On Thursday, Chalmers Elementary Specialty School of Excellence had their report card pickup.
Since this was the day for parents and guardians of students to pick up report cards, the elementary students had a day off from school. However, teachers were required to be at the school from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Students were able to see their grades online, on their Student Portal Gradebook, before report cards were released. However, they were not allowed to keep their report cards this quarter of the school year and were required to bring a parent or guardian to pick them up in order for them to be released. This is presumably to encourage parents to come in and talk to the teachers about what their child is doing in school. Although, a parent-teacher conference is not mandatory unless the student is failing a class.
Most of the parents who came to pick up report cards came directly from work and intended to stay between three and five minutes, just long enough to be briefed on how their child is doing in school. These parents were also coming for students who ranged from Kindergarten to fourth grade. The other grade levels had parents come but not as many as the lower grade levels.
However, some teachers felt that more 5-8 grade parents needed to talk about not only grades but behavior issues. Chalmers’ 6-8 grade science teacher, Mrs. Marquez, explained some of the issues she had with her students and their behavior.
Marquez says that most of the students will “act tough” in class and misbehave but break down and have a different attitude in the presence of a parent. This is an issue for her because there seems to be a lack of respect in the class, however, she finds methods to keep her students in order.
Math teacher, Mr. Staffel, explains that this is his first year working at Chalmers. He says that he enjoys working there and that the students have “not done anything [he] isn’t used to.” He will “continue to work at the school until [he] is burned out.” He notes that he has heard testimonies from other teachers before about how the students were before they left Chalmers, and he is working with the students, hoping for a positive outcome.
There have been many changes over the past few years concerning Chalmers that not everyone is pleased with. For example, in 2015, if a class was overflowing with students, some students from higher grade levels were moved to classes with more space, sometimes creating a class with split grade levels. At the time, there were four teachers for 5-8 grade, so the mix and match of students balanced out.
Now that there are only three teachers for the aforementioned grade levels, classrooms are overflowing, such as in Marquez’s room. Her room has 32 seats but 42 students. She is not the only teacher with this problem, however, nothing is currently being done about it, so she makes do with the space she has.
Although things may not be perfect at Chalmers, the teachers and staff are doing their best to make the school a safe and comfortable environment for the students. It is their desire to see students thrive, and that is why teachers continue to work at the school.
By Trinity Oglesby
Edited by Jeanette Smith
Featured and Top Images by Staff Photographer Devin Jackson