Respectfully, Eagle Ridge Academy Executive Director, Dick Tater, III

The latest update from Eagle Ridge Academy in the New Era of Communication is too little, too late. Obviously it is designed to offer a little bit o' info like a drug to keep the flock of sheep happy and not questioning why this is information is so late arriving and why the administration does not answer any of the big questions posed in the previous two posts. Baaaaa ...

A BIG Thank You to the PTO for hosting the Back to School picnic on Tuesday; it was wonderful to see so many families there!

Just a reminder about orientation coming up next week; the schedule is as follows:

Monday 10:00 – 12:00 6th grade 1:00 – 3:00 7th & 8th grade

Tuesday 10:00 – 12:00 9th & 10th grade 1:00 – 3:00 11th & 12th grades

During orientation, students will be receiving schedules, locker assignments and student handbooks.

Families requesting busing will indicate which bus stop they prefer and payment will be collected. Bus fees remain the same as last year: $350. per student with a $700. family maximum. This fee can be split by semester. Payment must be received before a bus pass can be issued; if you have questions about setting up a payment plan please contact John Howitz at jhowitz@eagleridgeacademy.org or 952-746-7760 x 103. 2008-2009 routes are attached.

If you ordered any uniform pieces from Donald’s during the Uniform Sale, please be aware that they have arrived here at Eagle Ridge Academy and will be available during orientation.

A note from Hope Grover, Orchestra/Classroom Music Teacher:
Do you love to play music? Are you the next instrumental star of “America’s Got Talent?” Or….do you love the experience of playing music with other people just like you? If so, join the Eagle Ridge Academy orchestra!!!!!

The ERA orchestra (winds/percussion/strings) will meet during the second half of the lunch period throughout the school year. The orchestra, meeting between 3 and 5 days a week, will perform a variety of literature on three concerts this year. In addition, there may be an opportunity to play in some small ensembles if students are interested. Orchestra students will receive 0.5 credits for their course and will be evaluated on their academic report card and/or transcript.* (Employers and universities love kids who are in music!)

If you are interested, please meet with me during your child’s orientation session. You will NOT need instruments the first day of school. If you have any questions please feel free to send me an email or give me a call: hgrover@eagleridgeacademy.org or 952-746-7760 x 126.

Have a Music filled Day!
Hope Grover
Orchestra/Classroom Music Teacher

*Due to this course’s existence as an academic class, if a student chooses to drop out of orchestra after the first 2 weeks of the semester, the course will display as a withdrawal/failure on their report card and/or transcript.

Karin Bertoldi
Administrative Assistant
Eagle Ridge Academy
952-746-7760 x102

Respectfully, Eagle Ridge Academy Executive Director, Dick Tater, II

Thursday's post regarding the letter to parents from Eagle Ridge Academy's brand spankin’ new executive director, John Howitz, turned out to be quite lengthy. Who would have thought that a ½ page out of a 3 page letter would be so chock full of blogging material. A case of what was left unsaid speaking volumes. A veritable blogging bonanza! And the vein is still rich in material, so let’s go mining for what is left.

As most are aware, the previous administration at Eagle Ridge Academy was plagued with the undefined accusation of “communications” issues. These nebulous claims became the rallying cry during the Reid, Garvin, Erb coup and ultimately led to the spineless board capitulating to the demands of the mob and dismissing the former director without explanation. The board, rather than supporting the school’s leader, hopped on board the “communications” train and in one of its most bizarre, inept and morally bankrupt actions formed a second communications committee although the board already had a communications committee.

Now if the actions of the board were truly sincere and the regime change was brought about because of serious and substantiated issues, the Eagle Ridge Academy community should have expected better and more frequent communication from both the board and the school to herald the New Era of Communication. This blog has already documented the lack of information from the board regarding the search for the new director and communication since then has been at best sparse if practically non-existent. Thursday’s post began the examination into the woeful efforts of the new administration in this New Era of Communication.

The remaining 2 ½ pages of the Howitz’s look innocuous enough upon first glance as all that is left is a contact list and the mission and vision of Eagle Ridge Academy. Having already documented that no evidence was provided that the mission and vision are in any way connected to the schedule and curriculum changes, we are left to study the remaining contact list and the gaping black hole of missing information. In our final analysis of the letter and to best understand the complete and utter failure of the current administration and staff to provide more and better communication, a step back in time is required.

On July 27, 2007 the following information was sent to Eagle Ridge Academy parents:

7.27.2007 Newsletter
2007-2008 School Calendar
2007-2008 Supply List
2007-2008 Uniform Policy
2007-2008 Bus Fee and Payment Policy

Here are the examples for this year:

calendar 2008 2009 - Upload a Document to Scribd

Read this document on Scribd: calendar 2008 2009

Supply List High School 08-09 - Upload a Document to Scribd

Read this document on Scribd: Supply List High School 08-09

Supply List Middle School 08-09 - Upload a Document to Scribd

Read this document on Scribd: Supply List Middle School 08-09

The most obvious failure of the new administration and staff is that (except for the supply list and dates/times for orientation) communication regarding the new year is being sent out later then last year. The calendar for the new year was not received until August 6 (10 days later) and new staff announcements not until August 14 (18 days later). Given that the supply list is just a retread of past years, it is not any great feat to have sent this earlier, and no updated uniform policy or information regarding a bus fee/payment has been received to date. Finally, to beat a dead horse, none of this has been posted on the website as it was last year. In fact, even though the board canned the previous director four months ago, no evidence that the new and improved website is nearing its completion has been received except for the lame promise from Karin Bertoldi on August 8, “The new Eagle Ridge Academy website is close to being launched”.

