Colleen Murphy wrote the most amazing letter to the Free Press calling out the MEF parents who issued their "Together for Melrose" mandate last week. Hopefully the letter will also appear in the free paper tomorrow because it is the best written account of everything wrong with the Melrose School Administration, Melrose School Committee and MEF I have ever read. I agree with EVERY WORD she has written. It is a long letter but very worth reading, the best excerpt being:
"And please remember authors, as you attempt to diminish and marginalize those who hold views that differ from your own, that it is much, much easier for you to speak out in favor of the administration than it is for people to speak out against it." Any parent with a child at MHS agrees with this sentiment wholeheartedly.
A standing ovation for Mrs. Colleen Murphy. Well done. You hit every point exactly on the mark. Thank you from this Melrosian that agrees with every single word you wrote - but could never say it quite so eloquently. [8-)][8-)][8-)][8)][:)s][:)s][8-)]
Ms. Murphy and Ms. Kourkoumelis should run this city.
This was truly one of the most comprehensive and powerful pieces ever published here, and it perfectly complements all that Ms. Kourkoumelis stated in her letter of resignation. This is something that should be discussed throughout the community, in the Chamber of Commerce, the clubs, the churches.
Deepest thanks to both of them.
Just read her article in the Free Press - absolutely stunning and factual. Now there is a true leader who is standing up to confront - head-on - our serious school issues.
The community owes its thanks to both Ms. Murphy and Ms. Kourkoumelis. Perhaps they can work together to help draw together a community that this MEF/SC group continues to try and divide with their arrogant, incompetent, and deeply harmful actions.
The Late-Start initiative is one issue around which the community should be coming together. It's being driven by political pressure from the same corner that brought the failed override and that arrogant "Open Letter to the Community." There is validity in the science around starting later, but unfortunately the district and school committee once again just cannot manage to do anything in a decent way that respects ALL of the stakeholders, rather than just those with the political power. The open disrespect shown to METCO families and working parents is glaring in this case. At the last school committee meeting (which I just watched) the superintendent was asked point-blank by Ms. DeSelm if the METCO director had weighed in. Instead of answering this correct and valid question, the superintendent deflected away from it and talked about how "this is being done elsewhere," or somesuch, and then compounded the dishonesty with an insulting remark implying that she "might" be able to arrange for extra before-school "tutoring" for METCO students as a compensation, as if "those" students need tutoring.... How nice of her. Her open condescension (and that of the mayor/committee) is amazing to behold, truly shameful in what it says about our school district.
Before she resigned, Mrs. K spoke directly to the point as the METCO liaison and stated (2 months ago maybe?) that she could not vote for an advantage that one group of students receive at the expense of another, which is still the case. Now to add fuel to this "solution," elementary times are being moved in such a way that older students won't be able to help with pickup/babysitting and working parents will be hurt. The icing on the cake was that the Committee took a vote, in its haste to yield to the MEF parents, and then had to backtrack and try to cover up their pre-fab voting by saying they would take another vote on the 12th. (Their crappy "process" where it was clearly a case of a preconfigured vote was also easy to see when they voted on that 8 percent increase for the ECC fees. Lizbeth had valid questions, which they pretended to answer, and then Casatelli incorrectly shot down LB's legitimate 2nd motion for a lower rate (5%?), claiming it was not an "amendment" but rather a new motion, which simply isn't the case because revising the number did not prevent it from being an amendment. This was just another example of the arrogant out-of-control bunch of politicians that had already decided what the mayor and super wanted and was going to push it through regardless, just as with this late-start thing, which has some merit but is being rammed through in order to placate a group of politically connected parents.) Given the heat this administration is already under for its wanton abuse and status as having created a racially hostile environment, it is really quite remarkable that this initiative is being forced down the throat of METCO families. Is the ultimate goal to eliminate METCO, because it's certainly starting to look like what these awful people are trying to do?
Are you all insane!!! Do you realize that Metco students have to wake up as early as 5 am to get to school in Melrose? A late start is a good thing for Metco, not a bad thing.
Get a clue.
