On Tuesday, I was one of three Gilroy High parents to
participate in the start of the WASC accreditation process that
will culminate with a visit from the WASC team next spring.
On Tuesday, I was one of three Gilroy High parents to participate in the start of the WASC accreditation process that will culminate with a visit from the WASC team next spring.
Gilroy High must obtain accreditation from WASC in order for its classes to be acceptable on transcripts for graduates who are going on to private colleges or UC campuses. Gilroy High earned a three-year accreditation last time; this year the school is seeking a six-year (the highest) accreditation. It will be an uphill battle to attain this distinction, but it can be done.
Since its last accreditation, Gilroy High has taken two steps forward and one step back. The school has improved attendance and graduation rates. More students are passing the CAHSEE and more students are fulfilling UC requirements. The biggest change is the introduction of honors classes. Honors classes are now available in freshman and sophomore years for English, social studies, biology and geometry. Next year honors chemistry will be offered. Progress is being made on curriculum.
One area that the school needs to improve upon is parent and community relations. To say there is a public relations problem with Gilroy High doesn’t even begin to address the problem. The PR problem is a direct result of a few teachers who have done nothing to improve the culture and the public face of Gilroy High – teachers who have come to a parent club meeting to sneer and mock parent volunteers are not providing a service to the school. A teacher who has publicly spoken out against honors classes, and yet enrolled their own child in those classes is problematic. A teacher who chooses to be silent in class for a cause who, three weeks later, informs parents that many of their students are auditory learners tends to lose credibility with parents. A teacher who cannot understand the difference between a teacher in a wheelchair using all his available faculties and a non-mute teacher purposefully not speaking is almost beyond hope.
The silent protest could easily have been a different kind of protest. Had four teachers decided not to wear clothes one day in support of the Gay/Straight Alliance, they still would have been capable of teaching, but it certainly isn’t something our community would support. Would the principal tolerate this kind of protest? Would our superintendent need to wait for a legal opinion? Would 28 GHS teachers decide that the public wouldn’t complain had the nude teachers been protesting the war in Iraq or supporting an open border with Mexico?
So while the few duke it out to decide the fate for the many, I have decided I will no longer write or speak of the Day of Silence on these pages. Effective immediately, I will also no longer be the co-president of the Parent Club. Perhaps the teachers who have been gunning for the parents who have worked countless hours and raised thousands of dollars in the past two years will take over the Parent Club.
With the exception of the WASC committee, I will now limit my participation to those causes which involve my child, or those causes which hold a special place in my heart. One of those is the Gilroy High Open House tonight. Another is Friday when the special education department holds its second science fair. Students have worked diligently to prepare, and I will volunteer to help because Jeannie Romanoff is an outstanding teacher who doesn’t receive nearly enough support. She is just one of the teachers who are making a difference at Gilroy High. There are many others. Teachers like Jeanne Romanoff give me hope that Gilroy High may yet obtain a six-year accreditation.
