Wednesday, July 16, 2014

State report: New Bedford High School still struggling

State report: New Bedford High School still struggling

40 comments:

Anonymous said...

And Finnerty is surprised? How can you release 50% of the staff, allow vindictive, bullying harassing administrators destroy teaching careers without cause, and let the students run ramshod over the building with no consequences and expect any learning to occur? I don't blame the 50% who took their personal and sick time to look for other jobs, or just because they didn't have the stamina any longer to go to work.

Anonymous said...

If scores had somehow gone up, Durkin and the school com would have been bathing in the glory. Durkin at the behest of the school com (not the people of New Bedford) is destroying the school system. A fine evaluation from the school com, yet these are her scores; does she earn her salary based on performance, no, she says it's a lack of leadership. Durkin drives the system down and has the nerve to deny the facts and continue her lies. School com members you are responsible for the scores; resign, you are a disgrace.

Anonymous said...

I am so sick of Durkin throwing and the fine teachers of New Bedford High School and the outgoing administration under the bus....
This past year she hired a highly paid consultant to assist with management at the high school and the new head master started in April...
The failing test scores are a direct result of failed discipline policy and the complete demoralization of the teaching staff in New Bedford High School.
The building blocks of true turn around have not been put in place which includes excellent professional development, family engagement, and a structured discipline system that both students and teachers understand and is enforced.
If I were the outgoing administration I would sue the New Bedford school system for defamation of character.

Anonymous said...

So many of us have said it before and apparently nobody listened. The Galileo is just basically a bad assessment. Since it first came to NBHS, it has been a poor indicator of student growth. In addition, when the end of the year tests were done, the students were facing testing fatigue. The testing was intertwined with the administration of the MCAS and final exams. The students were so over-tested, they opted to take the test that they felt had no bearing on their graduation less than seriously.
In the environment that our kids were forced to learn under last year, its a miracle that every one of them did not fail all their classes. So many of our kids rose above their circumstances that we should be nothing but proud of them.

Anonymous said...

No one plays the blame game better than Dr. durkin. Shameful. Wait til next years' scores. With all the top kids leaving high school. No problem. Her contract will be up just in time.
If only the school committee knew what goes on behind closed doors.

Anonymous said...

New Bedford High School will be a Level 5 by end of next year. It boggles the mind how many educated people (school com., mayor, superintendent) can be so stupid! What a mess the City of NB got themselves into! All the teachers asked for were the basics: textbooks, enough working computers, classroom teacher aides for students who can't read or write, and a healthy dose of discipline from the Housemasters.

Anonymous said...

This is Galileo testing right? What does Galileo have to do with anything? It was told to us that it was an indicator of how the kids would do on MCAS and was to be used in improving instruction. Without directors and IPS people who was supposed to go over the results of the testing? Who was to direct instruction? Sound to me like the city paid to trash itself!

Anonymous said...

Finnerty is a true Failure. What in the world is he doing to make our schools better?? All he can do is sit back and point fingers. What a waste!

Anonymous said...

No one should applaud Durkin when she takes the stage this fall. Greet her with silence.

Anonymous said...

YES! Let's greet Durkin, Mayor Mitchell, and all other speakers with SILENCE.

Anonymous said...

I have no respect these people.

Anonymous said...

I was a teacher at the high school, simply dismissed for no just cause other than the fact that allowed Dr. Durkin to reach her 50% quota for dismissal. My finances allowed me to retire early, but I had to assume a pension cut. The way decent, hard working teachers were treated this year is is beyond belief, and I have worked in both the private and public sector. New Bedford was the worst I have ever seen in a school system The comment above which mentions "no respect for these people" pretty much sums it up. We lost an outstanding CNA teacher, two exemplary Latin teachers, a French teacher, Science teacher, and our very own "Teacher of the Year" for the South Coast to name just a few. She chose to walk out as the pain and suffering that she saw teachers endure was more than she could bear. Devoted teachers for no reason lost their jobs, sense of belonging, and their incomes. Two marriages fell apart as the stress and strain of what/where the next job would be was too much for them. How Dr. Durkin and others who are responsible for this mess can sleep at night is beyond me. I'm wishing these people get a taste someday of their own medicine, and I'm around to see it! Karma can be a B****!

Anonymous said...

I won't even acknowledge her and her posse!

Anonymous said...

"Dr." Finnerty is a disgrace.

Anonymous said...

I agree with the SILENT start to the school year. It would be a way to honor all those missing faces from the opening day in 2013. Let the new hires and TFA's do the clapping. We need to show our dissatisfaction EARLY. We waited too long last year.

Anonymous said...

I agree! Silence at our PD day when they all take the stage!!!!

Anonymous said...

SILENCE!!!

Anonymous said...

I wonder...if the MCAS numbers stink, will people finally draw a connection between students success and a healthy work environment for teachers?

Anonymous said...

Yes to silence! Durkin doesn't deserve to hear any of our hands coming together.

Anonymous said...

I hope all these newbies can deliver for the influx of refugee children.

Anonymous said...

Silence is golden....

Anonymous said...

Yes, too bad we lost Coach "Golden" to FR! He was such a positive role model for the male population at the high school and redirected many boys who were in desperate need for a "father figure." Coach Golden had a way of "setting things straight" and getting kids to buckle down and show some RESPECT!

Anonymous said...

