Portland, Tennessee Blog

PARENTS IN PORTLAND AND SURRONDING AREAS ,YOU NEED TO BE MORE CONCERNED OF IS MY CHILD SAFE IN SCHOOL? AND IS YOUR CHILD SAFE IN A FRIENDS HOUSE,THAT YOU THINK YOU KNOW,AND TRUST? IS THE SCHOOL DOING ALL THEY CAN TO PROTECT YOUR CHILD? THERE ARE GANGS,DRUGS,INCEST,AND MORE.IT IS IN LOCAL SCHOOLS,AND HOMES,SAD TO SAY.SOMEONE NEEDS TO START AYOUTH PROGRAM TO HELP OUT THE YOUTH IN LOCAL AREA.DONT YOU THINK?

PARENTS IN PORTLAND AND SURRONDING AREAS ,YOU NEED TO BE MORE CONCERNED OF IS MY CHILD SAFE IN SCHOOL? AND IS YOUR CHILD SAFE IN A FRIENDS HOUSE,THAT YOU THINK YOU KNOW,AND TRUST? IS THE SCHOOL DOING ALL THEY CAN TO PROTECT YOUR CHILD? THERE ARE GANGS,DRUGS,INCEST,AND MORE.IT IS IN LOCAL SCHOOLS,AND HOMES,SAD TO SAY.

Debbie,

About the AP classes; they probably are more difficult than the regular classes. However, it would be good to investigate just how difficult a standard class is to begin with. My daughter took a Standard English class her Senior year. At the beginning of the term, the teacher asked the students to read a 60-70 page book. She told them, "I know it's a long book, but we'll read it together and you'll be able to do it." My daughter, who regularly read 500+ page books for her own pleasure, had the book finished by the end of the class period. She was appalled at the low skill level the instructor expected of these Seniors, who, by the way, needed the English class to graduate. This was standard English, not remedial English.

There aren't really too many AP classes available at Portland, compared to other high schools in Sumner County. The ones that are offered are usually Social Studies and English. My children, who both did well in Math and Science, weren't able to take an AP or dual enrollment class here. I don't know all the reasons for that; maybe someone from the school could address the whys of that situation.

My advice is to do some investigation on your own. Being a teacher, you know the ins and outs of a school system, so you are better equipped than some of us to find the information you seek. Good luck in your search.

Thank you so much for your input on the school system here in Portland. Are the advanced placement classes in high school not more difficult than the regular ones? It is a shame if the AP classes are not preparing the students for college either.

My kids also do not have much homework which I haven't been able to understand either. I do agree that other activies are important, but not as important as their education. They often have homework assignments on things not gone over in class or have a test on study guides where their answers aren't checked. This is not fair to the students! I am glad that my students fair well in school, but I honestly believe that they could be more challenged...

Being an educator in Portland (and new at that) and not having kids, I cannot comment on any of the schooling in this town except for what I see in my classroom on a daily basis; however, there are parents out there who feel differently than DA. I am not saying that is good or bad, and I am glad that DA was able to post her honest feelings, but please keep in mind that everyone's experience may be different. So before making your final decision on schooling for your children, I recommend talking to other Portlanders to gather a consensus. From this, I think you will be able to make an educated decision and decide on the appropriate education for your children. Good luck with your search!

On a side note -- to DA's comment about not giving homework: I am not at the high school, so I cannot comment on the practices being utilized there; however, I make a conscious effort to not give homework to my students. My reason behind this is because I was an extremely active child (between Girl Scouts, 5 to 6 athletic teams, Dance Classes, Church and volunteering) I knew how hard it was to get all of my work done. Nevertheless, I had wonderful parents who made my school work come first and I was able to be involved in all of my extracurriculars while graduating at the top of my class and maintaining a social life. Due to my own personal experience, I know how involved children are outside of school with family, athletic and religious obligations and that unfortunately school tends to take a back seat to these "more important" activities. With that in mind, I make sure to utilize my class time in the most effective manner so that I can have the students work on assignments in class while I am there to provide assistance. By doing this, I tend to get the work turned in and the students have someone available to help if a problem arises.

I realize that not all teachers follow my premise and that some teachers don't give homework because he or she doesn't want to have to grade it...which is sad! But, I just wanted to let you know that there are actually a few teachers with legitimate reasons for not giving homework unless it absolutely needs to be given!