The quality of information is severely deficient as well. The dates/times for orientation may have been provided earlier than last year, but no other information regarding the nature of orientation was included as found in the July 27, 2007 Eagle Ridge Academy newsletter. Also missing from Howitz’s letter is any update on enrollment. As stakeholders in this charter school adventure, many of us our curious as to how many new students will be joining the school, as charter schools are so dependent on enrollment for funding. Is the school trying to hide something? Is enrollment lower than last year and/or turnover greater than expected? Not only is funding a concern, but also the culture that is so important to the vitality and uniqueness of Eagle Ridge Academy can be greatly affected by a large turnover of students.

It’s laughable that the new school calendar was received 10 days later then last year. Compare the two of them! I seriously doubt that this year’s anemic effort took 10 days more of work. It is so pitiful, I almost feel bad picking on it … I might really damage its self-esteem. Even the key at the bottom is dyslexic, putting the last day of school at the top of the list and the first day of school at the bottom.

The most severe example of a deficiency in quality of information relates directly to the contact list found in Howitz’s letter. In the July 27, 2007 Eagle Ridge Academy newsletter, the school dedicated half of a page to staffing news for the new year. New teachers were introduced with a paragraph detailing their background and qualifications to teach at Eagle Ridge Academy. Additionally, teachers who were not returning were mentioned and bid a fond farewell. Howitz’s contact list assumes that you can not only figure out who is new and who is returning, but the administration doesn’t even bother to let you know why these new teachers are fit to teach your children and how they will add to the mission and vision of Eagle Ridge Academy. For a school that invested an amazing amount of capital in ushering in this New Era of Communication, it sure leaves a lot to be desired. A staff and administration intent on good communication would leave nothing to conjecture and would take the lead on setting the tone for this year. To leave this responsibility to others only continues and exacerbates the negative climate left from last year’s fiasco.

Here are my additions to Howitz's skeletal contact list:

ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF

Mr. John Howitz, Director, 952-746-7760 ext. 103, jhowitz@eagleridgeacademy.org

Mr. Howitz is new this year. The following is the only information provided to the Eagle Ridge Academy community regarding Mr. Howitz. Contrast this to the Nova Classical letter regarding their new director:

http://www.novaclassical.org/files/2008-2009/board/Exec%20Dir%202%200.doc

Eagle Ridge Academyhas [sic] hired a new director: John Howitz. John holds a Minnesota principal’s license, has been a social studies teacher, and has founded a charter school. He has been the alternative Programs Coordinator for the Minneapolis Public Schools, the Executive Director for the Metropolitan Federation of Alternative Schools, the Principal at MTS/PEASE Academy in Minneapolis, and the Assistant Principal at Crossroads High School in Anoka. John comes to Eagle Ridge Academy with a lot of experience in fiscal management of schools and large alternative programs and has been successful in building programs throughout his career. He and his daughter are currently traveling in Poland teaching English, but I’m sure he would love it if you stopped in to meet him in August. We look forward to a great year with renewed energy and enthusiasm [sic]

http://education.state.mn.us/LicenseDisplay/searchAction.do?folderNumber=311904

Mrs. Karin Bertoldi, Administrative Assistant, 952-746-7760 ext. 102, kbertoldi@eagleridgeacademy.org

Mrs. Bertoldi is returning from last year. I don’t know why she is placed on this list above the Dean of Students. The list isn’t alphabetical and in terms of rank she would place lower than the Dean of Students, except maybe in her own mind.

Mrs. Erin Johnson, Dean of Students, College Counselor, 952-746-7760 ext. 104, ejohnson@eagleridgeacademy.org

Mrs. Johnson is returning from last year, although no information is given on the addition of College Counselor to her title as she is not licensed in counseling.

http://education.state.mn.us/LicenseDisplay/searchAction.do?folderNumber=417567

Mrs. Johnson is also taking on the additional role of humanities instructor. (Please see faculty list below.) Mr. Howitz does not explain how her time will be divided between her responsibilities as Dean of Students, College Counselor and teacher.

Mrs. Karen Conner, Receptionist, 952-746-7760, kconner@eagleridgeacademy.org

Mrs. Conner is returning from last year.

FACULTY

Mr. Jon Kamrath, Art, grades 6-8, 952-746-7760 ext. 123, jkamrath@eagleridgeacademy.org

Mr. Kamrath is new this year. These links could provide information about him, but how would we ever know for sure?

http://www.kamrathsculpture.com/

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080626/ENT01/806260341

http://education.state.mn.us/LicenseDisplay/searchAction.do?folderNumber=415627

Mrs. Lisa Johnson, Art, grades 9-12, 952-746-7760 ext. 119, ljohnson@eagleridgeacademy.org

Mrs. Johnson is returning from last year.

http://education.state.mn.us/LicenseDisplay/searchAction.do?folderNumber=344055

Mrs. Sonja Menard, English, grades 6-8, 952-746-7760 ext. 129, smenard@eagleridgeacademy.org

Mrs. Menard is returning from last year.

http://education.state.mn.us/LicenseDisplay/searchAction.do?folderNumber=429284

Mr. Daniel Clapero, History, grades 6-8, 952-746-7760 ext. 128, dclapero@eagleridgeacademy.org

Mr. Clapero is returning from last year.

http://education.state.mn.us/LicenseDisplay/searchAction.do?folderNumber=414336

Mr. John Niemann, Humane Letters, (History/Philosophy/Literature/Writing) Grades 9-12,952-746-7760, ext. 118, jniemann@eagleridgeacademy.org

Mr. Niemann is returning from last year. It would have been nice for Mr. Howitz to note if it is assumed that Mr. Niemann will be a licensed community expert this year.

