The Rookery

Tomorrow night, the Prairie Creek school board is going to decide on our school schedule for next year.  As many of you know, Northfield schools are going to have a late start on Wednesday mornings.  Teachers will meet in small "PLC" groups to study student data and make instructional decisions based on that data.  They experimented with the format this year and many teachers were thrilled with the collegial interaction, finding that designing curriculum together re-ignited their love of teaching.

At Prairie Creek, we've known that meeting together as professionals to discuss, think and create is invaluable.  For over 18 years, Prairie Creek has reserved one afternoon a week for professional development.  Many of the current members of the faculty see the school's commitment to reflective practice and professional development, evidenced in the Monday meeting, as a key difference between our school and most other public schools.  Our work as teachers who create curriculum responsive to our students' needs is honored here.  We are given the time we need to learn and dig deeply.  This commitment to the work of teaching is one of the key reasons I choose to teach at Prairie Creek.

While I applaud Northfield for beginning to give their teachers the time needed to create responsive curriculum, I lament that we may be about to loose our own dedicated professional development meeting.  As teachers, we know that Monday afternoons represent a sacrifice from our families.  Many have to re-arrange schedules to afford us the time we value so much.  We also know that the hour and a half of instructional time is a significant price to pay.  But having a large block of time to debate, learn and create together is central to teaching the way we teach at Prairie Creek.  Without it, I fear we will be forced to use more "out of the box" curricula, curricula much less responsive to the needs of our students than the ones we currently craft.

This year for example, we explored math instruction.  We read research on math instruction and number sense in different countries.  We delved deeply into an approach called "Math Recovery," designed to identify students who are struggling to develop number sense.  We created our own assessment tools based on this research and created "red flags" for each grade level so that we could reach out to struggling learners earlier.  Now we are in the midst of developing math routines and interventions that will buoy up students who struggle to make math make sense.  None of this could have happened without our Monday meetings.

It seems very unlikely that the Prairie Creek board will approve continuing short days on Monday afternoon since we will also have to start late on Wednesday mornings.  As a staff, we have brainstormed possible compromises and have come up with a few that preserve some of what we value in our Monday afternoon meetings.  Personally, my biggest fear is that in a few years, the winds of change will blow and Northfield will abandon its commitment to hour long PLC meetings.  Having given up our own designated block to fit with Northfield's schedule, we will lose even our shortened professional development meeting, making us a much less special place to teach (and, by extension, a much less special place to learn.)

To close, thank you for your years of sacrifice to give us Monday afternoons to practice the kind of learning we try to create for your children.  It's a gift that I know I haven't acknowledged often enough.  As we move into a new schedule, please be supportive of our efforts to protect weekly meaningful professional development at Prairie Creek.  I hope we are able to preserve this tradition that draws quality educators to our school and keeps them committed to working with us.