Tuesday, October 16, 2012
Winchester parents share their stance with the proposed redistricting plans.
- OPINION
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Tuesday, October 16, 2012
The community involvement in the redistricting discussion has been a great example of democracy in action, and we have been proud to be even a small part of this process. The superintendent and school committee members should be applauded for keeping their ears, minds, and hopefully their hearts open to ideas that may go beyond the normal paradigms of traditional redistricting exercises. The presentation of the 5 redistricting maps on Oct. 11 did little to reduce parents’ concerns around walkability, safety, fairness, and costs. We feel that among the alternative plans put forward, the Advanced Learning Opportunities Program (ALO) represents not only a novel means to harmonize enrollment and capacity, but also an opportunity to set an …
The creators of the Advanced Learning Opportunities program say this alternative to redistricting addresses capacity issues as well as offers a challenging curriculum.
- OPINION
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Tuesday, October 16, 2012
The recent redistricting dilemma prompted us to seize the opportunity to offer a NEW alternative to redistricting. Our Advanced Learning Opportunities program (ALO) is a voluntary and flexible school assignment model, which addresses current and future capacity issues, AND provides equal access to a challenging curriculum. An ALO program solves the problem by getting critical masses of children to the identified schools, without the need for redrawing district borders. The program ALSO addresses another issue, which is providing equity of opportunities for challenge for children who demonstrate readiness. A recent NY Times Op-Ed piece written by Chester Finn, a former US Assistant Secretary of Education, states: ”Every motivated, high-…
Liberativependent
12:36 pm on Thursday, October 18, 2012
I agree with Lisa. ALO is not a solution for the capacity issues which are driving the need for redistricting. I believe ALO is a great way to give advanced students the challenging coursework they need in order to maximize their potential, but choosing to limit access to ALO by putting it only at VO feels like a workaround way to get ALO into Winchester rather than a holistic solution to the … more ›