Would you be my guinea pig, please?

[demgurl]

I have a chance to possibly take a job being a 'parent ambassador' for our school. Behind the fancy name is a very simple meaning - I would be a paid recruiter. I would go to preschools to talk to parents, I would give school tours, field questions, etc.....

There are only two of us up for the job and the principal said I was the first one she thought of. I think I have a pretty good chance if I want it but I need to reassure myself I can do the job because right now my self-confidence is pretty low. My main job would be making sure we hit the required numbers of enrollees and I think any other time I might be able to do it but I need your feedback on my approach.

I came to this forum because you all are parents and you would be my target group. I would like to give you a spiel to sell you on my school and then I would like your feedback on : 1)whether it sounds good/what sounds good, 2) what you did not like/did not sound good, 3)what suggestions do you have/what would sell you on a school?

I haven't worked out all of the kinks yet but here are some of the things I thought I might say if I was speaking to a parent tour in our gym:

Good Morning, my name is demgurl and I am a parent ambassador for ____________ Academy. I would like to tell you how my children came to attend this school. The first thing you should know if that we live two towns over. My son went to a districted public school and after a full year we knew we would not be going back. We were desperate to find a school but we needed one we could believe in. We went through several options but each one fell through until we found ________ Academy in our town. We heard it was a charter school and decided to find out if this was an option for us. My husband and I went on a tour, talked to the principal and took home a brochure.

Everything, top to bottom, impressed us. We entered their lottery but sadly we did not get in. We ended up being on their waiting list. However, they then told us about their sister school in __________. We applied, online, to this school and we were excited when we were accepted.

I was once asked if driving 40 minutes each way, everyday, was worth it. The only answer I could come up with nicely sums up why my children attend this school. The school booklet we took home that day told about how much the teachers cared for the students. It told stories of the additional time the teachers would take outside of class as well as the extra mile they go beyond that. I compared it to an advertisement you might see for a steakhouse. The steak is thick and looks juicy. You can almost taste how wonderful the meal would be but it never seems to quite stack up when you actually go to the restaurant. Everything we were told about the school did not even live up to how good it really was when we got there. It exceeded everything we saw and heard. Yes, driving 40 minutes each day, everyday, is worth it.

Anyone can buy a building, put in a principal and teachers and call it a school. What _________ Academy did was spend a lot of time trying to get just the right people and when they were brought together with the students they became a family. A family looks out for each other and wants what is best. This is what the staff does at our school. I remember one time when a very young student was not picked up. Our vice-principal tried to call her house but did not get an answer. Mrs._________ took the time to put the child in her car and delivered her to her house!

Then there is the teacher who has become a friend of mine - that happens a lot when you attend our school. This teacher had a student four years ago. She became friends with the student's mother and now the mother is sick. The teacher keeps the student after school and even drops her off at her house. This is important since our school does not have buses and the mother is very weak at the moment.

But family does not just come together in times of trouble. They also encourage you and try to do what is best for you. From kindergarten on up, our kids are told that college is in their grasp and they can make it happen. I have seen the principal ask an assembly how many of the children will go to college and my heart has leapt as every single child raised their hand and their voices went wild. Each morning the children start the day reciting the student pledge, part of which says, "my level of success tomorrow depends on my level of effort today". This is reinforced throughout the day.

The school monitors your child's progress on a weekly basis. Weekly work is sent home in a Thursday folder and all parents have access to our school web site so that you can electronically check on grades there as well as having them sent to your inbox each and every week. Every parent is given a user name as well as a password so that they may do this.

Our family is made up of many people from the teachers to the parents and communication is important in any relationship. Weekly letters go home to parents. This will tell you what the teacher's work plans are for that week as well as any needs the class may have.

A lot of schools do end of grade testing for the required grades only. At ________ Academy we constantly test all of our children on almost every grade level. You will feel confident that the school does everything they can to assure your child is working at or even above grade level. We always aim above the requirements.

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I have just started sorting out my thoughts since I was not even sure, at first, I wanted to do this job. This is about how far I have gotten. I just need some feedback. Would you blow off the school with what I have written? Would your interest be peeked? Does it make you weary, does it sound too good to be true? (all of the above is true) Please, I need to figure out if I can do this or I should just let this go. I have been hovering between both options for the last five days and really need to decide before they I go in for a follow-up interview later this week.

Any feedback (positive OR negative) would be appreciated. Thank you.

[phylny]

1. Some thoughts, some questions, some comments

The crowd you may be trying to recruit may not all be the "bash the public schools" crowd, and if the school is so wonderful, you should be able to promote it without doing that. If it were me, I'd open my talk highlighting the extras that your new school provides, not that it's just "not the public school" that you were avoiding.

Testing is not really the end all and be all of what makes a good school. More tests, tests all year long aren't what education is about. You may want to mention what kinds of creative things the school encourages children to do, and how the curriculum stimulates critical thinking/reading/writing.

Encouraging a child/family for what's best for them doesn't always include college. What does the school do for children who may never be going to college, or does the school not take special needs students or students who test below the average?

If a child requires special services (such as speech therapy or help with reading) how is your school prepared to meet those needs?

Does your school offer music - both choral and instrumental - art, physical education?

Are all the teachers licensed? How many have their masters degrees? Are they required to participate in continuing education?