http://education.state.mn.us/LicenseDisplay/searchAction.do?folderNumber=998667

Dr. Austen Rockcastle, Humane Letters, (History/Philosophy/Literature/Writing) grades 9-12, 952-746-7760 ext. 116, arockcastle@eagleridgeacademy.org

Dr. Rockcastle is returning from last year. As with Mr. Niemann, it would have been nice for Mr. Howitz to note if it is assumed that Dr. Rockcastle will be a licensed community expert this year.

http://education.state.mn.us/LicenseDisplay/searchAction.do?folderNumber=998785

Mrs. Erin Johnson, Humane Letters, (History/Philosophy/Literature/Writing) grades 9-12, 952-746-7760 ext. 104, ejohnson@eagleridgeacademy.org

Please see Mrs. Johnson’s information under Administrative Staff.

Mrs. Melissa Hegg, Latin, grades 6-8, 952-746-7760 ext.134, hmegg@eagleridgeacademy.org

Mrs. Hegg is new this year. No information could be found on Mrs. Hegg including a Minnesota teaching license, Mr. Howitz does not offer any explanation. I wonder why her email address is “hmegg” instead of “mhegg”?

http://education.state.mn.us/LicenseDisplay/searchAction.do?firstName=melissa&lastName=hegg&SUBMIT=GO

Mr. Robert Stulac, Latin, grades 9-12, 952-746-7760 ext. 113, rstulac@eagleridgeacademy.org

Mr. Stulac is returning from last year. Mr. Stulac’s licensure information qualifies him to teach as a short-call substitute. Mr. Howitz does not answer how this was taken care of last year as Mr. Stulac taught for more than
15 consecutive days at Eagle Ridge Academy or how Mr. Stulac plans to be a fully licensed teacher for this academic year.

http://education.state.mn.us/LicenseDisplay/searchAction.do?folderNumber=443349

Mrs. Jessica Bergeron, Latin, grades 9-12, 952-746-7760 ext. 115, jbergeron@eagleridgeacademy.org

Mrs. Bergeron is new this year. Mr. Howitz does not address any plans for Mrs. Bergeron’s license for this year and whether he plans to seek a variance for her to teach Latin at Eagle Ridge Academy.

http://education.state.mn.us/LicenseDisplay/searchAction.do?folderNumber=423628

Mrs. Robbie Oeltjenbruns, Mathematics, 952-746-7760 ext.135, roeltjenbruns@eagleridgeacademy.org

Mrs. Oeltjenbruns is returning from last year.

http://education.state.mn.us/LicenseDisplay/searchAction.do?folderNumber=297213

Ms. Laura Langhoff, Mathematics, 952-746-7760 ext. 112, llanghoff@eagleridgeacademy.org

Ms. Langhoff is returning from last year.

http://education.state.mn.us/LicenseDisplay/searchAction.do?folderNumber=387758

Mr. Robert Guelich, Mathematics, 952-746-7760 ext. 140, bguelich@eagleridgeacademy.org

Mr. Guelich is returning from last year.

http://education.state.mn.us/LicenseDisplay/searchAction.do?folderNumber=418664

Ms. Hope Grover, Music, 952-746-7760 ext. 126, hgrover@eagleridgeacademy.org

Ms. Grover is returning from last year. Maybe the reason that choir seems to have been dropped from the schedule at Eagle Ridge Academy is because she is not licensed to teach it. If that is the case, too bad Mr. Howitz could not have come up with a better solution or have been honest enough to admit that in the curriculum and schedule changes section of the letter.

http://education.state.mn.us/LicenseDisplay/searchAction.do?folderNumber=403529

Mrs. Carolyn Sommers-Tillotson, Science grades 6-8, 952-746-7760 ext. 125, csommers@eagleridgeacademy.org

Mrs. Sommers Tillotson is returning from last year. However, Mr. Howitz does not address the issue that Mrs. Sommers Tillotson is only licensed to teach grades 7-12.

http://education.state.mn.us/LicenseDisplay/searchAction.do?folderNumber=402139

And why isn't her email address csommerstillotson@eagleridgeacademy.org?

Dr. Heather Rissler, Science, grades 9-12, 952-746-7760 ext. 124, hrissler@eagleridgeacademy.org

Dr. Rissler is returning from last year. She does not appear to have been licensed during her short tenure last year, and Mr. Howitz does not provide any information or status update for her license this year.

http://education.state.mn.us/LicenseDisplay/searchAction.do?folderNumber=430733

Ms. Mary Wolff, Spanish, 952-746-7760 ext. 130, mwolff@eagleridgeacademy.org

Ms. Wolff is new this year and is licensed in PE, coaching and Spanish.

http://education.state.mn.us/LicenseDisplay/searchAction.do?folderNumber=172226

Respectfully, Eagle Ridge Academy Executive Director, Dick Tater

Before I get started here, I would like to thank all the dedicated readers who stop by everyday looking for a new post ... sorry, but the powers that be at Eagle Ridge Academy have been silent all summer thus a lack of new material. Besides, did you really expect them to communicate their plans for the new year with us lowly peons within any reasonable amount of time before the start of the school year?

Finally today, the heraldic trumpets majestically announced a proclamation descended from the heavens from the overlords of Eagle Ridge Academy.

Parent Update - Upload a Document to Scribd

Read this document on Scribd: Parent Update

Here's my response:

Baaaaaaaa, baaaaaaaaa, baaaaaaa. I am but a mere sheep. I bow to your omniscience.

