More Coffee, Please

So with the withdrawal of Surry from the district, there’s been the question of what would happen to the Monadnock Community Connections School, given we’re currently based in Surry’s old elementary school.

Good question.

I know what I would like to see. A multi-million dollar institution where our kids are allowed the kind of education they really deserve, where we don’t need to worry about meeting accreditation, and where they feel the pride that should be present in learning.

But I’m a realist (or I try to be) and I know that this is not going to happen. It’s not the community I live in, and it’s not even needed. We should be better than we’re doing, but we don’t need to be the most expensive in the nation.

I suppose we could stay right where we are and be Surry’s new high school—we would fit in quite well with their charter school. But I doubt that. The reason Surry left was because they wanted their elemenatary school back, and I have this feeling they’re going to want to see their kids in the building.

So where does MC² go?

The nightmare image would be in a classroom at MRHS. Don’t get me wrong, I love the school and the people there, but it can’t work. MRHS has tried several smaller programs within the school—the Academy of Arts and Design and The Law and Public Safety Pathway are two, and the central problem with both is the kids don’t really know that they belong to anything special. They go to the same classes, follow the same courses as every other kid in the building, and other than filling out an application and some grade requirements, there’s nothing to mark them as different. ¹

Being in the building would make it impossible for one of the big differences between MC² and the old model to really be reinforced—the emphasis on character and community. One big complaint I had at MRHS is performance on the report card has less to do with what a child learned than how they behaved—MC² aims to address the habits that will guarantee success. It can’t do that if they’re surrounded by hundreds of people who don’t value or share the same ideals.

Only slightly better would be portable classrooms on the MRHS campus. For one thing, I don’t think they would have the kind of community room that is needed for MC². Even if they did, there’s been a perspective that the school is the last stop for kids who “couldn’t hack it” at a traditional high school. It never had anything to do with choice—the way it was painted in the minds of the public by people who didn’t know any better—or had an ulterior motive—was it wasn’t a “real” school.

It’s worked hard to shake that image, and I think it’s doing a good job, as more and more people recognize it for what it is. As far the the State of New Hampshire is concerned, it’s the model for the future, and how well traditional schools manage to adapt to the Monadnock Community Connections School’s model will determine how well they manage to align with state standards—and with that, how well they manage to do on state tests.

Being in a couple of portable classrooms, stuck in a muddy field right next to the building, will not in anyway help the school shed its “black sheep cousin” perception in the community. Besides, according to rumor, before any additions can take place to the MRHS building there needs to be about $37 million spent to bring the existing structure up to code. ²

The ideal (and reasonable) thing would be the old Wilcox building.³ Not only is this centrally located in Swanzey, but it’s also close enough to the high school to share resources and yet still far enough away to be separate. It would be really cool if kids could walk a few minutes down the road to gain access to metal working and the sports programs, and it would be even better if a half hour was cut off from their drive every morning. The access to driver’s education programs, the school nurse, and every other resource of the larger school would also be advantages.

For MC², I think more students would join it if there was a feeling they would still see their friends. Whether we like it or not, kids operate in a social world, and they make many of their decisions based on who is doing it with them. Being right across the baseball field and the road makes it easier.

It also means MRHS teachers could more easily come and see what the school is really about. I’ve had my eyes opened to things I never thought of, and I’ve seen so much—I trust it will make me a better teacher. Being able to come down across the road and see what’s happening will open eyes, and we need new ideas.

Every change is an opportunity. This could easily be one for the Monadnock School District to grow a program that has really had impressive success in its short time. This would be a good time to press that forward and make good decisions that continue to build a stronger program.

1 Ideally, there would be time set aside, either daily or at least weekly, for students in these pathways to meet as a group and to be part of a smaller community. It can’t happen as long as MRHS is running on a period instead of a block schedule, but I like to think that the will is starting to gather to move to the latter. An increasing number of newer teachers have taught in schools with a block (almost every school has moved to one) and the research is pretty overwhelming. With a block (especially a modified block) kids could meet for an advisory, student advocacy, student government, student court, and for special programs. I would love to see this happen…oh, yesterday. ↺

2 I want to note this is a complete and utter rumor, and the source may not be reliable. Still, it does make me shudder—when I was a student there was a push to build a middle school for $8 million, and it was defeated—despite that NH was offering to match funds. A few years ago a $20 million school was defeated…and now just to get the building where it needs to be in order to meet code is $37 million? Talk about reaping what we sow… I do hope it’s nothing but hallway talk. I have a hard time imagining the voters approving that, and if they won’t approve a new school…well, that’s the definition of a dead-end. ↺

3 I found out over the weekend that the Wilcox building is far too small to house us…so it’s amazing it was a school at all. Being on the MRHS campus—or close to it—remains the ideal in my mind, but it won’t be in the Wilcox building. ↺

Gregarious

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