To the parents of the Sixth Grade Students of Brentwood 2016-17:

There is definitely something different about this year.  It’s more than just the new front entrance to the building or the enhanced lighting in the hallways.

Perhaps no other period in recent memory has there been so many changes in education.  

They say that the only people who truly like change are wet babies.  

While this may be true,  all of us have been frenetically preparing  for these changes.   

Are these positive changes leading to higher levels to learning, greater retention and more relevant and focused skills; or are we simply rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic?  

Common core what is it? 

Common is merely a set of standards or outcomes and that is a good thing in any aspect of life. 

But will these standards bring about the educational reform that prepares our children to compete in the ever-expanding global marketplace?  

Will they lead our country once again to a formidable position amongst the best educated nations in the world?

Will it be the magic dust that allows Dumbo to fly?  

Or does it represent once again the triumph of hope over experience?  Only time will tell.

I am sure that many of you have read or heard of the modern failure of our public schools.  How our kids are somehow dumber  or less well educated than they were a generation ago when maybe you were in public school.  Let me share my perspective  from someone who taught a generation ago.

In fact, I have former students who are now Brentwood sixth grade parents.  Let me ask you…think back, when you were in sixth grade were you factoring quadratic equation or solving systems of equations at the application level.  Last what I was teaching those very algebraic concepts to our Brentwood sixth graders.  For nearly all of you that was 8th or 9th grade.  I taught 6th grade a generation ago, and now what I see being taught in 4th grade is what was more like what I once had as my basic sixth grade curriculum.  So do I accept the premise that we are failing?  Absolutely not.  

Can we do better?  Absolutely.  We are constantly looking to improve. 

But my biggest concern regarding all of this is that the policymakers both in and out of the education system have put so much stock in numerical data such as these standardized test scores.  It makes me wonder if maybe they have forgotten something very important.  Behind every test score is a child.  Your child for instance.  A child whose ultimate success is most likely to be determined by how they feel about themselves.  How they handle challenges both inside and outside the classroom.  Their anxiety, their uncertainties, their stress level.  

They need that little voice inside their head tell them that they are valued, they are important, they are competent, they are safe and they can be successful in school. 

We have not forgotten that.  

To us, their teachers, your children are not  their test scores. Rather they are unique and special human becomings.

Determining true success in any classroom is finding a way to measure their joy of discovery, their love of learning and their determination to take on new challenges.  

Find me a test that will measure this and then we will have true education reform.   

Sadly, these cannot be quantified on a standardized test. 

On the second day of school, we assembled all the sixth grade students together and told them that this year has the real possibility of being the very best year in their school lives.  

In order for this to become a reality, they had to be willing to listen to us, and to do what we ask.  They had to believe in us and trust us.  If they did that then amazing things would happen. 

We made commitment to these kids to give 100% and work our hardest to make sure that they would get the best education possible.  

It didn’t matter to us what kind of grades that they got in the past, or what kind of trouble they have been in before; this is a new year and a new start, and if they were willing to follow the procedures and do their best, this year they would become a star.  I believe with your help we can end the year with a truly amazing  sixth grade class.  And not because of any test scores, but because they have taken on a new spirit of reaching towards higher peaks personal performance through grit and determination.

We have the good fortune of having a very formidable track record.  To me anyway, some of our most important judges as to our success come from the 7^th grade teachers.  Some time ago, one of the 7^th grade teachers in working towards getting her students to correctly follow the prescribed procedures finally just asked her class, “If you went to Brentwood last year would you raise your hand.”  

The Brentwood kids in the class raised their hands.  

“Okay the rest of you,” she added, ”watch these guys and do what they do.”

We must be doing something right, but we’re always looking to do it better.

But we can’t do it alone.  You, their parents,  are far and away the most significant teachers, mentors and role models in these kids’ lives. 

I understand that research has been conducted in order to determine the single most significant criterion leading to children’s success in school.  The study found that it was parents who show up at school.  To open houses or parent teacher conferences to those important events that affect the children.  It is therefore incumbent for all of us, the teachers, the parents and the children to forge a true partnership in three part harmony.  Missing any one part is like a singing group without a baritone.  It lacks harmony.  Discord becomes evident.  Success becomes unfulfilled.  

A CEO of a national fruit chain once proffered his solution for improving education saying that schools should be run like his very successful business.  

BUT…

Students are not like produce.

We take them all.

We take them big, small, rich, poor, gifted, exceptional, abused, frightened, confident, homeless, rude, brilliant and emotionally damaged.

We take them with ADHD, autism, tourettes and even those who speak no English.

We take every child.  We embrace every child.  We celebrate every child.

We educate every child.

We are not a business.

We are a school. 

Dale Pfiffner