else. (I did manage to put in a tether ball pole, but it required a special steel spike from my neighbor to get through 12″ of clay, and I won’t be doing that again.)
I was going to plant these guys in the back yard, but couldn’t find a clay-free area with enough sun, so they’re going up front.
Author: Valerie
Eve at the Durham Weight Watchers comes highly recommended, and for good reason. She gives an inspirational sermon. You leave thinking, I can do this!
I met Eve this week. I didn’t have to stand up and identify myself as a newbie. I didn’t have to stand at a podium and say, “Hi! I’m Valerie, and I’ve been over a healthy weight since my second pregnancy.” The other newcomer and I had a private session at the end to learn about the magic that is Flex Points.
Today I found two loopholes in this Points thing… there are things that are zero points. Celery, yes, but also broccoli! Yummy, yummy broccoli. And if you work up a sweat, you get more points! Which brings me to my next post…
Author: Valerie
Teacher assignments came in the mail today from our school. Check your mailbox!
Author: Valerie
Two hummingbirds just flew up to the window, hovering inches away to check us out. Then they flew into the tree and perched for 3 seconds before zooming away again. I thought hummingbirds didn’t perch. I wonder what they are eating in our yard.
Author: Valerie
Sunday morning found us motivated to do some home improvement, so I went around measuring things that needed parts replaced and taking notes. We took these notes to the Home Depot and started filling our order. We quickly traded the buggy for a flatbed cart that I found parked in a long row of such carts outside the building materials entrance.
We gathered lattice pieces, measured and cut molding, waited in a longish line to ask about stair treads, looked for fence parts in three different places, looked at trees, and found some items on sale, too. The cart was loaded and it took about an hour and a half.
The last item we needed was a length of foam to cover the A/C pipe. I parked the bulky cart, went one aisle over to ask an orange-vested employee where I could find foam tubing, and went over one more aisle to get the tubing. We quickly measured it and turned around to get our cart, which was now… gone.
Stunned, we walked up and down the store looking for the cart. By this time, the kids were exhausted, hungry, and worried that I was going to try to gather the items again. (I wasn’t.)
No cart. The fencing guy came by and said, yeah, you have to hold onto your cart or people will dump your stuff and steal the cart. The cashier confirmed this.
I cannot believe someone will up and steal your cart in the Home Depot.
Author: Valerie
On Saturday, we walked over to Broad Street Cafe and my first thought was somebody burned something. Then I saw the wood stove and remembered why it smelled like that.
Here’s the old play area. A lot cleaner, but no puzzles. When I first got there on Saturday, though, there were more kids than adults in the cafe. They were sitting at the bar playing Nintendo DSs. The kids’ music and storytelling events will return in November.
Other impressions: there are a fair number of vegan options on the menu, but not pastries because those are from Guglhupf. It looks very upscale in the cafe now, but still comfortable. The stage is flanked by black velvet theater curtains, looking more like a stage.