Submitted by Charlesinrichmond t3_11x5jhp in rva
Comments
ZephyrInfernum t1_jd2stb5 wrote
Michael & Sons Middle School or bust
FattieBanton t1_jd2uhdc wrote
I know we’re just kidding here… but what if corporations were allowed to sponsor schools and get naming rights like stadiums? What if a school like George Wythe was rebranded as Dominion Energy HS and given millions of dollars over 15yrs.
ZephyrInfernum t1_jd2x0su wrote
One problem would be that, perhaps not immediately but inevitably, the corporate sponsor would have the curriculum align to their interests. It would be no different than how Dominion lobbies the state of Virginia, or how many corporate entity lobbies Congress.
Corporate money in the people's government (and government services) is always a net negative.
2054 t1_jd3mya7 wrote
Can't wait to send my kid to Carytown Tobacco High.
fr0bert t1_jd3n3bi wrote
I mean we're already at a stage where Kraft Heinz have their foot in the door and are supplying school lunches l, which is effectively the same thing when you think about it.
It's not inconceivable that they provide them cheap as a loss leader then pull the old bait and switch and say to school boards "do this thing which is in our interests or we pull your cheap lunches".
https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/13/business/lunchables-in-schools/index.html
deathbeforeupvote t1_jd3w901 wrote
When I was in high school, a rep from PepsiCo visited our school during the lunch periods. She was handing out free bottles of Josta and related swag like soccer jerseys, t-shirts, bumper stickers, etc. I’ve always found that odd.
Arcangelathanos t1_jd4t1n3 wrote
Surge came to my high school.
RVADoberman t1_jd2gsm3 wrote
>According to RPS, many names were named after individuals who served in the Confederate Army during the Civil War and/or owned slaves.
Would it kill these reporters to spend a few minutes verifying the underlying logic behind the change? Because it seems like RPS is focusing on renaming schools when it should be focused on improving math and reading proficiency, which are currently well below the state average.
>George Wythe George Wythe (1726 – 1806) was a citizen of Enlightenment, deeply interested in politics and history and science. He emphasized reason and individualism. In his lifetime, he argued both publicly and privately against slavery, urging the emancipation of enslaved people and owning none himself by the end of his life.
augie_wartooth t1_jd2kcdu wrote
It’s possible to do more than one thing at the same time. ETA George Wythe may have had a change of heart, but he still owned slaves.
RVADoberman t1_jd2lidn wrote
But they aren't. And at the end of the day, absolutely nothing will improve following these name changes.
augie_wartooth t1_jd2mwwc wrote
It’s incredibly myopic to think that RPS can just snap its fingers and put in more resources and suddenly a generation-long problem is solved. Does that mean they couldn’t do better? Certainly not. But the thing hobbling them is not renaming some schools.
RVADoberman t1_jd2nizu wrote
Stawman much? Nobody said they could snap their fingers. They need to change their approach to teaching, especially moving back to the proven phonics-based programs for reading. Adding more resources is not going to help a failed approach, and they are not willing to revisit it.
augie_wartooth t1_jd2o8w9 wrote
How is that a strawman? This IS a generations-long problem thanks to No Child Left Behind and standardized testing and underfunding of schools. Complain to the Virginia Department of Education about their standards of learning if you want to make a difference.
RVADoberman t1_jd2oslx wrote
RPS could switch to phonics next year and reading would improve. That has been proven in other urban school districts.
dalhectar t1_jd2pkpk wrote
You can tell who has little experience in K12 education.
Phonics is a major component of current Virginia SOLs and is taught across the state. If you have kids & you actually review the work they do, talk with their teacher, and are involved with their homework- you'll see them do both sight words & phonics.
RVADoberman t1_jd2v4vh wrote
I review their work and I also pay for a private OG tutor. I have 2 dyslexic grade school students and have (unfortunately) learned a lot about how reading is taught in public schools. For example, Fountas and Pinnell calls itself phonics based but is not as effective as Science if Reading.
dalhectar t1_jd3cpxe wrote
I feel like my kid gets more of a phonics background in part due to her IEP, vs kids who don't have IEPs.
Even though I see some phonics based instruction in both classroom & IEP, I see a more phonics based focus coming from what me daughter's IEP teacher gives her vs the classroom. When it comes to Balanced Learning programs like Fountas and Pinnell, because there's both whole language & phonics elements, its the practice in the classroom which determines where the focus is. They teach kids to sound out unfamiliar words, then go back and consider the whole sentence to understand if it makes sense in context.
Science of Learning isn't a specific program, comparing Science of Learning to Fountas and Pinnell is like comparing Greek food to Vegan food. Greek could be vegan, and vegan doesn't have to be Greek.
> The science of reading is not a literacy method in and of itself. Rather, it is the existing body of knowledge about how we learn to read. This body of evidence proves again and again that nearly every child can learn to read with confidence, given explicit instruction in the components of reading.
