MOHARIMET SCHOOL
Dennis Harrington, Principal

Moharimet now passes into a new and second decade of service to the district. It is a far different place than it was in 1989 when we opened and, yet, the dialogue among parents, staff, and administration has been constant and constructive.

When Moharimet opened in 1989, Ann Shump, other parents, and I worked at establishing a PTO voice to include parents, professionals and the administration. Moharimet has an active PTO with a strong voice heard by staff, in part, because the staff is included in the parent-teacher organization. Parents have always expressed what they think and an attitude of mutual respect has been the rule. It has become part of the Moharimet tradition. Teachers have been able to communicate effectively because, for the most part, they have been respected and have reciprocated that respect.

Dialogue implies that we all bring our best thinking to the table and avoid position taking. If we do not engage in dialogue, synthesis is replaced by wins and losses. I know that each parent and set of parents I talk with has in common with all of us at school the desire to provide the best possible education for each child. It is important for everyone to understand that the information sources that the professional staff must listen to and act upon are multiple. Policy set at the district level will always be a key for each school in the district. As a staff we must listen to research, demands from external sources other than parents, the central curriculum documents and attempt to create programming which fits the individual needs of children, including the parent voice. It is a challenging task to which we are equal.

The best decisions in schools are made with information and are made by skilled people closest to children. Best practice comes from matching observation of children in their setting with parent information and research. We are in constant search for the best way to educate our, and your, children. Our instruction has evolved during the last ten years but has never been in response to some pendulum.

The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Standards have brought the staff together in conversation about them and their appropriateness for children. We now have a district curriculum which reflects those standards to which we all make a commitment. The dialogue by staff continues and contributes to the district and nationwide conversation about computation and the standards. At the same time, everyone here believes that children should be able to compute. The implementation stage of the new math curriculum is under way. In the coming year our budget reflects money to impact the materials we use and staff development funds to help better teach the curriculum.

The work of Don Graves, Howard Gardner and others has been used to help develop varied instructional patterns to meet the needs of all children. The ongoing curriculum work led by Assistant Superintendent Tom Zarnowski is a tribute to the commitment of the superintendent's office to the needs of all children and to be professionally more connected. We are moving from a district of strong individuals and schools to one where professional interdependence is the desired result.

We all continue to be available to help parents make the connections that are needed to construct real knowledge about what goes on at Moharimet.

The staff:

• participates actively in the PTO,

• has regularly scheduled conferences,

• makes telephone contact,

• writes newsletters,

• invites parents to events,

• has open houses,

• responds to written notes,

• reads past progress reports,

• consults with each other, the principal, outside resources, and

• works every day to make the programming serve the needs of all children.

The principal is in constant contact with children, parents, staff, research, the central office, and anyone else who can add to his information base. He takes pride in the fact that his mind changes on information and circumstances. He welcomes diverse opinions and listens to them when they contradict his own. Connecting parents to information, helping to minimize rumors, correcting his own mistakes, helping others to learn from theirs, and maintaining an active knowledge of each program, and every child in those programs, are the yearly tasks in which he participates. Every act of the principalship has the intent of making this the best possible elementary school it can be.

As I look at the upcoming decade, I believe one of my most important functions will be to keep dialogue open. Public education is a whipping post for the ills of our society at the moment. If we continue to "beat the horse until it gets better," we will surely lose the horse. The United States remains the only highly industrialized society which educates most of its children together on common ground. It remains a revolutionary concept. Let us here at Moharimet nurture public education with conversation, change and improvement. I stand ready to lead the long, careful search to provide instruction appropriate for children in what is a good public school. We need your support if we are to continue the dialogue and the striving for excellence which has gone on uninterrupted since 1989.

Last update on 22-Feb-00 at 10:07 PM.

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This page is edited by David K. Taylor. Please send questions or comments to editor@orol.org.