Preserve Art and Music in Winnetka's Public Schools

We have an outstanding program in place in creative music. I have not heard any sound case for removing the resource enabling this program. Because the program achieves such a high level of music and arts growth, and the district can afford the cost, there is no reason to practice cost accounting in this instance. .

Please preserve the quality of our schools.

As a graduate of the Winnetka public schools and a proud parent, I fbelieve that arts and music are as important to the education of all children as are math and social studies. Do not deprive our children of the fine education that they deserve and we support.

As a graduate of the Winnetka public schools and a proud parent, I fbelieve that arts and music are as important to the education of all children asm

I fully support this effort. The Winnetka public schools have enjoyed success as a progressive education environment since Carlton Washburne brought this innovative approach here many years ago. For the board and superintendent to treat the school system and teachers like they are running a hedge fund or other business, treating the teachers like they are interchangeable widgets is fundamentally wrong on so many levels. The "metrics" approach being applied here will lead to extensive morale problems among teachers and ultimately defections, where teachers will look for a more stable and congenial environment. The current path the board is on is a recipe for disaster.

Decisions and actions such as this, although less overt, by the Administration and Board have been eroding the foundation of progressive education in D36 for a number of years. It was due to the foundational shifts in the District--never acknowledged or discussed in material such as "The Winnetka Wire"--as well as due to the great unhappiness of educators in the District that we made the decision to move our children from D36 to Baker Demonstration School in Wilmette. How can a District thrive when there is so much unhappiness and low morale amongst its greatest asset--educators--due to significant shifts away from the progressive values that have defined D36 for decades? Is this what is "best for our children?"

As a former winnetka teacher, what is happening in the district makes me want to cry. I hope this petition and other parent and staff efforts will help stop the loss of history that is happening in Winnekta.

As a parent and educator, I feel it is wrong for Winnetka 36 to take full time music and art programs out of their schools. Enrollment may be down, but our music and art programs don't just exist to cover planning time for classroom teachers. Our music and art programs provide wonderfully creative outlets for our students. The teachers are involved in much more than seeing classes for 30 minutes a couple times a week. By cutting the fine arts programs, the board will be giving the message that music and art only exist for the 30 minute chunks of instructional time that is provided. Keep music and art in our schools - FULL TIME. I hope the board decides to show that they value our teachers, they value our fine arts programs and most of all they VALUE OUR CHILDREN!

As a former student of Winnetka Public Schools and a current teacher, I am stunned that the art and music programs are being threatened. Winnetka's progressive education is one of its biggest selling points. The arts are integral to developing a child's full potential and intelligence. Skills and mindsets that are useful in the real world are addressed through these curriculums. It would be incredibly short sighted to cut back on the arts and to focus on other benchmarks instead. I know firsthand the dangers of placing to much value in test scores and what that does to the quality of instruction. Even if your child does not pursue the arts as I didn't, there are still concrete benefits. Learning about art taught me how to pay attention to detail, to be observant, to think abstractly and about history. Learning about music taught me discipline, how to cultivate a craft and about other cultures. The arts are what some children are naturally interested in and can be windows into other traditional content areas. They also are tools to developing character which is so important to being successful. There are plenty of articles in the news lately calling attention to character development. The arts also provide students with cultural capital which gives them a leg up in the career world as well. Don't lose the whole child by taking shortcuts.

In contemplating their final decision, the board members focused exclusively (in my opinion) on the "core" music and art programs and the "number of minutes" of art and music each child receives each week. Once provided assurance that the number of minutes each child receives in the classroom in the disciplines of art and music would remain the same, the board made its decision. However, I encourage the board to reconsider this bare-minimum, black-and-white methodology of analysis and consider the beautiful aspects that live in the gray areas: the delightful art installations created in a teacher's "free time" (and how special these make a child feel) and Young Composers (which gives every child who chooses to participate important life skills). There is no mandated test to measure art and music (or confidence, for that matter), but they support all other critical skill sets. I'd much rather the board err on the side of being more liberal here, and make a full-time art and music teacher at each school the new "bare minimum."

Preserve art and music

As enrollment declines, there is a real possibility that art and music positions will be cut. The board emphasized that the "core programming" won't change. What exactly do they dfine as core programming? Is it just how many minutes a week they spend in an art or music room? If you read the article in the March 6th issue of The Current, it states "Schools will see shifts in unique, supplemental programs that have developed at each schoo. In future years of declining enrollment, the framework could have a greater impact with staf reductions." We can't lose what makes Winnetka unique. Also, all other New Trier feeder schools have dedicated art and music staff at their schools. Don't you think this will be a consideration when new families are deciding which suburb to live in?

Completely unacceptable to limit creativity from a child's educational experience.

Our children are not yet enrolled in Winnetka Public Schools as they are 2 and 1; however we chose to live in the Winnetka community because of its best-in-class eduction. Reducing or eliminating Music & the Arts not only puts our children at a disadvantage to the other students they'll eventually be enrolled with in high school, but also nationwide and globally as the thought of 'honoring the whole child' is no longer an exception but a standard.

I'm new to the area and don't understand the issues involved however if this planned reduction isn't for cost savings, what exactly is it for and how do the children benefit from having the arts curriculum cut?

Crow Island parent

Perhaps other ideas should be explored: Closing Skokie School and moving 5th grade back to the 3 feeder schools and moving 6th over to Washburne Understanding why enrollment at some of District 36 schools is dramatically lower then at other schools. Shouldn't we do some exit interviews to understand why families are moving out of District 36 even though they haven't left Winnetka? I feel like both these options would bring us a lot closer to understanding what the issues are and where we can achieve cost-cutting if that is the goal. Randomly reducing arts/music funding and teachers sends a completely wrong message that the arts is not important in this community.

I can't imagine my kids grade school experience without Mrs. Mac!

without art and music, the world is a dismal place! teach the children young!

Is art and music not what makes progressive education progressive? The arts are just as important as any other subject when it comes to educating a child as a whole person.