A residents group established to reward Arlington teachers who excel held its annual banquet recently and awarded checks to 10 teachers. The AWARE Foundation, which stands for Arlington Will Award and Recognize Excellence, has been around since 1989. The winners of its yearly Award of Excellence get $3,000 to spend however they like; runners-up get a $1,500 check. Funds come from private and corporate funding, according to the group’s Web site.
This year’s winners (pictured, thanks to AISD) were: Debi Roberts, a Webb Elementary kindergarten teacher; Jessica Hall, a fourth-grade teacher at Miller Elementary; Valarie Yurkunas, a sixth-grade teacher at Pope Elementary; Kat Wells, an eighth-grade teacher at Bailey Junior High; and Susan West, a teacher at Arlington High School.
The runners-up were: Cynthia Johnston, a kindergarten teacher at Sherrod Elementary; Dawn Zdrojewski, an instructional facilitator at Short Elementary; Jennifer Hammonds, a fifth-grade teacher at Short Elementary; Pam Hodges, a teacher at Shackelford Junior High; and Barbara Applequist, a teacher at Sam Houston High School.
The first thing I would recommend is to do rsraeech on all the schools you are considering. What are their students test scores like? Is the school rated by the state? What kind of special programs do they have to best meet a variety of needs? Gifted and Talented? Dyslexia? Accelerated Reading? Most private schools have an Open House for the public. Go,ask questions and get a tour.Next ask parents with children who have kids at those schools what their experience is like. Check with the kids too if you can.You mentioned saving $$ during elementary school. But if the public school is several grades behind in what the kids are learning, he may not be able to catch up enough to get into a private high school. Or you may have to spend money on private tutoring to get him up to speed. But if the public school has a good gifted program, the gap may be filled. It wouldn't hurt to set up a speak with the admissions person at the private high school you might eventually hope to enroll him in. Ask them what percentage of their students come from public and private schools. Find out the expectations for incoming students. I'm sure they'd be happy to advise you.Until your child actually starts school, it can be hard to tell what will be the best fit.Be ready with Plan B.One of my sons went to a private school for K-12. The other started out in the same school but we found it wasn't working for him. So we switched him to a public school with a gifted and talented program. When it was time for high school, he was ready to go to the all boys private school that his brother attended. It turned out to be a great fit for both of them for totally different reasons.Do the rsraeech, make a choice,but remain flexible. The best school for a child is where he can be happy learning. +13Was this answer helpful?
Posted by: Muhammad | April 24, 2012 at 07:44 AM