Melrose Leadership Academy Fall 2012 Dance-a-thon

How do you measure success? It seems that education reformers want innovation, but use outdated test scores to measure achievement.

How do you measure parent involvement? Do you measure fundraisers by the amount of money raised or by something qualitatively different? If you are a parent, do you want your children to learn by your example? Do you merely want your children to give money or give something more substantial?

Do you picture your children learning how to become better community members?

 

At Melrose Leadership Academy, our students take tests and our parents donate money. We also donate time. (Considering our size, we volunteer a great deal.) Our community also does something more.

We trust each other.

Even when it is uncomfortable, we trust that our diverse community is creating leaders for the next generation. We trust each other when we stop for another parent to translate English to Spanish (or Spanish to English). We are continually pausing to build trust. MLA requires that we trust others so that they may represent us well.

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Some parents would prefer that their children attend a private school or a wealthy public school. I understand. When problems occur at those other schools, someone can ask a wealthy donor to pay for a new field, a new art teacher, or perhaps a Spanish teacher. We pay for programs one papusa at a time.

This entry was posted on Sunday, October 28th, 2012 at 8:32 pm. It is filed under Melrose Leadership Academy and tagged with , . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

4 Responses to “Melrose Leadership Academy Fall 2012 Dance-a-thon”

  1. Robert Trujillo says:
    October 30, 2012 at 12:45 pm

    Well done Bryan, well done!!!

    • bryan farley says:
      October 31, 2012 at 12:46 am

      Thanks Robert. Do you have some ideas for something I should be featuring? What does our community do that I am not showing?

  2. Rhonda Vera, MLA PTSA Co-President says:
    October 30, 2012 at 9:43 pm

    Bryan, What amazing photos!! You never fail to capture the spirit, love and diversity within our community. Silvestre and I appreciate the energy you so willingly share through your commitment to document MLA’s events.  It is obvious you recognize that photography is a powerful tool and you manage to use it flawlessly to preserve our school’s memories, growth and development……  Simply priceless!  We thank you!! 

    • bryan farley says:
      October 31, 2012 at 12:42 am

      Thank you Rhonda for the compliments and comments. You and Silvestre have been an important part of the entire school’s growth.

      At the lower grades, we are creating a powerful tradition with the bilingual program and I am still recognizing the impact. The pictures help me understand.

      Is there something that you think I could capture that I have not done yet? What was missing from the dance-a-thon?