To Debbie,

I haven't looked at this thread for quite a while, but when I read your post, I felt that I had to reply.

My children started in Portland schools in 7th and 9th grades, so I can't address the elementary school issues. But I can say that I was very disappointed in the high school's attitude towards a quality education. Both of my children are in college now, and I do NOT feel that they received all the information they needed to excel in a college setting.

I truly believe that the "No Child Left Behind" program has had an opposite effect in Portland. It seems that rather than encourage all students to do their best, it has made the curriculum so simple that anyone can pass, without even learning anything new. Ask college math professors about the level of achievement that they see in their students, and I think your question will be answered.

When you couple that teaching method with the attitude of many parents and students, you have sub-par classrooms. I have actually had other parents tell me that So-and-so is a good teacher; they never give homework. Excuse me? A good teacher gives lots of appropriate homework to insure that their students are learning the material.

It is a great system for the kids who have little ambition for a college education, and need a diploma to get a job. But for bright, intelligent kids who truly want to learn and be challenged at school; those are the students who are being left behind. It is a rare child who comes out of the Portland system able to achieve great things academically; mostly because academics aren't stressed. One exception is the Chemistry class at PHS; that is a class where someone who wants to learn can do so. One of the Math classes is also a little more intense for those who want to learn. But many classes are taught by the stereotypical coach mentality; show a movie at least once a week. You're putting in your time, and that's all that matters.

If I had it to do over again, I would have kept my kids in a system that had higher goals than training warehouse workers and fast food employees. I might have gone for a private school setting, or I would have done more investigation into the school I sent them to. But I don't think I would have chosen Portland to educate my children.

Sorry to revisit this topic, but I just had a chance to catch up with the Blog.

Not to sound negative in any way....but I have approximately 140 students that pass through my classroom door every single day. While I want to stay in contact with parents as much as possible, I cannot realistically call all the parents of children who are suffering in my classroom (which could be anywhere from thirty to sixty different families, depending on the difficulty of the material being taught). I only have one planning period during the day (approximately forty minutes) that I utilize to make copies for the upcoming lessons while also attending numerous meetings that are scheduled for this time period. Once that time period is up, there is not another period of time during the day where I do not have the responsibility of watching over children. Basically, this only allows me one set period of time to call home and realistically I could probably only fit five phone calls into that time frame (depending on how much families want to talk…which is usually a longer time than expected). Once that school bell rings to go home, that is the last thing I am able to do. Due to being a teacher and the extra opportunities for involvement with the youth, I do not arrive home until seven or eight at night. I do not regret my involvement in anyway, I love being able to see these students outside of the classroom; however, this means that once I get home I have to cook dinner, work on grading papers, work in lesson plans and take care of a household.

I only stated the above information so that parents could have better insight into the school day of a teacher. While not all teachers take on the extra responsibility outside of school, every teacher does have grading and lesson planning which takes up more time than people realize. Once again, in no way am I complaining, I absolutely love my job and all the responsibilities I have taken on and would not trade it for the world. However, I am having a hard time figuring out the best way to stay on top of children’s work and finding ways to involve the family. I have recently began to send frequent notes home on all of my students so that parents can have an idea of the grades being earned at the current time. I also check my work e-mail frequently and am usually able to respond in a timely manner to an e-mail request from a parent or guardian. My suggestion to all concerned parents/guardians is to contact the teacher if you feel that you need to check up on the child’s progress. You can either e-mail the teacher utilizing the school website provided by Dale S (although, please be aware that not all teachers check e-mail regularly) or call the school and either leave a voice mail (each teacher now has a voice mail box) or leave a note with the secretary for the teacher to get back with you. While the response may not be as speedy as you would like, response does normally occur within a few days of receiving the note. At this time, you can discuss your child’s progress with the teacher, ask about progress in other classes (the teacher will have to get back with you, but he or she can definitely check up on this) and/or set up a meeting with the teachers that your child has during that grading period.

I hope this helps on some level. Please keep in mind that teachers do not mind parent/teacher contact and some of us actually look forward to that chance to get to know the students better; however, it may sometimes be easier if the parent initiates that contact solely due to the lack of time the teacher has during the day to make that phone call because of the responsibility of the classroom.

