Dear CNMT Community,

This blog is an opportunity for me to check in with everyone and give an update on how I see things at CNMT. This week I want to briefly address an article that came out in a local Spanish-language newspaper.

This article quoted a few parents and a teacher, who requested anonymity. They are not happy with the Partnership for Los Angeles Schools, and feel that Roosevelt should separate from the relationship with PLAS and the Mayor’s office.

I understand that not everyone is happy with PLAS. In fact, it seems that the school faculty’s opinion of the organization has not improved since the vote of no confidence over two years ago, judging by the recent vote to create an exploratory committee to look at other options for school management.

Regardless of your opinion of the Partnership or any individual’s job performance, as a newspaper, Hoy should be able to separate fact from fiction. Some of the figures cited in the article are just plain inaccurate. Continue reading →

Dear CNMT Community,

In a sense, one could say that we are very lucky at Roosevelt High School, because the QEIA grant has kept our class sizes low. And it’s true. For example, we are required to keep our 9th-grade classes at 18:1, which is much lower than the District norm of 34:1.

Class sizes are still small at Roosevelt, but the cuts have affected us. For example, we have been reduced from 13 custodians to 6. We have been reduced from 8 campus aides to 5. How can we expect to keep our campus clean and safe we such a reduced level of support?

Continue reading →

Dear CNMT Community,

As a school of media and technology, CNMT promotes the use of technological tools for learning and creative expression. To this end, all CNMT students take Exploring Computer Science in the 9th grade, a course that was created by UCLA and the National Science Foundation to prepare more underrepresented students for 21st century careers in computer science.

This is also why all CNMT 11th graders take ROP Video Production, a course that teaches the entire process of film production, from coming up with the idea, to writing the screenplay, filming and editing.

This year, in addition, all CNMT seniors are taking Digital Computer Technology with Mr. Jayasinghe, a class in which they are creating senior projects that have community service and technology components and will be presented towards the end of the school year in a public forum. Continue reading →

Dear CNMT community,

This week will be the debut of what I hope will become a regular tradition for CNMT: College Day. On Wednesday all CNMT 10th and 11th graders will be taking the PSAT, which is the practice exam for college admission.

Since the exam takes about three hours, rather than have all the classes disrupted, we are planning special activities for the 9th and 12th graders. Ninth graders will be going on one of two field trips, either to UCLA or UC Riverside.

Seniors will be attending a series of workshops about college. There will be five workshops, each one for about 40 min. The topics include writing your personal statement, applying for financial aid, college admissions tests, community college and choosing colleges to apply to. Continue reading →

Dear CNMT Community,

Choice. The new buzzword for education has driven much of the recent reform in LAUSD. The idea is that families deserve to have options for their children, and shouldn’t be forced to attend a low-performing school in their neighborhood.

This idea drives the charter school movement, and motivated the recent film, Waiting for Superman, which highlighted Roosevelt as a “Dropout Factory.”¹

Now we see choice in another form, with LAUSD’s Public School Choice program, which is entering its third round this year.

Proponents of public schools sometimes criticize this movement because it seems to drain neighborhood schools of the most motivated students and parents. I can confirm this with our own school. When I made phone calls this summer to recruit incoming ninth graders for our summer bridge program, many students told me that they had already signed up for a charter or magnet school. As the students were already in our system, I looked them up, and each and every one was scoring proficient or advanced on the California Standards Tests.

Continue reading →