On Friday, 8/8/08, the ProJo ran a report of PPSD Superintedent Tom Brady's meeting with a group of parents from Roger Williams Middle School in one of series of "backyard chats" that he's having with PTOs around the city. Along with other parents from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Elementary School, I participated in one of these meetings in July. I heard at that time that Brady was meeting with family members from nine schools; the ProJo article on the Roger Williams meeting states that he has thus far met with five.
It's worth reading to get a sense of the issue that are foremost on the minds of parents of PPSD students; the issues may vary from school to school and neighborhood to neighborhood, but those reported in the ProJo are good representations of what's on parents' minds: lack of translation services for the huge number of Spanish-speaking families (and, it seems fair to extrapolate, families that speak other languages at home), school safety, communication with teachers, inappropriate discipline strategies, and a teachers union contract that gets in the way of the best possible teaching and learning.
If your child's school PTO group hasn't met with Brady, or if you want another chance to hear other parent and community member concerns and state your own, Brady is holding larger forums for community discussion this month (two have already happened). They will take place from 6-8pm on Aug. 13 at Veazie Elementary School, 211 Veazie St.; and Aug. 20 at Providence Academy of International Studies (PAIS), 182 Thurbers Ave. Childcare is available. See the Providence Schools website for more info.
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