CHS Freshman applications being accepted next week

Apr 6 03:15 UTC 1994

        Community Hich School will begin accepting applications for next
years Freshman class on Monday, April 11.  That's next week.  As a means
of addressing the problem of a huge line that we had last year prospective
students have been required to go through an "informed decision making
process," which included a meeting with Community students and teachers,
spending the day at the school going to classes and being shown various
classrooms and offices, and a few other things.  Also, this year fifty
percent of the new students will come from a lottery while the other fifty
will come from waiting in line.  Last year it was 80% line and 20%
lottery.
        The line started 24 hours before applications began being
accepted last year, and is expected to possibly start earlier this year. 
Last year, as the line was happening in a blizzard, people were let into
the building after the school finished for the day so they wouldn't freeze
outside.  This year applications will begin being accepted on a Monday in
order to minimize disruptions to the school during preceding days (unless
the line starts before the weekend).  Last year's demand for more
alternative schools prompted the school board to vote to add a second
alternative high school to the district, but a new, more conservative,
board scrapped the school when it was in its final stages of being set up.
        Is anybody here planning on trying to get into Community next
year?  What solutions are there to the problem of very high demand for the
small alternative schools?  Is a wait in line system really the best
method of alocating spots in these schools?

response 2 of 97:

Apr 6 03:57 UTC 1994

It strikes me that enough parents are willing to wait overnight in line to
enroll their kids, then enough parents ought to be willing to make enough]
noise to ensure that an additional alternative school remains a goal of the
school board.  100% lottery, and if you don't like it, then vote in a school
board who will make it unnecessary!

response 4 of 97:

Apr 6 12:54 UTC 1994

There is a lot of politics behind this issue.  A whole lot.
Many parents did lobby the School Board for an expanded alternative
system.  But there are a lot of parents in the traditional schools
who see the alternatives as very threatening - soaking up the best
teachers, getting too much attention, and (erroneously) as getting
disproportionately greater funding.  So they started lobbying for
any "support" to be directed to the mega-schools.

It didn't take long for prospective School Board candidates to realize
that whoever jumped on the "big school" slate would get the "big school"
votes.  So the conservative slate made a lot of noise about down-grading
the importance of alternatives, and in the case of a couple of candidates,
even helped whip up the frenzy over how threatening the "alternative"
cause was to traditional schools.  The conservative School Board slate
won, bigtime. 

So now you have these elected officials trying to deal with the demand,
fully aware that *all* research related to this issue shows kids
learn better in smaller schools, and denying the administration's 
fiscal report showing Community High is no more expensive, per 
student, than the mega-schools. But they ran on an anti-alternative
platform.  What to do?

They went on retreat, formed a list of priorities, and ignored
the demand for expanded alternatives in Ann Arbor.  So if you
want to attend Community High School you'd better be in line
at least 2 days before the doors open.  Bring a lunch. 

response 6 of 97:

Apr 6 16:15 UTC 1994

It seems to me that money is just a front for a reactionary political agenda
in this case.  It's easier to convince most people that their money is being
wasted than that their kids are in danger of being "corrupted" (whatever that
means).  If you look at the loudest voices behind this propaganda campaign, 
you might find out that it's the same bunch who shot down the Michigan Model
health ed. curriculum and any other liberal/progressive changes that have come
along in recent years.  I find them a bit scary.

response 8 of 97:

Apr 6 16:55 UTC 1994

Also, the second alternative, as designed and presented to the School
Board, was going to cost *less* per student than any of the other
four high schools in town.  This was clearly stated and backed up 
by the administration bean counters.  The School Board didn't want to
hear about it so they ignored it.  It wasn't what they wanted to hear,
quite clearly.  That particular School Board meeting was a real stitch
to watch.

response 10 of 97:

Apr 6 21:13 UTC 1994

The receptionist where I work is serving a shift for a parent who wants her
kid to get in. I was also approached by a research assistant who wanted to
make sure an important document makes its way out tomorrow, as she'll be
standing in line...

This is sick.

response 12 of 97:

Apr 7 02:50 UTC 1994

scg, No offense, but I think it may be partially your fault people began 
lining up five days early.

response 14 of 97:

Apr 7 06:10 UTC 1994

There are a lot of Pioneer kids who want to take classes at CHS simply 
because they know that CHS has decent teachers in some subject, while
Pioneer does not. Why does Pioneer have poorer teachers than Community?
Why are kids who don't want or need the other features CHS offers forced 
to fight their way into CHS (displacing kids who would benefit more from 
all of CHS's features) just to avoid the teacher problems at Pioneer?

response 16 of 97:

Apr 7 18:35 UTC 1994

I went to a private school and have believed since I was like 6 years old
that the public school system as it exists today is totally unworkable.
I am often criticized for this belief, but when I see situations like this,
I can only hang my head, sigh, and wish that more people had the means to
opt out of the public school system entirely.

By the way, when did things get so bad at Ann Arbor public schools?  When
I was in highschool I recall hearing that they were up there with
Birmingham and Grosse Pointe as the best around.

response 18 of 97:

Apr 7 19:53 UTC 1994

Re#13: This item.  And I only said *partially* your fault.  I also said
"may," which, as much as you want to think it does, does not mean "is".

response 20 of 97:

Apr 7 20:32 UTC 1994

I've heard of people complaining to the Superintendent about the line.
The person(s) they should be complaining to is the School Board.
If it was not for the assinine plots of the School Board, some of this
stuff would not be happening.  Secondly, the line would be much
shorter,

response 22 of 97:

Apr 7 23:06 UTC 1994

I agree.  The stand-in-line system, when taken to this extreme,
is very unfair to a whole lot of people, like single parents and
those without a network of family members and employees who can
participate in such an endurance contest.

I'd bet Dean Bob will get Joetta's job at Huron next year.  Don't
quite know why he wants it but I think he'll get it.

Re: 15  Community is more relaxed.  There are no class bells.
No hall passes.  No cops.  Lunch break is an hour long because 
there is no lunch service - either you pack it and eat it in the
halls or outside or you go out and purchase something quick-like.  
Community doesn't have a true library either, mostly just reference 
materials.  Students use the UofM libraries, mostly the Grad.
Classes run all day and into the evening.  It's not unusual for
a kid to be there at 8:00 a.m., take a few morning classes, have a
couple hours of break, be back for late afternoon classes, go home
then be back again until 9:00 p.m.  Sometimes the kids stay *all day*
by choice, because that's where they want to be.  (Amazing).
There are doors on the bathroom stalls.  Students are encouranged
to stay after hours and they aren't locked out.  There are CR's, 
forum, students involved with setting school policy, higher scores
than the mega-schools, and kids wishing they could do it all again,
from the beginning.

It's not for everyone, that's for sure.  But for some it is
just what they need and that should be respected.

response 24 of 97:

Apr 8 01:04 UTC 1994

Has anybody asked Bob if he wants the Huron job?  I've heard rumors, but
Bob certainly isn't talking like somebody who's going anywhere any time
soon.  It's definately something I'll have to ask him about tomorrow (it's
been on my list for a long time, but more pressing things keep coming up).

Community does have a tiny cafeteria service, which some people use.  Most
people, however, choose not to.