I'm not a fan of the administration but I think your assertion that the district is trying to "get rid of the METCO program" by changing start times for the middle school and HS is absurd. There was an article posted yesterday that 12 towns are doing the exact same thing in conjunction with Melrose. Are all of these towns also trying to get rid of METCO?
Next you say the move is to "harm working parents." Reiterate, absurd. The cafeterias will be open the same time they always were for early bird - and elementary school times moving a bit earlier would seem to "help" working parents so it's basically a wash, no?
As you say, the research on the benefits of later start-times is indisputable. Look up any private school and you will see the start times are 8 am or later. Why wouldn't you want Melrose to embrace it? By the accounting of the state of affairs in Colleen Murphy's excellent letter the students in Melrose schools need any type of advantage they can get. That fact is indisputable.
Apparently few are paying attention (except to what the administration wants them to hear) to what is "indisputable". According to what was said, the METCO students will have to get up and leave exactly as early as always even if the time in Melrose is altered. If you know anything about traffic patterns in Boston, you'd know that this is the one "indisputable" fact! Moving the times forward here in Melrose does not change what happens in Boston, but then these parents don't really care what happens to "those" students. They want to believe that they do, but if so, it would matter that this constituency's representatives were heard, loud and clear instead of suppressed, ignored, and abused, which is the reality under this administration.
Another race baiter trying to make this a race issue. How disgusting and shameful. Like a prior poster said, this was not a Melrose issue alone, the entire Middlesex League is looking at this.
The parents pushing for this late start are getting their lead from a local doc, someone with presumably (hopefully) good intentions but so, so misguided when it comes to understanding the bigger picture.
Here's what his wife just posted on FB:
"it’s not a perfect solution but the reason I’m pushing for it is because of the overwhelming research that shows this is the right thing to do for our kids. Although there are many benefits to doing it, the proven reduction in depression, anxiety and suicidal thoughts of teens is my biggest motivator. After a string of High School suicides in the country a few years ago, the MHS PTO sponsored a stress forum to look at this problem in Melrose. I was shocked at how many brave HS kids stood up and talked about how much stress they had. Everyone in the room was demanding that our schools, families and community do something. I would be happy to share the research that explains why this will help reduce depression, anxiety and suicidal thoughts."
These people think that the kids who spoke at that totally contrived "stress forum" were "brave"! Anyone who knows the real story about that whole dog and pony show knows these were grandstanding pets of the administration, some of them in fact downright bullies and hypocrites. The "forum" was a sham, with the follow-up closed (by invite only) thing at the Knights Hall a political arrangement by the convicted felon to buy himself some cred. The good doc and his wife are so naive. Where is their "shock" or advocacy about the many real outrages in the school district, where real children have been and are still being hurt by the very ones with whom they have aligned themselves? Sorry, but their alignment with the Ed Foundation/pro-override cabal speaks to very poor judgment and suspect and/or hypocritical motives.
Again, the entire Middlesex district has advocated for this change, and it has been implemented in many districts statewide and nationally. But you are using it to show it is a ploy of the administration to destroy Metco? Just another flamethrower on this site.
And seriously, if a high schooler needs mommy or daddy to drive them to school every day and can't get themselves ready on their own, that's a bigger problem for them. The later dropoff for the elementary schools was harder for working parents, because those kids can't get to school on their own so parents have to drop them off at 8:10 or whenever their start time is.
The Melrose Messages Bozo's are out in full force this week, honking their noses and whining about everything and anything happening in Melrose. Turning later start times into a bad thing, and trying to spin it into anti-Metco is priceless, even for this pack of losers. Later start times is a national debate and every community in the Middlesex League supports it, voted for it, and is implementing it. School started at 8:30 for a millennia in Melrose, long before and after the Metco program was established. Pull your heads out of your @sses. When are you morons going to move beyond anonymously patting yourselves on the back and praising failed politicians and town criers like JD LaRock, CKK, Mroz, MFD and now Ms. Murphy and actually get something done? I think we are ready for another clown parade on main street. Get the big rubber feet, red noses and your little clown cars ready...honk, honk.
I hope that Ms. Murphy will see this post and add a copy of her letter here. The first letter you wrote knocked it out of the ballpark. This one does too and deserves to be posted on this board just to irritate Clown Patrol, vuvu and the signers of last weeks sanctimonious drivel.
