Dear Editor, A recent letter to the editor expressed a single
point of view regarding the teaching policy and curriculum
standards at Paradise Valley Elementary School. I would like to
share my opposite point of view.
Dear Editor,
A recent letter to the editor expressed a single point of view regarding the teaching policy and curriculum standards at Paradise Valley Elementary School. I would like to share my opposite point of view.
My husband and I have been nothing short of thrilled with the education that our daughters have received at Paradise Valley.
Our sixth-grade daughter consistently tests at the highest levels in state standardized testing. This absolutely could not continue to be the case, if she didn’t receive superlative teaching from the educators at Paradise.
Our youngest daughter, a first grader, has received a wonderful base of knowledge from her teachers thus far and is well on her way to being an excellent reader and writer.
There will always be students that are not up to grade level standards. Teachers will need to go back and review basics at the beginning of each year.
But, the teaching policies and curriculum standards at Paradise Valley are not only adequate, but encourage high standards. If that was not the case, there is no way the test scores that our family receives at the end of each summer would be in the top 3 percent in the state.
Erin and Ed Machado,
Paradise Valley School parents,
Morgan Hill
Dear Editor,
I am writing in response to the letter from the ‘concerned parents’ at Paradise Valley Elementary School. I, too, am a concerned parent and read their letter with interest.
The author makes good points and if I were them, and heard the comments from the teachers that they wrote about in their letter, I would be concerned too.
My experience at the Paradise Back to School Night was more encouraging. My wife and I visited our three children’s classrooms and met with Mrs. Hays, Mrs. Cheadle (formerly Dietmeier), and Mrs. Kingman. We were very pleased with what we saw that night.
All three are outstanding teachers, dedicated and ready to teach, motivate and challenge the students to achieve the highest levels possible. We look forward to working with them this year. I believe most teachers at Paradise are excellent teachers and combined with strong parental involvement, the students can meet and exceed state standards as they have demonstrated.
May I suggest another approach to handle your dissatisfaction? Instead of ping ponging letters back and forth requesting a response from our principal and district superintendent, why don’t you pick up the telephone and call Mr. Hamilton to schedule a conference with him and the teacher?
A child’s education is too important to rely on letters in the Morgan Hill Times to fix the problem.
We’ve see enough mud slinging during the last year regarding the MHSD and City Council to last us a long time.
Let’s be more proactive with solutions. I’m sure Mr. Hamilton would be more than happy to meet with you. His number is 779-8391.
I have met with him to discuss many issues and he has always handled the issue in a professional, prompt manner. I also had the privilege to serve with him on the PV School Site Council for two years and plan to do so again.
I will conclude with two points. You asked repeatedly “Will our children meet the minimum California Department of Education Standards?” and answered “Probably not.”
I cannot answer whether your children will meet the standards but I will say this, strong parental involvement is critical to a child’s development.
I am extremely confident the children of PV will meet/exceed the state standards if they want to and their parents help. The system is in place to enable success.
I will close by paraphrasing a famous presidential quote: Ask not what your school can do for you, but ask what you can do for your school.
Rick Ankiel,
another concerned parent,
Morgan Hill
Dear Editor,
Of course Principal James Hamilton can speak highly of his teaching staff at Paradise Valley – he has a very dedicated, hard working and professional staff instructing our children at Paradise Valley.
In response to the recent letter to the editor in the Morgan Hill Times, I’d like to say that the teacher/student ratio at PV is no different than that at any other public school in this district.
Teachers apply methods that work, optimizing what time they can to work one-on-one with students.
I also feel that group learning has great value and that my own children have benefited from it.
I’m not familiar with the particulars of the parent(s) who wrote the letter, but I do feel that overall the students at PV are most definitely meeting or exceeding the minimum California Department of Education Standards.
I have been a parent of one or more students attending Paradise Valley for the last eight years.
I also work at PV as a bilingual instructional aide so I can see first hand, on a day-to-day basis, how excellent, dedicated and hard-working the staff is at Paradise Valley.
I am consistently impre-ssed with the methods and instructional strategies, such as the Noyce Writing Program, that are being implemented at this school.
One of my children received special services (speech therapy) and the other was in the GATE program.
Both have been challenged and have excelled. Mr. Hamilton and his staff care deeply about all the students at Paradise Valley.
Marti Menz, Morgan Hill