Or at least that is the response the great ones at Eagle Ridge Academy must be expecting as they have no respect for the intelligence of the Eagle Ridge Academy community. Take your time to examine this ridiculous missive and see if you’re as dumb as they think you are.

The letter is three pages long, but really contains only a half a page of original content. The remaining two and half pages are filled with contact information and a reprint of the mission and vision statements of Eagle Ridge Academy.

Here is a list of the changes being made to both schedule and curriculum:

1. Art in the middle school now meets every day all year long.
2. Middle school students will now have a semester of Spanish.
3. Band will be offered during lunch for middle and high school.
4. Lunch is now 50 minutes long, and there will be only two periods of lunch.
5. No study hall.
6. No focused studies.
7. No morning meeting.
8. All classes will meet five days a week.

Here is a list of what we don’t know about these changes:

1. Is there middle school music? And will it meet every day all year long? Or was music eliminated from the middle school curriculum? If so, how is that justifiable for not only a classical education but in a school that supposedly uses the Core Knowledge sequence as a basis for its curricular decisions? And is art and/or music five times a week for a whole year a sound educational decision or an efficient use of time?
2. Is middle school Latin a year long class or only a semester like Spanish in the middle school? If it is only a semester how does that support the classical model of Eagle Ridge Academy, and how does language acquisition benefit from exposure only one semester out of the year? If Latin remains a one year class, are you then telling me that my student will be studying two foreign languages at the same time … in middle school? Isn’t that a bit much? And why Spanish at all? How does this decision benefit the students educationally or fit in with the mission and vision? Or was this decision based on a financial reason? Perhaps the board hired a full-time Spanish teacher for a part-time high school position and felt this was the best way to justify a full-time salary.
3. In the fifth year of operation the high lords of schedule making have decided to eliminate band from the regular schedule thus forcing kids to forfeit lunch, and their only chance for a break during the school day since morning meeting and study halls have also been cut. Is this really what’s best for the kids? It’s one thing for an adult to work during lunch, but you’re asking kids as young as eleven to do so? And the letter says nothing about choir has that been eliminated altogether? Is this really the hallmark of an academically rigorous, time-tested classical, liberal arts curriculum? Is this really what you want to advertise to parents looking at schools like Providence, Blake, Breck, Eden Prairie and Edina? Do you really want to say that the schedule was too confusing for parents and too difficult for the administration and teachers to figure out, so we took the easy road and essentially gutted the musical performance program?
4. Fifty minutes for lunch. Really? You’re going to give squirrelly middle school students almost an hour for lunch? Who’s supervising a potential of 150+ middle school students and a potential of 200+ high school students for almost two hours out of the school day? Especially in a lunch room that is bordered by classrooms and has open access to the rest of the building. Have fun herding the cats.
5. The amount and level of expectation regarding homework has been a constant complaint from parents of Eagle Ridge Academy. Students who seek out the Academy for their middle and high school education are typically well-rounded individuals who excel academically but are also involved in sports, music, church, charitable activities, etc. All of these activities require time and while the Academy was established to provide an academically rigorous curriculum it was never meant to do so to the detriment of the activities that support the school experience and character development of its students.

Study hall at Eagle Ridge Academy was created in answer to parents' concerns about school work overtaking their children's life. While study hall can be messy in execution and is universally hated by teachers, it did provide students with a midday break to work on assignments and to seek help from teachers when needed, because the homework load is heavy and expectations are high at Eagle Ridge Academy. Apparently the teachers have complained enough to have it eliminated. Is this how you want the school to be run? Aren’t the teachers there for your children? Do they get to eliminate educationally appropriate ideas because they don’t like it and they have to work harder? Is that a creative approach to problem solving … axing what we don’t like? What’s the next step then … dumbing down the curriculum because there is no time to complete all that is expected and the kids are stressed because there is no break during the day?

And wasn't study hall where student served detentions? How does the elimination of study hall affect the discipline policy or has that been gutted as well?

6. Focused studies have been eliminated with no explanation given. I’m sure that it is difficult to organize, but in the academically charged atmosphere of Eagle Ridge Academy, it was a nice change of pace and an opportunity for kids to explore elective type offerings in a school that doesn’t offer electives. Focused studies were also a unique marketing tool for the academy. But like study hall, it appears that no thought was put into the decision, and if there was, no one bothered to let the Eagle Ridge Academy community know about it.
7. Last year, all I heard at board meetings were tired diatribes about “communication”. However, the school has eliminated one of the prime sources of communication by nixing the morning meeting. Morning meeting was a chance for the school to come together as a community to share school announcements and reminders, recite the Pledge of Allegiance, celebrate student birthdays, etc. Reminders about forms due, upcoming events, sports team scores, etc. were shared with all students and backed up by the Daily Update sent home to parents by email. Eagle Ridge Academy does not have a PA system and the administration has apparently deemed it not important to share how the school will inform students of these daily announcements.

Nor does the administration bother to inform us how it plans on enforcing Minnesota state law requiring the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance at least once a week https://www.revisor.leg.state.mn.us/statutes/?id=121A.11 . For a school that was established to foster an appreciation for the United States of America and her unique role in the world it might be important to inform the Eagle Ridge Academy community how it plans to honor both the state law and the founders’ vision of the school.

8. Finally, we have been given the grand pronouncement that all classes will meet five days a week. As far as I know, only middle school music and art met on alternate days as did all levels of band/orchestra and choir. Since there are only sparse details on the new composition of classroom, instrumental and choral music at Eagle Ridge Academy, I’m not quite sure what the administration hoped we would glean from this arbitrary statement. Maybe it was included to fill space in an attempt to make the content section look bigger.