On October 15, 2015 the Melrose Free Press published a letter to the Editor that I wrote to them, as an article entitled “Evaluations of superintendent were lacking.” In that letter I expressed concerns about the Melrose School Committee Members’ annual evaluation of Superintendent Cyndy Taymore. I found that, with the exception of then School Committee Member Carrie Kourkoumelis, the School Committee Members’ evaluations of Superintendent Taymore were largely superficial and were uniformly shocking in their failure to even mention the very real, systemic issues that have plagued the Melrose School System during Ms. Taymore’s tenure. In particular, no School Committee Member other than Ms. Kourkoumelis mentioned, in their evaluation of Superintendent Taymore:
• The decline in college matriculation rates. As Ms. Kourkoumelis pointed out in her evaluation, in 2005-6, 95.9% of Melrose High School graduates attended either 4-year or 2-year colleges. By 2013-14 that number had plummeted to 88.3%. And while the number of students attending college overall is declining, the number attending 2-year schools has increased dramatically. In 2005 just 11.4% of students attending college were attending 2-year schools; by 2009 that number almost doubled to 21%.
• The decline of the Horace Mann Elementary School to MCAS Level 3 status (Horace Mann has recently been elevated to Level 2, but it is not clear why that happened. Although the School District issued a press release lauding its efforts to elevate the school, the press release acknowledges that, in a letter to Superintendent Taymore, the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (the “DOE”) explained that Horace Mann was elevated to Level 2 because the DOE “received an appeal from another district on behalf of its Level 3 focus school that led us to reexamine and revise our focus school exit criteria.” I suspect that the press release is purposely vague. At any rate, it is not clear to me whether the School District did anything at all to contribute to the elevation of Horace Mann.) Because the MCAS assigns districts the level of their lowest performing school, for the period during which Horace Mann was a Level 3 School, Melrose was a Level 3 district (along with area schools including Chelsea, Malden and Everett; Stoneham and Wakefield were then and are now Level 2 districts).
• SAT and ACT scores that, as Ms. Kourkoumelis put it in her evaluation, “are below or near the state mean, which is inconsistent with our community demographics.”
Most shockingly, no School Committee Member other than Ms. Kourkoumelis mentioned in their evaluation what Ms. Kourkoumelis referred to as the “multiple investigations currently undertaken by the United States Office for Civil Rights.” Given what we know now about those investigations (particularly the incident concerning a racist remark made to a student by a teacher, which the Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) determined violated the student’s civil rights), that bears repeating, with emphasis: no School Committee Member other than Ms. Kourkoumelis even mentioned in their evaluation of Superintendent Taymore the fact that two separate OCR investigations were pending against the Melrose School System, even though there is absolutely no doubt that they all knew about the investigations.
Given my view that Ms. Kourkoumelis was the only Member of the School Committee to take the time to submit a thoughtful, substantive evaluation of Superintendent Taymore, I was devastated to learn of her resignation from the School Committee. Devastated, but not surprised. I read enough in the newspapers and watched enough School Committee meetings to know that the other School Committee Members routinely marginalized and even bullied Ms. Kourkoumelis for her attempts to hold Ms. Taymore and her administration accountable for the decline of the School System.
In my letter I also lamented, in Ms. Kourkoumelis’ words, that the “fact that so many in our administration do not admit that we are doing poorly prevents us from being able to contemplate the real changes that could actually benefit students and lead to improvements” and shared my own experience with that unfortunate reality. And that, really, is the crux of the matter. It is one thing to fail – everyone does from time to time – but it is quite another to refuse to admit failure, particularly when that refusal will obstruct any attempts to correct the problem. This administration’s chronic refusal to admit failure and propensity to deflect and obfuscate have hastened the decline of the School System. And the School Committee has aided and abetted the administration by not holding it and Superintendent Taymore accountable. As Ms. Kourkoumelis put it in announcing her resignation, “the self-congratulatory culture of this School Committee perpetuates harm, shields those responsible, and impedes necessary change.”