I am a mother of 2 and I live here in Portland. I am also a first grade teacher in the Metro Nashville school system. I know that I would not put my children in Metro but unfortunately I do not know much about the schools up here and my children are nearing school age. I would love to hear from parents of students who have gone on to college and see if they feel that their children received an adequate education in the Portland schools. Were they prepared for college? I have also heard that if your son doesn't play football for the Panthers that he will be treated differently. Is this true?

Dale S. Thank You so much, this will be great. I took a quick look at the site at:
http://pms.sumnerschools.org/

I even see a blog on the site, I'm sure my daughter will be thrilled to have access via email to my grandaughters teachers.

Thank you again!

For Portland Middle School Parents:

If you have internet access, visit our website at pms.sumnerschools.org. Click on "Our Staff" and you will be directed to our email address page. Contact your child's teacher from there. In the event they do not respond, come by or call.

I can't speak too much about Public Schools (my kids go to private).

What they are trying here in the schools are web pages. Each parent gets a login and password to see what the Teachers want to post.

I think this is a wonderful idea about the email and I would love to see something like this for us parents. We moved from having notes sent home in middle school and knowing everything to completely left in the dark. I believe children knowing that these emails go out on a regular basis would also help them. Think maybe children may have a lack of ambition because they know there is a lack of communication? Never thought of it until now, but it does make sense!

OneTeacher

Your post was great and helps us see things thru a teachers eyes, some very good points you made about expectations & goals of the local students in Portland, all of which I agree.

What I see, and I am a grandma to 2 in portland schools is this.

PARENT/TEACHER COMMUNICATION - lacking to say the least. How can parents correct problems if they don't know they exist before a student fails at report cards/progress report time.

I also have grandchildren in East Robertson County schools, the teachers there are set up on a system that allows parents to communicate with every teacher via email, the teachers can also communicate with parents with this set up to notify parents of upcoming events, tests, parties, picture days, FYI's etc. etc. The system has proven to be a true assett as it allows parents to stay on top of what's going on by communicating with teachers at a time that is convenient for both. I know not everyone has computers or internet, but if teachers were able to communicate in this manner on 75% of their students that would free their time to focus on the others on a one on one basis.

Teacher,
We do appreciate your comments and it is good to see a teacher's point of view. I base my comments on the same information. The argument many parents have is lack of communication with the teachers and they are not informed that their children are failing until report cards or progress reports go home! No notes, no phone calls, no grades sent home, nothing. Many parents may not care, but many do and would like to know how to help, but do not know what to do. I would love to better communicate with my child's teachers, but how do I do that and how do other parents? It is not a lack of commitment on some parents' parts, but lack of know how.

I agree that small town politics run rampant through out this town; however, I see first hand the effort put forth by some students in our school system today. A majority of the students in my class have passing grades; however, those few failing students are not due to a lack of teacher instruction but rather due to a lack of commitment. Most work is done in my classroom; however, I still have students who do not turn that work in. There is little I can do to rectify this situation...even if I can get the missed assignment turned in, that same student will still fail to turn the next assignment it. It is a never ending battle!

As far as bully behavior...it exists in every school. I think that teachers are just now really starting to pay attention to the behavior and reporting it. I can honestly say, though, that in the short time I have been in Portland, I have seen little to no bully behavior and what I have seen has been dealt with appropriately.

As for information regarding the statistics of our school system, comparing Portland to another school could be like comparing apples to oranges. You have to keep in mind the society that we live in. I ask my students, on a regular basis, what they want to do with their future and sometimes the responses are disheartening. I do not think there are high enough standards set for our students in this community. Too many students fail without any repercussions and to me that is horrid. We have to expect a student that fails on every progress report and report/grade card to also fail when it comes to TCAP time, which is a major measurement used for schools today. How can we blame teachers if this child has a habit of failing...shouldn't it start with the child and trying to change his or her mentality on education?

I am not defending our school district in any manner, just trying to pass along information that I know.

As far as my children "enjoying" school, they do enjoy school. I do have to agree with the one post that said it was small town politics. I guess I have had a harder time honestly with the transition as I was so actively involved in their school up until middle school and now I feel totally left out. I can't even say I have met one of their teachers!

