Huh?
Students inducted must also have demonstrated leadership positions, be involved in their school and community and most importantly have a clean record. The fact is that the administration caved because of the bad press.
Perhaps there were a couple of kids who were rejected unfairly initially. There are many other deserving students who did not bother to appeal. They accepted the rejection with grace and moved on.
One kid was rejected (after being accepted) because his parents couldn't reschedule a medical appointment and he'd have to miss the ceremony. That is just not right. That was a medically necessary miss, and it shouldn't have affected anything. The teacher running things and now forced to step down was immature and unprofessional, and she turned it into a popularity contest where she made up the rules as she went. She's been out of control for a long time, but neither Taymore or Farrell made sure she couldn't hurt kids. She hurt kids and pitted them against each other. She hurt the culture of the school and sums up the unprofessionalism that passes for acceptable at MHS. Taymore and apparently now Farrell only pretend to care about kids, and that is borne out in lots of other areas far more important than this silliness with National Honor Society.
Oh, ok
Rest assured parent of student who had the medical appointment that parents and students were horrified by the actions of the advisor in question. Your student was a deserving individual who should have never been subjected to the cruelty of the person in power.
If your student had been in the inner circle and we know who they are because their mugs are everywhere an exception would have been made.
That "Digrace" of a teacher turned the Nat Hon Society process into a mockery. But worse, the administration doesn't seem to care or see that the Mean Girl mentality is now what rules all, not just in MHS but in the district, from top brass down through principals, guidance, Nat Honor Society, sports, even MHS band, and infiltrating into the PTO. It is lousy. And kids here now think this is what passes for "normal," so they don't think there's any point to expect anything better.
Well, what do you expect? Half the town is working in the school system in some capacity; teachers, paras, coaches, administrators, etc. If people were being hired based on ability, you wouldn't have the majority of staff, quite coincidentally, being from Melrose. The bar has been set pretty low, which is why we have the problems we do. There have been problems with the NHS for years, by the way, this was not news. So the staff member who was in charge of NHS is no longer in charge of it? So what? She is still a staff member. I am sure she brings the same unfairness, incompetence, and lack of integrity to her classroom.
Can they even find someone remotely competent who wants to be the student advisor for NHS? This is what happens when you hire young teachers who don't really like teaching, or the students, and look at the job as a means to a lifestyle they wanted. Afternoons and summers off!
Unless there is a serious intervention with the hiring, the future of MHS does not look bright. The excellent teachers my older kids had will retire, and there are not enough skilled, professional teachers coming up who can replace them.
That may all be true, but if you were a competent, caring professional, would you want to come to work in his system? No, I think not. The only way - repeat, the ONLY way that situation is ever going to change is to completely replace the entire leadership, from the Mayor on down. Only then can we begin to rebuild what was once a very good system to it's former quality. Anything less is just futile.
Band director who is so unprofessional he openly refers to MHS as a "craphole"! He may be correct, unfortunately, but it's because people like him make it that way, not because the kids deserve this or all of the teachers represent this lack of professionalism. But the administration keeps this kind of teacher around and couldn't care less.
Just curious...why doesn't the superintendent create a parent questionnaire for each school, and distribute it every year in the spring to get feedback on how satisfied families are with the quality of their children's education? Wouldn't that make sense? She wouldn't have to publish the results, just use the feedback to get a better sense of which principals, admins, and staff are doing well, and which aren't. If she started to see a pattern of complaints regarding specific schools, principals, or teachers, she could focus her attention more closely on those schools/situations and perhaps intervene BEFORE the sh*t hits the fan.
I am sure that if the parents were actually asked for feedback, it would be crystal clear who and where the problems lie in the district....the same names would come up over and over. The problem is, everyone seems to be working without any supervision, and the administrators all feign ignorance once the problems get too big to ignore.
At the high school, why not ask the students to evaluate their experience every year? The kids have a very good handle on who the good teachers and staff are, and they are quick to tell you, if you ask. You'll find out pretty quickly which teachers don't show up for their after school help sessions, which coaches use profanity and swear at them, which staff member "just don't care".
It seems like a no-brainer, and if the district was really interested in improving, they would welcome feedback from families.
Great suggestion. I believe that Mrs. K on the SC has suggested this quite a few times. It doesn't seem like they really want to know what the community has to say otherwise this would have been done a long time ago. They're supposed to be doing exit interviews, too, for the families that leave, and there again, I doubt they've done them. They'd rather lose the families than learn why they are leaving. Looking at the hateful things that so many people on this board say about families that make other choices, it's in synch with that same terrible mentality that the officials would rather look the other way just like the posters here yell, "Move" when anyone says things they don't want acknowledged. It's pretty sick, actually. Don't we try to teach our kids that problems don't have to get bigger if you talk about them honestly? What's wrong with these people who are so determined to keep the bad things from surfacing? They only mount up and get to be bigger problems with that attitude. Maybe they don't think it's politically correct to let the problems have the cleansing of sunlight, because that might mean some bad exposure about their decision-making, but so be it. They'd be stronger and get more traction with the public if they were willing to be honest and face things instead of hiding or lying about the problems. It's just short-sighted to choose burying heads in the sand because in the long run even an apathetic public is aware of the truth, so selective honesty only leads to decreased credibility and hostility--and the problems getting bigger!
I think I am on safe ground that parents are on this board and congratulating their own children on getting into Harvard, on a message board. Go look at yourself in the mirror, the person looking back at you is pathetic.
hey right on you need to get a life, if your kid didn't make it to bad stop talking about other people loser.
The criticism of the advisor is well deserved, as is criticism of the High School principal for not putting a competent person in charge of the NHS. The kids who were admitted on appeal should have been admitted first time around. Advisor engaged in open campaigns among the selection committee to either admit or deny students with identical applications...she then went around trying to torpedo kids who appealed and had the nerve to brag among the other teachers that she would resign if any of "her" initial decisions were reversed. She is a complete joke and was terminated in this position because she was incompetent and played favorites among students. For all her defenders, answer two questions. First, what specific subjects does this individual actually teach...and once you answer that one, do you think a person should be in charge of an organization of students, including judging and choosing them, that she isn't even qualified to teach? If you aren't qualified to teach honors or AP courses (or in this case even College Prep Courses) you shouldn't be judging students who take them.