Which brings me to the letter published in the Free Press on March 24, 2016 from Christina and Gabe Gagliano and others which purports to be a call for the community to come together in “the midst of the real challenges facing Melrose and our public schools.” In reality, it is an admonition to anyone who dares speak out against the Superintendent or the School System. A few observations:
• The authors state that a “vocal handful of residents have been calling for the superintendent to resign.” It is a common tactic in attempting to suppress dissent to minimize the number of dissenters – Richard Nixon famously used this tactic when he spoke of the “Silent Majority” in comparison to the alleged vocal minority. In my experience – and I have had many, many dozens of conversations with parents whose children attend or attended the Melrose School System – there is widespread dissatisfaction with the current state of affairs. Although not all of the dissatisfied parents are calling for the Superintendent to resign, many of them (over 500 families) are voting with their feet by sending their children out of the District. And please remember authors, as you attempt to diminish and marginalize those who hold views that differ from your own, that it is much, much easier for you to speak out in favor of the administration than it is for people to speak out against it.
• The authors attempt to shame people who are speaking out against Superintendent Taymore and the School System by touting the authors’ own alleged “informed and productive” contributions to the School System. The implication that critics’ contributions are somehow not “informed and productive” is not only unbelievably insulting but also incredibly counterproductive. Someone (not Thomas Jefferson, though the quote is widely attributed to him), once said “dissent is the highest form of patriotism.” And in the words of Howard Zinn “one of the great mistakes made in discussing patriotism – a very common mistake – is to think that patriotism means support for your government. . . . bedience to government certainly is not a form of patriotism.” Albert Einstein said that “blind belief in authority is the greatest enemy of truth.” Authors, blind allegiance to Superintendent Taymore and the School System will get us nowhere. It is abundantly clear that Superintendent Taymore and her administration will never admit their mistakes and therefore never learn from them. So it is imperative that others take them to task whenever necessary and your suggestions to the contrary are truly disheartening.
• The authors devote the majority of their letter to a lengthy recitation of Ms. Taymore’s “accomplishments,” including “new principals at nearly every school in the district.” I do not purport to be an educator, but it is incomprehensible to me that any competent educator would view the seemingly constant turnover at the highest levels of the administration, including at the principal level, to be anything close to an “accomplishment.”
• Finally, in a truly impressive use of the passive, the authors note that “our community continues to process the aftermath of a racial discrimination incident at the middle school and the subsequent investigation by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights.” The wording implies that the community (and perhaps by extension Superintendent Taymore and the administration) are somehow the victims here. Nothing could be further from the truth, at least as to Superintendent Taymore and the administration. I invite the authors to read the OCR’s findings, if they have not already done so. I did. Here’s what I learned, and what the authors fail to mention: in addition to finding that the teacher who made racist remarks violated the student’s civil rights, the OCR also found that the School District’s inadequate response to the incident and failure to protect the student in the aftermath of the incident further violated the student’s civil rights. The OCR criticized the School District’s insufficient response to the “hostile environment experienced by the student in terms of investigating the matter, and eliminating and remedying the effects of the hostile environment on the student and other potentially affected students.” The OCR also found that the District “had actual notice of racial harassment; the harassment created a racially hostile environment for the student; and the District failed to take adequate action to address that environment.” I encourage anyone interested in this issue to read the OCR’s findings, which summarize the many ways the School District failed this student, and by extension, all of our students. Suffice it to say, the School District did absolutely everything wrong, and we will likely be paying for that for years to come. That falls squarely on Superintendent Taymore’s shoulders.
The authors end their letter with a plea for “productive action,” again implying that what they choose to do is productive and what others choose to do is not. They call for the “elimination of unsubstantiated claims” and for people who are critical of the Superintendent to “get informed,” again implying that they are informed and anyone who is critical of the Superintendent is not. They call for “less vitriol;” but the real vitriol is their unbelievably arrogant position that they know what is best for Melrose and the rest of us should just shut our mouths and let them lead us. Apparently, freedom of speech has been suspended in Melrose.