I was also stating that my children make good grades still to show that the move to middle school was fine for them. I have lots of concern over how well they will do once out of school and into college.I am sure there are lots of people who went to Portland schools that are successful and went to college.My husband went to a school who faired poorly on every test but went on to a prestigious college. I have faith that mine will follow suit.

It may be, after studying the issue, that a student can make an A or B in Portland, yet fail elsewhere, or fail in college because of poor instruction and preparation in these early years. I would personally EXPECT an A or B student from Wisconsin to continue to make A's or B's here, but I do not necessarily believe the same would occur if reversed.

I would like to see some information that studies the success of Portland students in post-highschool education, later dropout rates in college, grades maintained (GPA's), the types of majors generally acquired or sought (technical vs. other majors), etc. I would like to see this compared to other comparable Tennessee schools, neighboring states, and national data.

My guess is that such information is actually available. It would be eye opening, I am sure.

My child made A's and B's when we lived in Wisconsin..he made A's and B's when we lived in Wilson county...he STILL makes A's and B's. I stated that because another posted asked why kids who were making good grades in elementary school aren't making good grades in Middle school now. I was letting that person know that mine STILL makes good grades, I wasn't saying it was a success of the school.

My son knows the value of getting good grades and studying hard. He has a study hour every school night. He goes to his room for an hour with no T.V and no radio, he is to do his homework and study for any tests and if he has no homework he is to read something for that hour. We've been doing it for 3 years now to prepare him for going to Middle school and high school where the work may be a little harder. He does it automatically now and I really think it's helped him with his school work.

MG,
I agree wholeheartedly on your comment. I do not believe that activities other than sports are focused on as they should be. I also do not believe that grades alone determine success, but with no parent teacher communication or anything else, how else can we base it?

Why is it that some state their children make A's and B's, as though that is an indicator of success for the schools? Has anyone ever thought to measure the ability of Portland school 'products' against other COMPARABLE systems in the U.S.? Are enough children actually ready and ABLE to go to college, and is the percentage of success in college or those who apply higher or lower than other similarly sized schools?

In many areas in Tennessee and other surrounding states, fine arts programs are much more evolved and produce award-winning choirs, show groups, bands, theatre groups and so forth. Portland's emphasis on fine arts is less than it should be. We cannot all play football.

Also, where are the academic achievements? as compared to other similarly sized school districts? How many scientists, engineers, technicians, doctors, lawyers, etc., come out of the Portland School System?

My son is in Portland middle school in the 7th grade and he does very well, he still makes A's and B's. He has never once said anything about bully's or any fights or anything negative. He loves the school. He actually like the school lunches, we came from the Wilson county schools before and he HATED it there, so something must be right at this school. He went to J.W Wiseman before this and loved it there also. It's so much better in my opinion than sending him to a Nashville public school.

Portland schools are full of small town Politics just like our city. I'll do everything in my power to keep my kids out of Portland schools. That's just my two cents. I've always been taught you get what you pay for!

I also have two in middle school one in 8th and one in 7th and both are doing very well.They both continue to make A's. I think each child handles the change in his or hers own way.No matter what school children attend it will be one who wants to bully and there is always clicks of kids. I talk with them daily about what is going on in school. Remember how it was when we were in school..

I have two children at Portland Middle School. I do not feel involved in any way in their school lives. Academically, I feel my children are OK for the most part, but I have heard of so many other parents where their children are suffering academically. A and B students in elementary school are now barely passing in middle school or completing failing now! I also hear of bullying and fighting in the school quite a bit. I have no idea how these problems are addressed as my children have not directly been involved. I know of a few children who now attend private schools because of different problems I have heard of with the middle school. I base these comments on what I hear from other parents, of course. I know parents sometimes have a harder time with these transitions, but my children have requested to be put in private school even though their friends attend in Portland. That, to me, seems odd that even though they are OK academically, what else is going on where they would make this request? They do not make straight A's as they once did and have actually brought home a few failing grades, but just a few. I was very disappointed that exam grades were not on one of my child's report cards at all. Don't I deserve to know as their parent how they fared on their exams? I know one was a failing grade on the exam even though my child passed the class did OK for the semester. Also, my children say some days they don't get enough to eat or some days they may have for lunch what they had the day before.