All the changes made have been bathed in the patronizing light that you, the parent, can’t understand the schedule and are cloaked in the platitude that all was done to support the mission and the vision. The administration expects that you will blindly follow along even though they offer no supporting evidence as to how these changes support the mission and vision of Eagle Ridge Academy and how these changes and the subsequent unanswered questions are less confusing than what was already in place.

PS ~ If you would like to read two letters from a school administration and board that honors and respects its community, please see these recent examples from Nova Classical Academy:

http://www.novaclassical.org/files/2008-2009/general/intro_admin.doc

http://www.novaclassical.org/files/2008-2009/board/Exec%20Dir%202%200.doc

All Aboard the Crazy Train, Part III

Is Chris Brucker still the Interim Director for Eagle Ridge Academy since the new director doesn't start until August?

http://news.postbulletin.com/newsmanager/templates/localnews_story.asp?z=2&a=350025

For Whom the Bell Tolls

Welcome John Howitz, new Executive Director of Eagle Ridge Academy! John holds a Minnesota principal’s license, has been a social studies teacher, and has founded a charter school. He has been the alternative Programs Coordinator for the Minneapolis Public Schools, the Executive Director for the Metropolitan Federation of Alternative Schools, the Principal at MTS/PEASE Academy in Minneapolis, and the Assistant Principal at Crossroads High School in Anoka. John comes to Eagle Ridge Academy with a lot of experience in fiscal management of schools and large alternative programs and has been successful in building programs throughout his career. He and his daughter are currently in Poland teaching English, but I’m sure he would love it if you stopped in to meet him in August. We look forward to a great year with renewed energy and enthusiasm. Welcome Mr. Howitz!

==================
Laura Langhoff
Board Chair
Eagle Ridge Academy
7255 Flying Cloud Drive
Eden Prairie, MN 55344 952-746-7760 x 112


Nearly four months ago when this blog began, something in my cynical heart still believed that hope springs eternal. Not a lot of hope, but enough to dedicate the time and energy to this blog. Hope that certain members of the Eagle Ridge Academy Board of Directors even having years ago tragically misplaced their heads up their asses might be miraculously able to extricate them in time to do the right thing ... they definitely had plenty of opportunities. The search for a new director was the latest of those opportunities.

It's no surprise to the regular readers of this blog that I adored the former Eagle Ridge Academy director, Judi Ingison, not only for the innumerable good things she did for the school, but also for the person she is. In my estimation, the new director has mighty big shoes to fill. But as much as I loved Mrs. Ingison and despised the witch hunt that ended her tenure, I also knew that the school could find an excellent replacement if they chose to do so.

Guess what? Yea, I know the element of surprise is nonexistent ... the Eagle Ridge Academy board of directors is nothing but consistent. Well, at least they can now go about their summer without the pressure of finding an excellent director for Eagle Ridge Academy.

Who is John Howitz? Apparently he is the ideal director for Eagle Ridge Academy. I could spend a lot of time pondering the board's reasoning behind hiring someone with "a lot of experience ... in large alternative programs" (aka programs for at-risk kids, admirable ventures but hardly how I would describe Eagle Ridge Academy) or why he's not coming on board until August. (He's not even picking the staff he's going to work with for the year? Is anybody hiring teachers? Does the school even need to hire teachers? Is the staff already in place for next year and the board hasn't bothered to tell us? Is Brucker doing the hiring? The EdPost job listings indicate that he is or was.)

However, my heart's not in it. It feels too much like picking on the mentally challenged or the differently abled.

Eagle Ridge Academy's After School Special

In the grand tradition of ABC's After School Specials, such as:

My Dad Lives in a Downtown Hotel (1973)
The Boy Who Drank too Much (1980)
Stoned (1981)
Please Don't Hit Me, Mom (1981)
I Think I'm Having a Baby (1981)
What if I'm Gay? (1987)
Two Teens and a Baby (1991)

Eagle Ridge Academy is broadcasting its own "very special episode" :

There will be special board meeting held Tuesday, June 24, 2008. The agenda is attached.

On June 5, the Eagle Ridge Academy board moved to hire John Howitz as Executive Director pending background and reference checks. In an attempt to be as transparent as possible; before John can be offered a contract, we would like to give him an opportunity to meet with the Eagle Ridge community. This meeting will be held immediately after the special board meeting, at approximately 7:15.

This is a very important meeting; please plan on attending.

Tune in Tuesday, June 24, 8:15/7:15 Central.

Communication Breakdown

It has now been thirteen days since the Eagle Ridge Academy Board of Directors appeared ready to hire a new executive director following their board meeting on Thursday, June 5. Disappointingly, yet not surprisingly, the Eagle Ridge Academy Board of Directors Communication Committee, co-chaired by Len Twetan and Jim Romportl, has yet to release any details of the search process or of the outcome of the meeting on the fifth, even though those who attended were privy to the Board's deliberations. And, now we find that the board relisted the executive director position on EdPost on Friday, June 13.

While we are on the topic of job postings and lack of communication, let's take a look at ALL the EdPost listings. Do you know which teachers are coming back or leaving? Will there be a major overhaul with all the staff? It's a fairly extensive list, yet the board would leave us to our own imaginations rather than provide us with any news or information.

• Executive Director - Eagle Ridge Academy Posted on 6/13/2008
• Music Teacher - Eagle Ridge Academy Posted on 6/2/2008

• Eagle Ridge Academy seeks a dynamic music teacher to join our classical, college-prep, public charter school. Minnesota music teaching license and experience preferred.

• Humanities Teacher - Eagle Ridge Academy Posted on 6/2/2008

• Eagle Ridge Academy seeks a dynamic humanities teacher to join our classical, college-prep, public charter school. Minnesota humanities teaching license and experience preferred.