“See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil,” may work for monkeys; not so much for a school system or a community. As far as I know, for now, at least, we still live in America. So I’ll take Benjamin Franklin’s view over those of the authors: “It is the first responsibility of every citizen to question authority.” I therefore must respectfully decline the authors’ invitation to keep silent in the face of the ongoing turmoil in the School System. I join Ms. Kourkoumelis (and the “vocal handful of residents”) in calling for the immediate resignation of Superintendent Taymore and I also call for the resignation of all of the School Committee Members who have turned a blind eye to the systemic issues the School System continues to face. You all are as much to blame for the current state of affairs as is the Superintendent. In calling for these resignations I fully acknowledge that the School System has made some gains lately, including last year’s PARCC scores which are far superior to historic MCAS scores. But that is too little too late and does not excuse the Superintendent’s behavior during her tenure, particularly her handling of the OCR debacle. As for the three new School Committee Members, I call on you to remember your campaign promises to “share the outrage” and “speak truth to power.” Remember that, as Gandhi said, “silence becomes cowardice when occasion demands speaking out the whole truth and acting accordingly.”
I will undoubtedly be labelled by many a “Melrose-hater,” a label that is apparently indiscriminately applied to anyone here in Melrose who dares to question anything about the School System or local government. But I am speaking out in the hope (perhaps misplaced) that the community can still come together to effectively advocate for change in the School System. James Baldwin said it best: “I love America more than any other country in the world and, exactly for this reason, I insist on the right to criticize her perpetually.”
There is much, much more I could say, but I’ll let George Carlin have the last word on the subject: “I do this real [stupid] thing and it’s called thinking. And apparently I’m not a very good American because I like to form my own opinions.”
Finally, I owe Ms. Kourkoumelis a huge apology. Although I greatly admired and appreciated the work you did on the School Committee I did not do nearly enough to support you. I never reached out to thank you, never showed up at a School Committee meeting to protest the other School Committee Members’ shameful treatment of you and never even wrote a letter to the other School Committee Members in support of you (the authors were right about that much, at least; I did not get as involved as I should have). I was wrong to stay silent for so long and so, in some sense, I bear the blame for the state of the Melrose Public School System as much as do the Superintendent and your former colleagues. And for that I am truly sorry.
No idea how the emojis got into the text and no idea how to get them out. The obscured word is "obedience."
Here is a link to the Colleen Murphy letter
http://melrose.wickedlocal.com/news/20160401/murphy-in-response-to-an-open-letter-to-melrose
“When fear becomes collective, when anger becomes collective, it’s extremely dangerous. It is overwhelming… The [substitute: corruption in local politics] create(s) a prison for us, so we continue to think, see, and act in the same way… We need the courage to express ourselves even when the majority is going in the opposite direction… because a change of direction can happen only when there is a collective awakening… Therefore, it is very important to say, ‘I am here!’ to those who share the same kind of insight.”
― Hanh Nhat Thich, The Art of Power
Ms. Murphy, Ms. Kourkoumelis, Mr. Mroz: We are here!
Let's make this better. They can call us "haters" but they only further reveal themselves by doing so. Let's find that collective voice and courage. Let's stop thinking that this is someone else's community, someone else's job, someone else's children. Let's stop thinking that we'll just wait until our kids are graduated and "out of harm's way" because there are all the other children....
I have found the collective voice. It is the MEF. They actually care about the success of students in Melrose and do not consider bashing the SC a hobby.
Nonsense. They care and are involved. You don't care and post an anonymous message board.
I'm not a shill for anyone. Like you, I am an anonymous poster on the message board. Unlike you, I understand that people take action in the real world. I also understand the posts on this site, like yours, mine and Sorry's have no impact on what happens in Melrose. Sad sacks like you get your jolly's posting here about people in the real world. I get my jolly's be trolling sad sacks like you on this site. I'd say that I am much more effective than you.
Funny, it worked well to suppress the expose the ridiculous override the MEF was pushing. 2 to 1
Calling out your school committee members and elected officials who misbehave, routinely violate State laws (OML, Public Records, harassment) and fail to hold their superintendent they selected accountable to the law and the taxpayers is exactly what an engaged public is supposed to do in a democracy. The MEF as a collective voice for Melrose?? That is a joke. Their Override initiative failed miserably in a landslide. The people have spoken at the ballot box and the MEF does not represent the majority.
