ISSUE OF THE WEEK

Bob Snyder

My children have attended College Park Elementary School for the past

five years. During that time I also became concerned about the balance of

attention between the higher-achieving and lower-achieving students. I

feel Principal Kathy Sanchez has been very open to my concerns, and in

fact has worked hard to implement programs that benefit students of all

achievement levels. Extracurricular science programs, such as Science

Adventures, have been added, which benefit all students. Art Masters is a

terrific program that allows students to study various artists throughout

history, learning about their artistic styles, and creating art patterned

after that style. But I have also felt it is my responsibility to go

beyond dropping my child off at school. When my son expressed a desire to

have the opportunity to play chess at school, we donated some chess sets

to his classroom to allow him that opportunity. Principal Sanchez has

been very open to any suggestions that enhance the scholastic experience

of all students.

But perhaps the item that surprises me the most in the article is the

criticism of College Park Elementary School’s emphasis on reading. I

could never have imagined anyone criticizing a school for emphasizing

such a fundamental skill. Reading is the foundation upon which all other

scholastic skills are based. Personally, I do not believe that reading

skill development can be overemphasized. As to the criticism that the

higher-achieving students are not being challenged, I can only draw on

the experience of my family. My daughter’s ranking on standardized

testing has ranged from the 94th to the 98th percentile. I believe this

qualifies her for the high-achiever category in anyone’s ranking system.

Our experience with each of my daughter’s teachers at College Park

Elementary included a willingness to create challenging opportunities for

her education. We could not be more satisfied with our daughter’s

teachers during her time at College Park Elementary. The result of her

experience at College Park Elementary has been a well-rounded, complete

education, coupled with a confidence in her abilities. I believe that

oftentimes parents of high-achieving students are so concerned their

child be challenged, wanting them to be the best, they drive them until

they fail. I’ll take a well-adjusted fourth-grader, confident in her

abilities, rather than a neurotic fourth-grader struggling to do

seventh-grade math any day.

Lastly, I would like to address the “white-flight” issue. People can say

they are changing to Newport Beach schools because of the principal, or

district officials, or the emphasis on reading, but lets look at the

situation. They are not transferring to the next-closest school in their

neighborhood, they are transferring across town to a school with much

different demographics. Ideally, College Park Elementary would be able to

establish a foundation like the wealthier schools and fund extra staff

positions internally. But the ideal and the reality are very far apart,

and the College Park staff has worked very hard at doing the best job

they can with the resources available to them. The irony in the parents’

apparent discomfort with the cultural mix at College Park Elementary is

the contrast with the article in Wednesday’s Los Angeles Times (“Changes

in State’s Ethnic Balance Are Accelerating,” Oct. 20). According to the

Time’s article, the white population of California will drop to 50% by

next year. College Park Elementary is simply following the trend in the

state of California.

What the Daily Pilot article does not accurately portray, however, is the

openness to other cultures being developed in the children at College

Park. Although the article states that “white and Latino students tend

not to hang out with each other in social groups,” that has certainly not

been the experience with my children. My daughter has always had friends

whose names I could not even properly pronounce (much to her amusement),

and my son works to find ways to make his friends’ parents understand his

invitation to events. A difference in culture to them is not something to

be divided over, it is simply a hurdle in communication to be overcome.

We parents have much to learn from our children in terms of multicultural

acceptance.

I would like to thank Principal Sanchez, and the entire staff at College

Park Elementary for their dedication to the students, and for the

flexibility and creativity they show in performing a difficult job, in a

less than ideal situation. Keep up the good work.

Bob Snyder, 39, is a lifelong Costa Mesa resident and parent. His son

attends College Park Elementary and his daughter went there through

third-grade before moving on to Davis Elementary School.

QUESTION

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