• Latin Teacher - Eagle Ridge Academy Posted on 6/2/2008

• Eagle Ridge Academy seeks a dynamic Latin teacher to join our classical, college-prep, public charter school. Minnesota Latin teaching license and experience preferred.

• Math Teacher - Eagle Ridge Academy Posted on 6/2/2008

• Eagle Ridge Academy seeks a dynamic math teacher to join our classical, college-prep, public charter school. Minnesota math teaching license and experience preferred.

• Physics Teacher - Eagle Ridge Academy Posted on 6/2/2008

• Eagle Ridge Academy seeks a dynamic physics teacher to join our classical, college-prep, public charter school. Minnesota physics teaching license and experience preferred.

• Spanish Teacher - Eagle Ridge Academy Posted on 6/2/2008

• Eagle Ridge Academy seeks a dynamic Spanish teacher to join our classical, college-prep, public charter school. Minnesota Spanish teaching license and experience preferred.

• Art Teacher - Eagle Ridge Academy Posted on 6/2/2008

• Eagle Ridge Academy seeks a dynamic art teacher to join our classical, college-prep, public charter school. Minnesota art teaching license and experience preferred.

• Special Education - EBD - Eagle Ridge Academy Posted on 6/2/2008

• Eagle Ridge Academy seeks a dynamic special education – EBD teacher to join our classical, college-prep, public charter school. Minnesota special education EBD teaching license and experience preferred.

All Aboard the Crazy Train, Part II

And I thought Friday the 13th had passed without incident ...

http://news.postbulletin.com/newsmanager/templates/localnews_story.asp?z=2&a=347131

http://www1.stcloudstate.edu/joblistings/edpost/displayRecord.asp?search=eagle%20ridge&index=0&postID=45102

Seriously? Day Seven/Eight

Scene opens:

Image is out of focus and then begins to slowly focus on blogger in pajamas picking self up from floor as if in a daze. How long this blogger has been on the floor is unknown ... but it appears to be almost 24 hours. What could have caused such a shock to the system? Camera angle changes to see that the blogger was reading an update from the Eagle Ridge Academy Board of Directors. What could this be? Is it true that the embargo has ended? Why, yes, we have communication! Now, we still don't know a thing about our potential new director, John Howitz, and it's been over a week since that decision was made, but we at least have been tossed a tiny morsel from our overlords.

And although not officially the Daily Chuckle, we were treated to a little humor as well,

"as eluded to in the circulated information"

Seriously? Day Six

Tuesday, June 10, 2008 NEOC (New Era of Communication)
Eagle Ridge Academy Board of Directors' Communication Embargo
Day Six

It's a good thing I didn't go on a hunger strike in protest of the Communication Embargo; I would be really hungry.

Seriously? Day Five

Monday, June 9, 2008 NEOC (New Era of Communication)
Eagle Ridge Academy Board of Directors' Communication Embargo
Day Five

Nothing in today's Daily Chuckle which, BTW, "will be sent out at the periodically during the summer as needed", whatever that means. Since it's not the end of the day, I'll update if needed. (But I wouldn't bet on it.)

Congratulations!

Congratulations to the

Eagle Ridge Academy

Class of 2008!

Seriously? Day Four

Friday, June 6, 2008 NEOC (New Era of Communication)
Eagle Ridge Academy Board of Directors' Communication Embargo
Day Four

Sadly, there was no final, end of the year, celebratory Daily Chuckle for the last day of school. I will miss my daily dose of sunshine during the long summer months. Anyway, no DC equals another day of the communication embargo and thus, no update from the Eagle Ridge Academy Board of Directors' Dog and Pony Show. I'm sure those who didn't attend the meeting would like to know that the board voted to offer the job of director of this prestigious school to John Howitz contingent on reference and background checks.

Who is Mr. Howitz, you ask? It would be nice for the board to let the community know wouldn't it?

While we wait with bated breath for the board to speak, we can have a little fun with the internet.

ZoomInfo is always a nice place to start:
http://www.zoominfo.com/Search/PersonDetail.aspx?PersonID=124292255&searchSource=basic_ssb&singleSearchBox=john+howitz&personName=john+howitz

Where we find the link to this:
http://www.peaseacademy.org/page3.html

And this:
http://www.mfas.org/

And this:
http://www.peaseacademy.org/

Google gives us this:
http://www.mnadvocates.org/P_E_A_S_E_Academy.html

And this:
http://education.state.mn.us/MDE/groups/safehealthy/documents/announcement/002546.pdf

And this:
http://education.state.mn.us/ReportCard2005/schoolDistrictInfo.do?SCHOOL_NUM=016&DISTRICT_NUM=4017&DISTRICT_TYPE=07

And this:
http://www.mnadvocates.org/sites/608a3887-dd53-4796-8904-997a0131ca54/uploads/wilcox_interview_2003_10-10-2003.pdf
And this:
http://www.anoka.k12.mn.us/education/components/scdirectory/default.php?sectiondetailid=243118&sc_id=1212798892

And that is enough of that for now.

Wither the Teachers?

Though the Board election is ongoing, the results are already assured by the absence of any new ideas. Three of the individuals running are on record as opposing the teacher majority. Two felt so strongly that they sought to have the Board of Teaching deny community expert licenses to two teachers serving on the Board. Such a denial might have cost those teachers their jobs. Their letters to the Board of Teaching, along with those of six other parents, alleged some vague incapacity or disqualification regarding Board service, although one shamelessly repeated an unsubstantiated slander. When that didn’t work, one harangued MDE until they got what they wanted: two teachers off the Board and the rest put on notice that dissent will not be tolerated. The only good teacher is an intimidated one.

