Monrovia School Link Preview ~ Number 99 ~ November 6, 2004
What do you folks want to do on a dull Tuesday night? Movie? Yawn. Opera? Bore-ing! Oh, I've got it! How about a nice night with the school board? Huh, everybody? Waddaya say!? Oh yes! Wow! Zowie zingo! Great! Okay, everybody (except me), show up this Tuesday at the administration office at 325 E. Huntington Drive, right across from Smart & Final, and you'll have a super time! Great things on the agenda: Reports on textbooks, API, enrollment, etc. Read all about it below, but be very careful. Don't read too far or you'll run into my grammar diatribe - as if I know anything about grammar.
~ brad@sacklunch.net
Take note! The school board meetings are usually on Wednesday night. This one ain't. It's on Tuesday, Nov. 9.
At the 6:20 p.m. study session the board will review the textbook adoption process.
And at the regular 7 p.m. meeting here's part of what's on the agenda:
- Mr. Curriculum, Joel Shawn, will talk about "API status." Didn't we just do this?
- Superintendent Louise Taylor will give a report on the State Superintendent's High School Summit. I don't know what that is, but it sounds interesting.
- The board will hear a report on K-12 enrollment trends. More students = good; fewer students = bad.
- It will also hear the Personnel Commission's annual report for 2003-2004.
- And don't forget the fabulous Item 4.1: "Public hearing for items not on the agenda." This is where you can get up and talk about anything related to the district that you please.
Also at the meeting, the Monrovia Public Library will be giving the district $8,000 to help tutor students at Clifton and Santa Fe middle schools, which seems pretty nice. What's even nicer, though, is that this is not your garden variety tutoring these students are going to get. No sir! It's "Pro-Active Tutoring," which means... uh, which means... er ... What does "pro-active" mean, anyway? "Professional-active?" Is it like the opposite of "amateur-active?" Or is "pro" a variant of "pre," in which case I guess it means "before being active." Nah! I think it's used as the opposite of "reactive." You know, For every pro-action there is an equal and opposite reaction? No, wait! That's supposed to be, "For every *action*." Action, reaction; active, reactive. Hmm, but if "active" is the opposite of "reactive," then I still have no clue what "pro-active" means.
As long as I'm on this tirade, why do they need the word "active" (whether accompanied by "pro" or not) to modify "tutoring?" Is this to indicate that it isn't inert tutoring? Aren't *all* tutors active? I mean, don't they move their mouths and hands and stuff to communicate? Or is the word "active" used for emphasis, to suggest that the tutors are *extremely* active, like maybe they do jumping jacks or something?
Ya know... when I was in school I hated grammar. Now look what a freak I've become about it - which might be okay if I could even tell you what a past participle is for. And if I didn't end sentences with "for." Or start them with "and." Or "or."
This newsletter, such as it is, is also on the Web at www.monroviaschoollink.com.