If the school is superior, why isn't there a waiting list a mile long?

What funds are available through scholarship for families who may not have money to send their children to the school?

One last thought - any school where teachers drive children home, or are alone in a car with them, or are alone anywhere with them, is aching for a lawsuit.

Good luck, I hope you get the job if you want it.

[demgurl]

2. I hope I did not come across as bashing public schools....

see, that is why I wanted to test out some of my thoughts. I do know people may ask questions at some point and if I tell them I live 40 minutes away then will wonder about my story. More than bashing all public education I felt that that, perhaps, shows how good I believe our school is.

I do believe public schools can be good, it is just that ours was not. Our school did nothing when a teacher literally put the life of one of the children in danger.

When we attended a group parent meeting, one of the questions I asked was if any of the current parents had had their kids in a public school and if so, why did they move them and now what are the pluses of being at our school.

No, I agree testing is not the end all. Perhaps I went overboard with that? Or maybe I should expand on it? They are tested each week on math, spelling and vocabulary. That, of course, is what other schools do as well. Our school automatically posts your child's results when you enter your name and password. We get these each week along with the work being sent home. I do like this because sometimes my husband sees the kid's work and when I miss it, my email tracks it for me and I am still in the loop.

I like the fact that the school tests all of the kids at each grade level. This is primarily to make sure they are keeping up. My oldest was tested a few weeks ago. I was shown his scores and it was explained he is in the top two in his class. A lot of times what the school does is keep track of progress and they teach your kid at his level so he does not get bored. For instance, both of my children get different spelling lists than a lot of others in their class. They get different writing assignments as well as English assignments. As kids branch off into their own levels they are not forgotten or neglected. They are given work that will challenge them and help them learn.

I guess I can also add on the things that the school does outside of school time. For instance, they do robotics classes, science classes (weird science/fun for kids), we partner with a university to do extra work and classes. I also think that our after school care is a feather in our cap. The gentleman who runs the program believes in play and study. He gets the kids to do their homework and gives them play time. The most important thing, he believes, is to have the kids all finished up so they can have family time rather than work time when they go home. Every single child in our after school program is an honors student.

We take all sorts of students and one of the school motto's is that no child us ineducable and if you try you can reach every one. Anyone that has problems gets extra attention. I know last year I helped the kindergarten classroom by taking some of the students out and working with them one on one. We have a special resources section of the school where children with learning disabilities go for certain periods of their schedule. We provide everything from special education to speech and physical therapy.

Yes, I know not every child will go to college and, between you and me, I am almost positive at least one of mine will not. I will be happy as long as they both are happy. The school tries to do everything they can so no matter what path you go down, you will have all options open to you.

Yes, they do offer choral, instrumental, art and physical education. They also have a debate and drama club. Is this information you feel I should include?

Yes, all teachers are licensed. I will be truthful and tell you I would have to go to the office to find out how many have their masters. They do do continuing education and the teachers do have days off to go to conferences to learn new techniques and get all pepped up again. The kids get a four day fall break and when they got back I asked a teacher how it was. The teacher replied they had a conference and how fun it was. I thought she was being sarcastic until, throughout the day, three other teachers told me the exact same thing. They were so enthusiastic and a lot of them got to implement new techniques that seem to be working very well.

There actually would be a waiting list for this school - like their sister school, if they didn't keep expanding. They have added an extra class for several grade levels now. In fact, the year we came to the school, the whole reason we were able to get in is that they added an extra kindergarten class.

This is a public school and as such there are no fees for people who may not be able to afford a private school. Everyone is welcome to apply and as long as we have the room, you will not be turned away or put on a waiting list. Money is not an issue when applying to our school.

Let me expand a bit on my stories for you. I understand about the law suit issue but the little girl was in kindergarten. The teaching staff waiting for over 20 minutes after the latest time she was supposed to be picked up. I did not want to divulge too much information to the general public but her phone was not NOT answered - it was disconnected! The vice-principal was aware of her last place of residence and decided to take the child there to see if any adults were present. (Better than calling DSS for child abandonment) As it turns out, the family had moved from the last address they had given the school. The girl thought she could get the vice-principal to her new house and they went. The vice-principal was blown away that the child actually got her there when her new house was so far away from her old one. There were adults at her house, however, not a single one even spoke English. She was brought home safe and sound, though.

In the second case, the girl's mom has cancer. Her cancer first started when the girl was in the teacher's class. She has been in remission twice thus far and this is the third and most likely last time she will get cancer. The mom is alone and just does not have that many people she can rely on. When you have chemo you just can not take care of a child at times. The teacher has been a friend through every time the woman has been diagnosed. This is the worst time and so the little girl has gone home with the teacher to eat, socialize and even sleep at times. The mom has no energy and is eternally grateful to the teacher for the extra effort she has put forth. They treat the little girl like a fifth child and as part of their family. It is a sad situation that the teacher tries to make the best of and help out as much as she can. She is needed and she is there for the woman and even admires her. She has told me that the woman has never complained or felt bad for herself. She has always claimed there are others worse off than she is and she is lucky to have what she does.

I think I do want the job but I need to make sure I can give out information and answer questions properly. Are there more things you would be curious about or other comments you have? I really appreciate what you have written so far, thank you.