BRATTLEBORO — A casual reader of your coverage of the visit of the governor and the secretary of education to Academy School [“Academy School gets back to education,” Feb. 6] might think they were here because of recent security concerns. In fact, they came to recognize and draw attention to the terrific learning communities our elementary schools have developed.
The staff and administrators of the Brattleboro town schools have spent nine years adjusting to the changes demanded of them by federal policy and standardized testing.
They have done all that was asked of them and more - focusing on individualizing instruction and significantly improving reading and math learning for all students, while closing the achievement gap between students of low socio-economic status and others in the process. They have made our children happy to be learners and proud of their schools.
The governor spoke to elementary students about the importance of education and improvement. The secretary has been here twice to learn from us and share our lessons with other schools. It's sad that your article didn't mention any of this until the end.
Our schools are facing an accelerated change process as Vermont and 44 other states transition to the new Common Core of standards and performance assessments that will continue to transform the way our children learn.
No one is resting on their laurels. A lot of time and money will be invested in continuing the improvement of our schools. It would be nice if local media could break away from sensationalizing reasonable precautions and instead contribute to community understanding of the good that comes from investing in our children.