One way of modeling those reading components is Scarborough's reading rope. Fountas and Pinnell uses all of this, and yet there's criticism of Fountas and Pinnell. Curriculum criticism and review is something schools take rather seriously, it's just wonky and not in the press. Name changes are easy to digest and politically controversial, so they get news coverage. School systems have moved away from a 100% whole language curriculum, and did it while addressing any number of other issues to varying degrees of success. The school system can definitely address a building name change while the nitty gritty of curriculum gets rehashed & reviewed and teachers receive guidance based upon that curriculum review.
PopularMedicinetoday t1_jd2zetn wrote
It's almost like people who do vague complaints also give vague solutions when pushed to explain. It's almost like they have no clue what they are talking about and aren't actually involved to understand the context.
Anyone who thinks RPS schools haven't gotten better in the last 3, 5, 10, etc. years is just making noise. I'm actually quite shocked as how much of an improvement we have seen... but nothing can be done overnight.
​
"ThEy ShoULd JuSt Do tHiS ThiNg I rEcOmMenD!!" are the same type of people who show up to school board meetings and stifle the entire process. Complainers get involved when it makes them feel good...they show up to a meeting, break glass, and then complain on why people have cuts on their feet from walking on glass and how "iT sHouLd bE CLeaNeD uP!!"
Don't even get me started on these types of peoples' voting history.
I'm looking at you "anti-drawing school lines equally" parents who want the perks of living in an already established "good" school district and then have the gonads and strife to complain about RPS schools not being good.
[deleted] t1_jd2q6sl wrote
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VictorVonDoopressed t1_jd7lkio wrote
I mean…it was a bit more than a change of heart? He became extremely vocal and politically involved in abolishing slavery. Feels kinda weird to shit on someone who grew up thinking something was ok, realizing (against the social norm) it was NOT ok, and then fighting against it?
VictorVonDoopressed t1_jd7l281 wrote
Yeah this was a weird one. My son (who’s at Binford) and I were talking about the name changes. We both had no idea who Wythe was so he looked him up and was like “sure he owned slaves in his 20s but he freed them and then became a staunch abolitionist, umm did the not look up this guy first?”
PercyDovetonsils t1_jd1lpm9 wrote
I still say, number them. Any names they pick will likely offend someone, now or in the future.
KiloLee t1_jd1w55o wrote
I feel like it would be an overall good thing to do to just name the schools after anything besides people, really
[deleted] t1_jd2yiqp wrote
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slazengerx t1_jd5jlz2 wrote
Thank you!
exclaim_bot t1_jd5jnad wrote
>Thank you!
You're welcome!
[deleted] t1_jd2dtmf wrote
Yeah when you have no morals and name shit after idiots it can be hard to know if they will be discovered for their evil in the future. Might as well get rid of all names!
dalhectar t1_jd2oymz wrote
People will survive, and the sun will still rise in the east. This generation is putting its mark on public facilities & infrastructure they have stewardship over, and the next generation will do the same just as the last generation did. This reflex to remove virture from the public square by saying there are no virtuous people orth honoring by naming a school after, is a sign of how more people just want to be assholes to each other.
2054 t1_jd2h9d7 wrote
I don't think I agree with this mentality that all humans are so depraved that nobody should ever have anything named after them. The overwhelming majority of humans are pretty ok.
I also really don't care if people are offended by something little. That's on them. Owning slaves and the like isn't little.
ZephyrInfernum t1_jd2te7t wrote
Naming things like buildings, towns, and bridges after people also enforces the idea of a ruling or superior class; that some people are worth naming things after and others not.
My favorite example I've seen is Bill Cosby. At the time everyone thought it would be great to name things after him. How did that turn out?
We should stop idolizing and worshipping other humans.
PayneTrainSG t1_jd2x2i2 wrote
I do think CCPS has a policy where you can't name a school after anyone alive. Some kind of 30 years after death policy probably gives time to contextualize a person. I would not have a problem with Barack Obama having an elementary school named after him in 2100, but while he was a sitting president? Not my idea of a good idea.
That being said, there are plenty of neighborhood names you could slap on neighborhood schools, along with plenty of amorphous things that vaguely represent Richmond or Virginia you could use. Dogwood Elementary. Cardinal Middle. Forest Hill High.
slazengerx t1_jd5jqfa wrote
100% agreement.
augie_wartooth t1_jd31wag wrote
How many “Schooly McSchoolFace” suggestions do you figure they’ll get
anghiari t1_jd3hojz wrote
They should just name schools after numbers. It would solve a lot of headaches.
Asterion7 t1_jd2o4ij wrote
The schools in question.
authorized renaming Binford Middle School, George Wythe High School, Ginter Park Elementary and John B. Cary Elementary earlier this year
AgreeableRaspberry85 t1_jd2wpum wrote
George Wythe - South Richmond High School Ginter Park - Chamberlayne Ave. Elem. Binford Middle - Floyd Ave. Middle J.B. Cary - Maplewood Elem.
Those would be my suggestions.
opienandm t1_jd2rtvs wrote
Sponsorships.
I mean, just think of the extra revenue and fun names we could have: