Gov. Patrick visits UPCS

Here is a news article from Worcester's Telegram and Gazette about Gov. Patrick's recent visit to University Park Campus School, where I did my student teaching. There isn't much specific information on the school itself- perhaps because there are a plethora of articles just like this one that have been published over the past decade. There are constantly groups coming in from all over to observe how this school works. As the latter half the article reads:

"Today's visiting group, which also included state Sen. Harriette L. Chandler, D-Worcester, Mayor Joseph C. O'Brien, Superintendent of Schools Melinda J. Boone, School Committee member Jack L. Foley and Clark President John E. Bassett, staff and media, moved through the 226-student school like a watermelon through a boa constrictor, but University Park is used to guests... The day before, they hosted a group from Texas."

As to the purpose of the visit, the Massachusetts legislature is apparently working on a new bill that "takes special aim at underperforming schools and the achievement gap between students of different socioeconomic statuses. It also offers districts the opportunity to create Innovation Schools with more autonomy over curriculum, budget, school schedules, policy and teachers' contract provisions." I like this quite a bit.

I'll be the first to admit that I have rather limited experience in teaching and education. That being said, in looking at all the companies and institutions with which I have worked, University Park included, the most successful are those where fulfilling the needs of their students takes priority rather than fulfilling state or standardized test requirement. The irony of which often being that the schools that don't set test scores as the end-all-be-all benchmark for progress, do much better on them than those that might. At least, again, from what I have seen in my various travels. No two students learn exactly the same way, so it would stand to reason that an individual school may just be the authority on how to educate the students that attend. This is especially true at a school like University Park, which also happens to be chocked full of teachers and staff with advanced degrees and maintains a close partnership with Clark University. I have always described UPCS as a great example of what an urban public school could be. The feasibility of replicating it's success at other schools, however, would rely heavily on the types of resources available. But that is a topic for another night.