One other candidate for the Board felt last year that teachers represented a “shallow pool” from which to draw talent. Now we see evidence that the next Director will be less than inspiring. The well-rehearsed vitriol has served it purpose. No one who questions the sacking of the Director or the behavior of the barbarians at the Board meetings is comfortable running for the Board. The teacher majority will soon be eradicated. Control has been achieved.

What lies at the root of this animus against the teacher majority? Ultimately, it is nothing more than American society’s long-standing devaluation of teachers. Its pestilential presence here is evidence that after all the drama and hard work, ERA is just another conventional school with conventional leadership.

Teachers are unwelcome on the Board because they are considered unintelligent in the real world. What would a teacher know about reading a balance sheet? About reading a lease? After all, they are only teachers. No doubt they know some math or some history, and that helps in the classroom, but of what use is it really? It is very similar to the old prejudice against blue collar workers. Their profession proves that they have little to offer in terms of higher faculties. After all, if they were intelligent, they’d be lawyers, doctors and accountants, right? If you are wondering about the wisdom of a government policy, don’t ask your plumber.

The ERA Board, like all others, professes to love teachers. But not as professionals. The reason pay for teaching remains low is that it is not considered a real job. ‘Higher salaries’ sounds nice, but there is a ceiling. No teacher, it seems, ought to make more than the accountant or lawyer on the Board. In the last analysis, the cliché still has legs: “Those who can’t do, teach.” It’s important that teachers provide the soft skills that parents and students respond to. They are “nice” or appropriately “tough” or somehow considered good at what they do. But what they do is pitch a curriculum, and that is something that has cache. A curriculum can be bought for a set price. It has reviews on the home school websites. The fact is, there is a market for curricula. Teachers merely deliver the curriculum. And the better the curriculum, the more it teaches itself.

This is a destructive misapprehension of the teaching profession. Long before there were curricula, there were teachers. All of the classically-based curricula have been written by teachers. Only the new and useless ones have been written by the so-called “educational professionals” with their training in group dynamics, self-esteem building and project-based, multicultural, oh-so-relevant, holistic drivel. Teachers are the educational professionals.

The term “classical curriculum” is, for a trained teacher, a pedagogical principle. For most parents, it’s a commodity. Many parents choose a classical curriculum for the same reason they choose Lands End for their students backpack needs; its familiarity and popularity among the right people gives a vague impression that it’s of a higher quality. A handful of parents understand what teaching is: its an art honed over years of practice and experience. The teaching in the classroom ought to be the highest priority of the Board. That is why it is good to have teachers on the Board.

There is a reason that the term for the collection of teachers at a school is “faculty.” The faculty guides the enterprise, and having a good one is vital. An insane person “loses his faculties.” An insane school does the same.

Seriously? Day Three

Thursday, June 5, 2008 NEOC (New Era of Communication)
Eagle Ridge Academy Board of Directors' Communication Embargo
Day Three

3:50 PM What?!?!? No Daily Chuckle today? Two hours and ten minutes left to lift the embargo before the Dog and Pony Show. I'll update as needed.

4:23 PM The Daily Chuckle is delivered to my inbox. Gee ... good to know that the school is still planning to hold the picnic tomorrow, but one hour and 37 minutes before the D & P the board still hasn't bothered to speak to its constituents about either the candidates or the format for this evening's festivities. Should be an entertaining evening.

The Next Director

So the Eagle Ridge Academy Board plans to hire a new Director tonight? The only trouble is that the community has no idea who the candidates are, and they won’t know until some time before the meeting. The question, as discussed below, is why the secrecy? Sadly, we can guess. This is standard politburo behavior.

A prediction: ERA will hire a re-tread with no experience in classical education.

Why? One reason is that re-treads are all there are out there. How many successful classical schools exist, public or private? Too few. Though the charter school statute provides the possibility of a rigorous classical education, the ponderous apparatus of licensure and education degrees has spent fifty years shedding the richness of the classical model until not even the vestiges remain. It is rare to find a credentialed administrator who still has his or her educational soul intact. The Board once hired one, but the task of operating a truly excellent school proved too much for them. Rather than rise to the occasion, they lowered the bar for themselves by casting her out.

The other reason is that this Board, at the end of the long day, has no real love of classical education. They don't get it. Perhaps the teachers still cling to an ideal of what education should be, but they have shown every sign of surrendering to a utilitarian approach. The more that ERA looks and runs like a conventional public school, the happier the Board will be. Sadly, that approach utterly eviscerates the rationale of the school.

Seriously? Day Two

Wednesday, June 4, 2008 NEOC (New Era of Communication)
Eagle Ridge Academy Board of Directors' Communication Embargo
Day Two

Today's Eagle Ridge Academy Daily Chuckle relegated the Meet the Candidates Dog and Pony Show to an obscure calendar item yet left the transportation information up front for the second day in the row. I guess turning in those bus forms is so much more important than reminding folks about meeting the potential new director of Eagle Ridge Academy.

Where are Len Twetan and Jim Romportl, the co-chairs of the Eagle Ridge Academy Board of Directors Communication Committee? (Lest you be confused, the esteemed board has not one, but two Communication Committees ... really ... no seriously, I'm not kidding. The first committee was established for improving communication, and the board in its infinite wisdom decided that it needed ANOTHER committee for the sole purpose of improving board communication. Nope, couldn't be a subcommittee or anything of the first Communications Committee it had to be a brand spanking new committee.) Not that Twetan and Romportl have done much for improving communication as members of this second Communications Committee ... I haven't seen monthly updates, meeting updates, board minutes, etc. Occasionally, we are treated to a carrot on a stick like a jackass in the hopes that we will quit our braying and follow the board as they trudge down their uncharted path with nary a clue as to where they are headed.

