High School Tour 2009

[Cathy McCaughan]

On both School Matters and KNS, the mention of one specific high school invariably results in someone commenting that the school needs to be closed. This particular school is accused of being a money sinkhole. At the same time, when high schools in one specific area of Knoxville are given anything, there is an outcry of favoritism. Taking students and teachers out of the equation, school buildings and the equipment within them should be subject to objective comparison.

Today, I am sending an identical e-mail to the principals of the 13 Knox County High Schools. I am asking permission to visit their school so that I can compare the facilities in each high school. The caveat is that I want to visit the schools before August 17th when the buildings come to life with students and teachers. I will work around everyone else’s schedules to accomplish this.

I am letting the principals know in advance, that I am going to ask the staff, parent or student assigned to accompany me, the following questions:

• 1. What are the most urgent physical needs of your school?
• 2. Do students share desks, textbooks, microscopes, computers or other equipment?
• 3. What is special about your school?

I understand the purpose of competition among school sports teams, but I want an end to the misunderstandings about school facilities. All of our children deserve to attend schools in a building with good working conditions and the necessary supplies to learn.

I will post a summary and photographs of each high school tour on School Matters so that school facilities and budget choices affecting facilities can be discussed.

[Cathy McCaughan]

Because I am learning as I go, the principals forwarded my e-mails to Russ Oaks. Mr. Oaks e-mailed me and very kindly offered to allow me to visit the schools the first week of August. I am extremely excited. I expect each school to be a unique gem that deserves a chance to shine. I am doing research on the history of each building and have learned about "historic" and "endangered" status from the helpful people at Knox Heritage. I wonder who has graduated from each of the schools that might help people recognize that school's importance.

[Debi]

Cathy, please also make note of your perceptions of the study body as a whole, do they appear happy, peaceful, playful or do they feel argumentative, out of sorts, etc. Also the location of the school in regards to what surrounds the building, does it feel like a place people throughout the county would want to travel to, etc.

I am still pondering and growing from the Urban Schools Forum. I greatly enjoyed hearing what some of the citizens had to say and continues to give me a deeper understanding of our county.

[Cathy McCaughan]

I am deliberately visiting schools when students are NOT in class, but I will be aware of the properties that surround each schools. Is the school surrounded by residential neighborhoods, retail space or industrial businesses? Off the top of my head, I know that we have high schools bordering homes, retail space, a National Guard Armory, an animal hospital, an industrial park, farms and other schools. Based only on their surroundings, each has the potential to offer unique opportunities to students.

[granma2]

I think in your questioning of the principals it is important to ask what their pupil/teacher ratio is, how much extra funding they get from Title I, and how many support staff are assigned to their school. For example, do they have special "reading" or "writing" coaches, test prep coaches, curriculum generalists, administrative aides, etc.