Ocean Park School
Yesterday’s Chinook Observer was full of school news – all of it good, as far as I could see. Our Ocean Beach School District Superintendent has found a new job closer to where he lives; Ocean Park Elementary is considering year-round school; and the school board in our neighboring district of Naselle has approved the continuation of an immersion Chinese language program for primary kids.
The news about Superintendent Mark Hottowe is not altogether unexpected. During his three years of employment with our school district, he has been commuting between here and his home in Longview, 70 miles and an hour and a half away. The news article quotes him as saying that he feels he has been “effective” here and that his “relationships with teachers, bargaining groups, board members has been phenomenal.”
I have to take his word on that. I have never so much as seen the man as far as I know, even though I’m ‘out and about’ in the community a lot. But more to the point, Nyel, who subs in the school more days than not, has never laid eyes on Mr. Hottowe either. That’s a new wrinkle for superintendents here. In a school district dominated by senior citizen tax-payers, most of our superintendents have felt it important to involve themselves (or at least show themselves) publicly.
But maybe we have entered a new age in school superintendency. We talk a lot about telecommuting – although usually the idea is that the Peninsula would be the perfect place to live full time while attending meetings and conferences in the big city via Skype and other modern technology – not the other way around. It makes me wonder if the school board might consider hiring someone who lives even farther away next time…
Meanwhile, Ocean Park School is asking for community feedback on a year-round school model. I taught for five years at Park-the-Year-Round-School in Hayward, California before moving up here full time in 1978. It was one of the two best teaching experiences I’ve ever had. (Interestingly, the other was the fifteen-year period in the ‘80s and ‘90s at Ocean Park School.) It provided for continuous learning without the usual back-sliding because of long summer vacations and also gave rest and renewal opportunities every six weeks for students and staff. To say nothing of providing a safe, constructive, supervised environment for kids who might otherwise not have that.
Back in the Day
I cannot say enough about the benefits of a year-round school schedule to kids and parents and even to the community. There was only one down-side as far as any of us could see ‘back in the day.’ Teachers who needed to return to school in the summer to further their education or earn required (by the school district) extra credit, couldn’t do so without taking a leave of absence. In our modern techno age (see above) in which you can take university classes online, that shouldn’t be a problem. So… Go Ocean Park! I wish you well and will gladly be your advocate out here in the community.
As for Naselle and the Chinese immersion program – all I can say is that the Naselle-Grays River Valley School District has always been on the cutting edge. I feel proud to rub elbows with them in any language at all
I know that year round school is a better use of school buildings and Dave has long been an advocate. For the most part, the days of children’s help being necessary on the farm are gone.