In and of itself an organization like MEF is not necessarily a bad thing. Unfortunately, as so often happens, they've allowed themselves to be co-opted by a slimy politician. They didn't intend that, and they either can't or won't admit it, but that is exactly what happened. Dolan used them to frontrun for his override scam, leaving him to take credit for it if it passed, and step away and let them take the heat if it failed. He doesn't give a hoot about the MEF except to the extend that he can get them to do his bidding while keeping some distance himself. When they become a liabilty, they'll get a chance to see the other side of the Dolan coin.
Much better than you as in my mission was to troll the haters on this board. Mission accomplished. Your mission is to make a difference in Melrose by posting on an anonymous board. Mission failed.
I agree that no one here has apathy. Posting here is much worse than apathy. This makes you feel like you have accomplished something but really you have done nothing. This is where losers come to gripe.
Don't know how many MHS grads got into the Ivies to join the other MHS grads that are there right now. The information will be released soon enough. Although, your little private school cherub won't be joining them. Good for you that the world will never know they applied because none of these crappy private schools would ever release that data.
Chill, it is all in how you look at it. You have an opinion about the people posting here. I have mine. You think people are losers for seeking to educate themselves outside of the realm of the BS the administration puts out there. I think you must have way too much time on your hands, because you continue to come here and post when you clearly get nothing out of it, except frustration. Your hatred for people who choose avenues other than your own is palpable and to be honest, quite strange. It has been asked of you before, and I have to ask again, why do you care so much about where other people send their kids to school? It seems so personal to you. Are you that worried about your own choices? I have chosen to stay in MPS, unhappily at the moment, but I recognize that other people make different choices for their kids. It doesn't bother me. They never throw it in my face or treat me differently the way I have seen some of those MEF moms do to people that disagree with them. You come off as a very bitter person.
By the way, I have nieces and nephews (not from Melrose) who go to various private schools (some Catholic, some elite), and every one of the schools releases data about college applications and acceptances (the elite schools build their entire reputations on this data), so I have no idea what you are talking about with regard to that. I think you are just overheated with your sad, strange rage.
It's quite simple, really. Chill and his/her compatriots on some level do realize how bad things are, but they are incapable of admitting it, either to themselves or to anyone else. Their only recourse is vitriol towards anyone who sees things differently than they do. Their stock response to anyone who points out a flaw in the Melrose system seems to be "Private schools suck." It's classic aversion. Why do they respond this way? Because they are afraid.
Agree! The reasons for choosing a private school, or a catholic school or a charter school are personal and very specific to the individual child and family.
Chill's allegations against these schools are absurd. If they were poor do you know what would happen? They would close. No one would pay money to attend. Unfortunately students without means or opportunity to attend one of these schools must remain in Melrose public.
Chill you must fall into this category so you placate yourself by believing everything is dandy and that you have made an excellent choice in Melrose public. Then you troll and rage against anyone that thinks differently. So who really is the hater?
More members of the Melrose Haters Club complimenting each other on their arguments. What the Melrose Messages whiners choose to ignore is that a tremendous amount of the criticism on this site comes from parents (including Murphy) who pulled their kids out of Melrose Schools and come on here to bash the system and attack anyone who actually thinks their kids are getting a great education at Melrose, and are happy they sent them here. This statement is correct: "Agree! The reasons for choosing a private school, or a catholic school or a charter school are personal and very specific to the individual child and family. " But you forgot to include the reasons for choosing a public school. Many of the kids who are doing phenomenally well at MHS have parents with plenty of money to send their kids to any private school, but choose to send their kids to MHS because its the right decision and their kids are getting a great education...and they really could care less about the administration or the school committee. As a parent I would never consider a private school, a charter school or a prep school. In my opinion my kids are getting a great education, private schools are a waste of money, and I want my kids to go to school with their childhood friends. I don't hate private schools, I just wouldn't send my kids there. MHS has been great for my children and I wouldn't change a thing if I could do it all over again, and everyone of my kids classmates, and their parents feel the same way.
"and everyone of my kids classmates, and their parents feel the same way."
You sure are comfortable speaking for an entire set of kids and parents. You polled them all? Questionnaire? Are you sure they all answered your survey honestly? Not one dissenter in the whole class?
