Main entrance at West Creek Academy
Summary of the high points from SCV Moms Blog live podcast with SUSD Superintendent Judy Fish (please correct/add in comments as this is from memory)
- Reiterated school closings for Emblem and Bouquet, clarified Emblem students will attend Highlands (with a few nabes feeding Foster)
- Was noncommittal on teacher pink slips
- Discussed Bridgeport being impacted with over 900 students, but that there is a “general over capacity in the district”. Bridgeport, along with a handful of others, will not have ‘open enrollment’ but the balance of SUSD will be open enrollment
- New school will be named “West Creek Academy” not “West Creek Music Academy” with an initial focus on music but will extend to other performing arts (SCVTalk’s inside look at West Creek)
- Supe Fish defended the focus on music vehemently, citing UCI research on the subject linking music proficiency to math, language, and other key subjects (they do some cutting edge stuff with music @ UCI, like this)
- West Creek will have a significant focus on international / cultural awareness, including foreign languages — TBD on which
- Will “absolutely not” drain fine arts resources away from other SUSD schools
- Enrollment priority given to West Hills / West Creek kids, but open to SUSD — possibly open to residents outside SCV (wow)
More detail at tonight’s SUSD Board Mtg, public session starts @ 8pm. AGENDA
Great job, SCV Moms, for arranging this discussion with Superintendent Fish and channeling the many questions from the community during this critical time!
Yeah UCI! *zot zot!*
(I’m an alumnus)
Thanks for the run down. Interesting. Can’t wait to hear more about it.
I think I’ve reached my giggle quota for the week. Great idea, but the unscripted portion is a bit painful for my cynical self.
Anyways. Wanted to clarify. If I’m understanding correctly, Emblem is going to Highlands (w/a few Foster neighborhoods), not Rosedell.
Mmmmk. She says ‘many schools’ will have open enrollment and will be defining/redefining their unique strengths and programs. Not just West Creek. Could we be seeing an alternative school movement?????? PLEASE!
Seriously, 99% of us are driving our children to school anyways, why not offer unique programs at individual schools that can meet a childs unique needs! A focus on technology, a Montessori based program, fine arts program, and of course traditional programs for those that prefer that method. Why are we stuck on this cookie cutter model?
Thanks for the write-up. I thought it was a good start to creating an on-going dialogue. We received many more questions after the show. Jackie and I are encouraging residents to continue to submit questions. We plan to have Dr. Fish on periodically during this transition. We are optimistic that this dialogue will, in the end, be productive.
BTW- sorry we didn’t amuse you, Walker. We’ll try harder next time.
Ah, no hard feelings Andrea. Like I said, I think I’m a bit too cynical for the giggling. That’s all. Not a dig at you or your program, probably more a dig at myself
I enjoyed the Dr. Fish segment and was glad to hear more about the school (& district) plans.
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