Higley Groves School

Today's AZ Republic talks about the elementary school being built in Higley Groves:

Gilbert Public Schools' newest elementary will open this August with the district's standard curriculum, even though parents continue to support a traditional, back-to-basics program.

They want the school to mirror the curriculum at the district's only elementary magnet school: GPS Traditional Academy, Neely Campus.

But that's not going to happen since the $8 million school is a neighborhood school and therefore comes with a standard curriculum, district spokeswoman Dianne Bowers said.

The school, which will be named soon, is at 3660 E. Park Ave., which is north of Elliot and west of Recker roads.

"We are excited to have this new elementary school so close to our home . . . and would be in full support of a second GPS traditional campus at the new Morrison Ranch site," a parent wrote to the School Board, mirroring similar sentiments in a half-dozen e-mails to officials.

The school will be built with money from November's voter-approved $120 million bond initiative, and as a result, will become a neighborhood school.

Still, Superintendent Brad Barrett has been speaking with staff to explore the idea of having some classes at the new school given in the traditional format.

"He's still considering it," Bowers said.

The article goes on to discuss what is meant by the traditional format, using the Neely campus as an example. It includes emphasizing phonics, spending more time in class and less time in recess, and having band classes before and after school rather than during the school day. I wish that the reporter would have elaborated a bit on what the standard curriculum involves, so that the reader might make their own comparisons.

My field is accounting, not teaching; but The Mister and I have always felt that a child's education is the parent's responsibility, and we have tried, over the years, to shoulder that responsibility with each of our kids. That includes being educated ourselves - pun fully intended - on the options available in education. There are trends in methodology, with which we have anecdotal experience. When The Mister was attending elementary school right here in Gilbert, the "new" method for teaching reading abandoned phonics and taught the students to memorize the words on the page. This was not helpful for him; thankfully, through his mother's persistence and his discovery of science texts in fourth grade, he salvaged the ability to read, and even grew to enjoy it.

Having shared this background, our experience with our own children in Gilbert's elementary schools is that they were indeed taught phonics, along with math and spelling and grammar. They seemed to have plenty of recess time, and their music programs were scheduled during school hours. Our three daughters love to read, and while our son does not, he has the proficiency when needed.

My feeling from reading the article is that if this new school doesn't adopt a traditional format, the students will be cheated, and no doubt the days will be spent in recess and rap music instruction. An objective viewpoint argues that whether it's a traditional or standard curriculum format, Gilbert schools are still at the top of the heap in all the measurements. The real secret, of course, is parental involvement; and judging by the involvement of my neighbors in their kids' schooling, Morrison Ranch seems to attract parents that hold that involvement in high esteem.

The question I have isn't whether it will be traditional; I want to know what they plan to name it. Street name, or something else? Remember that our office has such a hard time with the naming process; we always like to watch others empathetically in the same struggle.