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Of the 59 readers who voted 39, or 66 percent, said YES to the question, 'Does Octorara Provide Quality Education For Area Children? Only 20 responders, or 33 percent, voted NO.
Readers yesterday posted some interesting comments on what they thought of Octorara's educational value.
Let's continue the conversation. If you voted YES, why and what could the district do better? If you voted NO, explain why and give at least one aspect of the district you think they do provide value.
2 comments:
Hi Ken.
My no vote was because of the priorities Octorara has. I understand the local passion for sports but a public school district in my opinion should be concerned with educating the students. Teachers and students are the bare bones needed for schools, everything else is a choice. I feel the choices made at Octorara have not helped my childrens' future. With three children attending, each of my kids have used the IHT time (in school help time) to better understand a particular lesson, something I admit can be beyond me! I don't understand why last year and now for next year we are losing so many teachers and no administrators! These last budget meetings I've attended or read the minutes of leave my wife and myself looking for another way. We are a middleclass family, no farmland, no business for my children to inherit. They need to be prepared for the future and that means college. What is the rate of Octorara high school grads going to four year colleges and how does that compare to the other chester county schools? I would like to see a survey of graduated Octorara students that went on to a four year college, how prepared did they find themselves, what were the strengths and weaknesses of their high school education? Also, how helpful was Octorara in getting into a college and did they get into the college they wanted to. It would be useful to find out and could help form a vision for the school's future, if anyone thinks that's important.
I am the other anonymous commenter who described my children's experience at Octorara and my disappointment with the guidance department. I wish to comment on the most recent anonymous comment. You are correct to be concerned about academic performance at Octorara. There were several student athletes at Octorara when my children attended. Many of these athletes could not or did not perform well in the classrooms. Despite this, several of them were awarded athletic scholarships to college, only for these students to drop out because they could not handle the academics. On the other hand, my children got academic scholarships, sailed through college, and went on to get their Masters degrees. Too often, I think the school stresses athletics as a way to get scholarships for college, without stressing to the students and parents that they also need to be able to handle the academic aspect of college. I feel academics MUST come first and athletics second. It is the academics that will get a person far in life. My children did participate in sports, but that was not our focus. Performance in the classroom was the focus!
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