Oh, and I concur...why do you care what the rest of us think? If you really were truly happy with your decision, you would be content to sit back and let the people who chose a different route, or the ones that have issues with a corrupt administration and school committee (since you don't care what they do) vent and converse here without feeling the need to be so defensive.
Chill and Obvious are two different people. Chill thinks private schools are crappy has lots of rage and has a mission to be a troll. Obvious is thrilled with her decision, the public schools and doesn't care about the administration the SC or anything else. Yet she reads the entire Melrose Messages thread on Colleen Murphy's letter.
Hey Ignoring the Obvious.
What you fail to realize is that not everyone that sends their kids to MHS is happy with the quality of the education. I have a student there, and I am sad to say it has been a dreadful experience so far. This despite lots of support at home.
There are legitimate issues. The criticism is valid. Why do you work so hard to denigrate those that want to fix the very real problems?
Open your mind. Consider someone else's point of view. Just because it hasn't been your experience, it doesn't mean it isn't real for others.
Why do you so blindly support the adminstration?
Now the anger from the MM critics comes...because someone stated they were happy with Melrose High School...no surprise. This crowd is like the pot and the kettle. 3 kids, 30+ years of combined grade level schooling, dozens of friends and kids friends, dozens of sports teams and yes...I love the education my kids got at Melrose High School, and would do it all over again tomorrow...and here it comes...my kids friends loved MHS, and we had great times with their parents at the graduations, athletic games, band competitions, drama events, art shows functions, playground and, now prepare for it...they were happy with Melrose too. These kids went to college and graduated, got great jobs and are happy. They come home every Thanksgiving, go to the football game, and reminisce about how great MHS was. Yes people of MM, the majority of families in Melrose are very happy with their decisions to "choose" Melrose Public Schools...Ok, now let out your breath, let the redness recede down past your neck...I have one more to go and will miss it in two years when it is all over. Oh, by the way, I have never been to a school committee meeting, spoken with a school principal other than to say hello, or know a MEF member.
What anger? The only anger I detect here is yours. Why is it so difficult for you to admit that some people have not had the good experience you say you have had? Very strange. Right off the bat you start with the "Melrose Haters" bull$hit - and that's exactly what it is. To be honest, I could care less about your venomous opinions, since you demonstrate so clearly your lack of respect for the opinions of others. Anyone who disagrees with you must be wrong, correct?
I was told that Colleen Murphy pulled her kids out of the MPS. Does anyone know when this happened, what Melrose school they attended and where they are currently enrolled?
Obvious - and again, you are still replying. You had a great time! Your kids got a fabulous education! All your friends kids did too! Every single person you know!
Then why oh why are you reading this message board? By your own account you have never spoken to a principal other than to say HI! You never paid attention to the administration.
Yet suddenly you are invested in the Melrose education system and writing all over an anonymous message board? Unfortunately you've contradicted yourself too many times to be credible.
That's none of your business, leave her kids out of it. Even if she didn't have kids, she would be entitled to write what she wrote.
This business about Ms. Murphy's family demonstrates exactly how vicious and inappropriate these ugly people like Vuvu, ClownP, etc., really are. It is absolutely no business of anyone's where Ms. M's children go to school or anything else about her family, for that matter. These contemptuous trolls demonstrate their depravity with their continual insinuations about private schools and finally opening the floodgates to the commentary about children, as if a parent's choice for her own children somehow determines her rights to free speech when it comes to the school system she pays taxes to support. And no, these trolls have no right to any information about children, and their depravity is revealed in their seeking it.
This is the same vicious bile that Ms. Kourkoumelis has endured for many years, with the same types going after her children or husband when these ugly individuals couldn't find any other punching bags for their unchecked rage. (The latest is RD's vicious insinuation that "something must be "terribly wrong in her family" for her to have resigned.... or that "someone is sick" because she couldn't possibly have resigned for the reasons she stated in her CRYSTAL CLEAR and eloquent statement to the community and press about precisely why she resigned!) These people have no shame. For them NOTHING IS SACRED!