Hello ... is anybody out there???? Somebody needs to tell the Eagle Ridge Academy Board of Directors that now is the golden opportunity to prove that they really were serious when forming this second Communications Committee. Communicate with your constituency for goodness sakes! Be open about the candidates and your plans for the future of Eagle Ridge Academy. Or by refusing to communicate and cloaking your intentions behind a wall of silence are your actions speaking volumes?

Conflict of Understanding

Now that the death knell has sounded for the Eagle Ridge Academy teacher majority, perhaps the concept of “conflict of interest” can at last be seriously discussed. To date, the term as used by parents and the Board has been soaked in either bad faith or ignorance. It says something about the state of affairs at Eagle Ridge Academy that one is left hoping that it is ignorance that explains recent behavior, and not the alternative.

It has been stated that teachers serving on the Eagle Ridge Academy Board constitutes a conflict of interest because they might be involved in deciding matters with a direct bearing on themselves. Voting on contracts, for instance. A comment on this humble blog has stated that having Mrs. Erin Johnson serve on the hiring committee for the new director constitutes a conflict of interest because, it is suggested, she’ll have a say in who her boss will be. This, we are told, is unusual. Few people have such a power to pick their superiors. These comments are representative of what has been peddled ad nauseum since the teachers expressed interest in serving on the Board.

A reality check is in order. First, it must be said that employees frequently have a say in the hiring and evaluation of their superiors. Every employer worth her pant suit looks to the subordinates of an employee (if that employee has any subordinates) when she evaluates her own subordinates. Furthermore, many employees in skilled professions are shareholders in their company and exert influence in that way. And finally, apropos of Eagle Ridge Academy, Americans are long in the habit of choosing others to govern us. We call this process an election.

But the force of the rhetorical attack couched in the conflict of interest term flows from its vaguely legal connotations, not from any real sense of impropriety. It is to be understood that teachers will have the power to give themselves raises or guarantee positive evaluations because they are involved in the hiring and evaluation of the director.

The first thing to consider when evaluating this charge is that the charter school statute explicitly exempts teachers from any charge of conflict of interest. Obviously, this had to be done if the statute was to mandate teacher majority boards because those Boards would allocate funds for teacher salaries as well as hire staff and other teachers. Wherever money goes out the door, scrutiny is prudent. The legislature is no doubt familiar with fraudulent behavior, but protected the right of the teachers to serve on boards. Why the seeming contradiction?

The answer lies in the nature of the teacher’s relationship to the school. A contractor who sat on the Board could not bid on the remodeling project. That doesn’t pass the smell test. Though a Board member can be assumed to be serving on the Board to further its interests, he would have a financial stake in getting the job. A look at the legal understanding of conflict of interest reveals that the key concept is adverse interests. A man can be interested in running a profitable company and also be interested in seeing a charter school thrive. If those interests become adverse, the company profits at the school’s expense. But as a steward of public money, that Board member has a fiduciary duty to put the school first. An appropriately cynical public policy assumes that money will trump loyalty to the school. The concept of conflict of interest does not aim to help those with duties to charter schools make the right call; rather, it functions to ensure that no one will ever be in the position of adverse interests in the first place.

A teacher has no legally recognized duty to the school as whole outside of his employment contract. The only financial duty that a teacher has is to himself. If that sounds callous, the challenge is for anyone to find any employment arrangement where this is not the case. The training, experience and skills that a teacher sells to a school in exchange for money is hard won. A teacher, like any other professional, negotiates for the best deal he can get with any potential employer and the school must negotiate with him for his services. The school must evaluate him and perhaps admonish him. But no one would claim that he had to put the school's financial interests ahead of his own. If he can make himself more valuable to the school, he can seek to get paid more. He might seek non-salary perks like time off and training. But no one expects him to spend his own money on printer ink or white board pens. No one expects him to offer to pay more in medical insurance so the music department can have a larger budget.

Let career teachers, like Erin Johnson, be freed from the base assumption of avarice. Their career choice is its own vindication. If they were driven by greed they would be in another profession. With her resume, Johnson could increase her salary perhaps 20% by jumping ship. Teachers come and go, but it’s hard to find a money-grubbing one. Teachers are either dedicated or stupid (or both). What’s more, parents want it this way. They want teachers who stay late, who take time to meet with students, who get involved in extra-curricular things. And all of it for no additional pay. Every parent who hurls conflict of interest accusations around also wants teachers who bleed for the students and the best parts of the school. So which is it? Is Johnson a blood-sucking manipulator? Or is she a dedicated teacher?

So, Johnson has a say in who her boss will be and therefore in who will evaluate her. Might she actually vote for the person who is most likely to pay her more money? Is that the worst critics can think of? There is no conflict there. Paying teachers more is something everyone agrees is necessary. Is more pay so bad? One can do better. What is the vilest conspiracy imaginable? That Johnson has been in contact with each of the director candidates and told them that she will get them hired and at a fat salary if they promise to pay her extra when they come on board? That she will manufacture false but damning information about rivals to ensure that her director gets in? Will she blackmail the other Board members to get her director in? Is that what these people mean by "conflict of interest?"

Johnson is here, to be sure, not for the financial opportunities but for the quality of the educational enterprise. That is no doubt what drives the other teachers who stick it out. Anything that harms the school in any way harms the teachers. Their primary interest is the school; therefore, their interests can never be adverse. Unless, of course, the school were to cease being a place worth fighting for. Then they vote with their feet.