Providence Schools and Beyond evolves into....

Especially recently, Providence Schools and Beyond's 2012 posts have been sporadic and erratic as a result of a few things: two big trips for me in March (Dominican Republic and Israel--my passport finally feels some love), intensity as usual in all areas of life, and some nagging sense that I need to clarify what this blog will be about moving forward.

I'm considering two different ways to proceed:

1. Providence Schools and Beyond is a place to talk about Providence's schools--especially Providence's public schools--that includes many voices in discussion about how we can support our public school system to provide a great education for all of the young people in our city. More conversation than blog.

2. Providence Schools and Beyond is a place where I can spout off about what's happening in education in Providence, in Rhode Island, nationwide from my own particular perspective. 

Both of these approaches differ from what Providence Schools and Beyond has been so far. It started as a way to share info about the Providence Public Schools (and beyond) for families who were making decisions about what schools to choose. I started the blog after our family had recently gone through that decision-making process, and from time to time I have circled back to our own experience. I created this blog as a community resource, particularly for other parents of school-age kids. That still sounds useful. Offering help to parents figuring out how to navigate the system and tools for decision-making is useful, as is sharing information that helps those of us who already have kids in school. 

As time has gone on, my feelings around that purpose have shifted. I feel, at times, like an unpaid (and unasked!) volunteer in the Providence Public School's communications department. They didn't ask for my help for sure, and I think that since I started this blog, PPSD communications have improved. There is room for yet more improvement for sure, and the topic of how school systems can and should best communicate with families (and student, teachers, and the general public) would be fun to explore. But my perception that I needed to echo information about kindergarten registration dates and other events seems less urgent that it used to.

So I don't want to do PPSD communications work, and I am fairly sure that the people who are paid to do that work don't want me to do so either. Put more broadly, I don't feel like being Suzy Sunshine for parents looking to know more about PPSD. I used to dig doing that. Now, not so much. The reasons for that are a whole other blog topic, too. What I know now is that these insights punch a big hole in the current purpose of this blog. 

So for now, that's it. I will be publishing actual content on Thursday and Friday. In the meantime - or anytime -if any readers are interested in sharing ideas about what this blog could or should be, I am all ears.