Chaos

So perfect, yet so far from it.

When I left EIB, I thought I would have to hunt long and far for another school quite as chaotic as that one. Boy, was I wrong.

P. Elementary is a school in my local school district. It is a relatively large school, K-6. Like many schools, it has the requisite main building made of brick and cement which was most likely built prior to 1970, definitely built prior to 1980. Just from an approximate eyeball measurement, I would say there are just as many classrooms made from the cheap "portable" materials as the brick-and-cement type classrooms. These portables were probably built in the early-to-mid-90's, when portables really became popular among California schools. In short, this school is a bit raggedy around the corners.

Like most schools in the area, there is a high population of Hispanic students and African-American students, with the percent of Asians coming in third. For such a large school, I was surprised at how small the administrative staff was: they all fit into the tiniest of portables (the office in the main building is empty, apparently under construction but there doesn't seem to be anything being done to it). There is no principal that I can tell, only a Mr. L who seems to be the only adult on campus who knows about anything going on at this school. The secretaries are of no help whatsoever. There is The One Who Is Grumpy All The Time, The One Who Is So Busy Translating Stuff Into Spanish That She Has No Time For Anything Else, and The One Who Refers You To Mr. L For Every Little Thing. The part-time school nurse (part-time?!) has been of more assistance than all three of them combined.

And it's obvious why. P. Ele, is about three times as big as WB with the same number of visible staff in the office. It's not only teachers who are over-worked, but the secretaries and aides and nurses and janitorial staff, and yes, the principals and vp's too.

More money will solve some of these issues, but not all.

More staff will solve some of these issues, but not all.

More classrooms and equipment will solve some of these issues, but not all.

For the most part, schools labeled as "underperforming" or "bad schools" are usually just doing the best they can with what they've got. They haven't got much in terms of resources. They have even less in terms of morale and motivation. Which is sometimes why I feel like throwing my hands up and walking away to start fresh somewhere else. I, like my art students, am not good with taking what is there and adjusting it to make it work. I, like my art students, always prefer to take a new sheet of paper and start over rather than see the beauty in the idiosyncrasies of the messed-up bits. Naive, no?