FYI: I know of a few teachers who were rehired at NBHS who have decided to leave the high school or the district entirely. Their resignations leave positions open.

Now tell me where school districts find educators who are experienced, highly qualified, and willing to jump on the sinking ship that is NBHS in less than a month (that's when the NBHS additional trainig begins).

Oh and by the way, teachers at NBHS have been told not to expect their schedules until they return to work in August even though the new headmaster promised them to the staff by mid may.

I'm sure this is a contract violation.

I also wonder how the installation of the new technology is going? The painting? The new security cameras? The new phone system?

Tic, toc.

Anonymous said...

There will be no "new technology," only the new cellphones, Ipods, and other devices the will students bring into your classrooms for their enjoyment! (Remember, if you are not "engaging enough," the students will tune you out. Half of them aren't there to learn anyway!) Dr. Durkin made a statement, which I read in sub-Standard Times in June, that she didn't earmark any funding for technology updates at the high school! Correct me if I'm wrong. How will students take PARCC without enough computers?

Anonymous said...

Very slowly.

Anonymous said...

I guess bullying and firing the teachers has not helped. Try supporting your teachers, put discipline into place-don't fire good , hardworking teachers---Ms.Durkin! Stop behaving like the gestapo!

Anonymous said...

Someone said that the teachers rooms are being turned into classrooms. Nothing has been done. No phones, technology.... The little hall in front of the planetarium has been painted white. Looks like primer.

Anonymous said...

I think the mayor should be held accountable for all the violence and the shootings in New Bedford. This city is now the 4th most dangerous city in the country. Just as the mayor and durkin are holding the teachers accountable for the behavior of the student's families ,drugs,abuse, and lack of motivation , lack of parental role models...That doesn't matter to tweedle dum and tweedle dee..it's all the teacher's fault that these children are not being brought up in good homes. It's not 2 more years of her bullying stupidity. Hope we survive!

Anonymous said...

Has anyone heard anything about what is happening next Tuesday as far as the training? We were supposed to receive communication over the summer about schedules, rooms, curriculum, the training sessions etc. I haven't received anything.

Anonymous said...

Why is the New Bedford Guide glorifying Jon Mitchell for taking the ice bucket challenge? He hung his teachers out to dry and took the cowardly way out. It appears that Durkin overrides him while our schools continue to decline. We have a mayor who deceives the public, a useless SC, and a destructive superintendent on an ego trip.

Anonymous said...

You guys should also check into why the Swift School Principal was not rehired at his previous job...

Anonymous said...

Day one of fun and games. I'm tired and feel demoralized. I'm moving my classroom and have been told start up teacher packages and class lists maybe on September 2. Freshmen are in the building on the 2nd. This is crazy! We were told today that all students should have a syllabus, grading percentages, class rules etc., when we see them. We won't know who they are, how many kids are in each class, or anything about them since class lists won't be ready but get it done! I'm tired and feel demoralized!

Anonymous said...

^ the horror.

Anonymous said...

So NBHS teachers have returned to a total mess.


Let me get this straight:

Unfulfilled promises include:
1. New technology in the form of throw projectors in every classroom
2. Updated security cameras
3. New phone system
4. New student information system
5. New textbooks
6. Completed schedules and room assignments
7. New directions student volunteers to help teachers move their classrooms


WHATS BEEN DONE:
1. Mulch
2. Painted one floor of the core hallway



I am having a hard time having faith in the cute administration since they haven't given a straight answer on policy issues or school ripples. The school has no tardy policy, no attendance policy, no technology or acceptable use policy, and no sense of direction.

The SPED office is in shambles. The guidance department has moved to the science library in makeshift cubicles instead of staying in their own offices which clearly interferes with confidentiality.


I am ashamed to say I have little to no faith in this administrative team. They don't answer questions and pretend to listen of our concerns only to write them off...

It's a total mess.

Anonymous said...

There is never enough money for anything in the district, but we waste money on Galileo testing. Why? Our kids are tested so much that they don't even try to do their best on these tests anymore. It's overkill that has backfired.

Anonymous said...

Can someone PLEASE say Amen……the end

Anonymous said...

Oh my God…….I'm entirely sick of not having ANY control over anything in this life!! I have had it!

Anonymous said...

Is there a reason none of the foolishness at NBHS is making the blog? Are people just not talking? We need Lou to walk through the building and see the craziness happening. Not to mention the fact that the PD we did three weeks ago we gave not been paid for. Plus the stipend that was negotiated in good faith as not been put into our checks. I'm personally tired of being lied to by administrators. Schedules that are so screwed up it's insane! Guidance counselors that have been killing themselves to correct errors put into IPASS but others. Announcements at all times of the day! Fudged attendance for the first few days of school. Several classes assigned to the same room at the same time, but administrators using classroom space as their offices. Phones that don't work(we were told the phone company would be in yesterday). Kids everywhere but in classes. Assemblies announced the day before.......

Anonymous said...

I have been wondering also why no one is talking. Is everyone drinking the "Kool-Aid"?

Anonymous said...

Staff are afraid, so many lost their jobs with no justification those left will not stand up in fear of being next. It is a shame for the kids are suffering and in turn the city will continue to decline. The Commissioner should be held responsible, then the Mayor, Pia is small potatoes compared to the other two(even though she does not think that). Video of this chaos needs to be given to the press, channel 4,5,or 7. We know our local radio and news channels will not speak up on behalf of the children.