Thank you to Ms. M and Ms. K, and to all who have stuck to the issues at hand--the catastrophic failures of the school administration and committee, as all have witnessed with the plentiful evidence. Both of these women have generously shown a path to the truth via the simple facts which should be obvious to any who have genuine curiosity and concern for the well-being of the students in this city. (Where is the precious "Women's Commission" or hypocritical HRC in Standing Tall next to these courageous women who are doing the heavy lifting mostly by themselves??? Oh that's right... HRC is talking about the Trivia Bee and other serious Human Rights concerns....)
Melrose has one public school system, and all citizens have a constitutional right to their expressions and opinions about it without fear of interference, harassment, or invasion of their family's privacy. To those who demonstrate contempt for our American rights and for appropriate boundaries: Shame on You! You are sick and need to grow up and start demonstrating simple respect for your fellow citizens! (And that includes you, RD, with your disgusting and unethical conduct and remarks!)
Maybe your question was harmless, but if you've been following this board, you must have seen the abuse that anyone who makes a choice other the MPS has had to endure from MPS supporters. In the beginning it was the bashing of anyone who decided for whatever reason to send their kids to the Charter School, and lately has included those who send their kids private or parochial. The abuse they've been subjected to is nasty, vicious, and totally undeserved, but continues nonetheless. Anyone who makes such a choice is immediately labeled a "Melrose Hater", or worse. Leave the kids out of it.
If you moved to Melrose two years ago, I hate to be the one who breaks it to you, but you made a big mistake.
"anyone who makes a choice other the MPS has had to endure from MPS supporters"
you mean, MPS apologists
These types really don't care whom they hurt. They will say or do anything as long as it fulfills their political agenda, and that includes going after the children of any who dare criticize the administration.
True MPS supporters include brave individuals like Mr. Mroz and Ms. Kourkoumelis who have been fierce advocates for the school district and its children. That means they have always been willing to say the hard things and offer real solutions, starting with opening up the processes to be real public processes like they once were, having real public engagement (not the canned kind like the MEF/MPS unholy alliance) and dialogue, competent analysis of the issues, competent hiring and retention of staff, competent alternatives for administrative decisions, sensible policies and procedures, reasonable approaches to budgetary and finance issues. Their reward for doing the heavy lifting (with actual research and analysis of the facts) is constant and vicious attack, including towards their families. Now Ms. M is facing similar "rewards," and that must stop. Common decency must be returned to the discourse in Melrose before anything can improve!
We need each other to be able to come forward and speak freely without fear that our children will be harmed. It is believable that the questions around Ms. Murphy were innocent in this one case, but please understand that there are many others (Vuvu, ClownPatrol, IgnoringtheObvious, etc.) who are anything but innocent or well-intentioned and are the trolls/shills for an administration that truly holds nothing as sacred. To them anyone who criticizes the Melrose Public Schools is a "hater" and their very patriotism is in question. The common refrain is, "If you don't like it here, Move!" The other common grenade tossed is "Well if you don't like it, run for office." Well, Mrs. K has served for 6 years. Her "thanks" from these vicious types is to be called a quitter, an "ex-SC member" when she is anything but "ex," still an active, concerned member of the community who continues to lead by example and word. This isn't just confined to this message board. That Cheryl woman used the "hater" word openly just a few days ago on the Facebook community page (and didn't get banned!). Common decency, folks!
Doesn't Add up - You essentially just confirmed that Melrose Messages is a Melrose Haters board. You ask why am I reading this board if I am happy with Melrose Public Schools. What an indictment and verdict on the entire Melrose Messages crowd!
This string and your response are not only hypocritical, but completely two faced. In addition to your personal opinion that this site is not a place anyone happy with Melrose Public Schools should be spending time...acknowledging that this site is solely dedicated to slamming Melrose Public Schools...you all cry foul when you get criticized in return.
You also fail to realize that being invested in Melrose Public Schools transcends attacking the system and its leaders on an anonymous message board. Our investment strategy was simple and eliminated the need to spend time at school committee meetings and talking with principals. We met with the teachers, instilled a work ethic in our children so that they tried hard in school, did their homework and got a good night sleep. What we didn't do was blame everyone else for any issues they were having. Its called individual responsibility, something lost completely by many of the critics on this site.