The goal of the placement process is to establish classrooms of
well- formed educational, social groups; groups that are balanced by
important criteria such as race, gender and educational needs. These
groupings will also take into account the personal relations among the
children as described to us by teachers and parents as well as any
unusual circumstances that might affect student learning. Our goal is to
provide the optimum learning environment for individual students and
the class as a whole.
Placement Process for Grades 1-4
Step One
Parents will be asked to complete a two-part form:
- Providing student information that might be helpful in forming
groups. This information could include, for example, details about
friendship networks, peers or problems that the child may have in
relation to other children and concerns about learning disabilities.
- Stating any extraordinary circumstances that would affect their
children’s placement. Extraordinary circumstances would almost always be
relatively obvious, e.g., a sibling in the grade ahead or a history of
extreme conflicts with another child. We are looking for the truly
extreme situations of which we would seldom expect more than one or two
in any year.
Graham and Parks Placement Process
Step Two
The teachers who have had the children
in their classes will form the balanced groups. For example, the third
grade teachers will form the fourth grade groupings. The special needs
staff and the administrators will have input into these groupings as
well. Relevant information about groupings, provided by the parents from
the placement form, will be used at this time by the committee.
Students deemed “extraordinary” cases (as seen by both parents and
staff) are held out of the process at this stage.
Step Three
The classroom/teacher assignments for
the groups will be chosen by lot. The lottery step will be conducted by
the placement team, administration, and special needs staff. Students
held out of step two as “extraordinary” cases will be placed in classes
after this lottery. Parent placement forms will be reviewed again at
this time.
Step Four
JK/K parents will be informed of their
children's placement in late August. Grades 1 - 4 parents will be
informed of their children’s placement before the end of the school
year.
Step Five
Parents who are not satisfied with
their child’s placement may request a grievance hearing. A grievance
committee consisting of the Principal, Assistant Principal, Parent
Liaison and one other person, staff or parent, will hear the grievance
and make a decision. Parents write a letter, make the appointment,
present their case and reasons for the grievance. The committee will
listen and ask any necessary clarifying questions. This is not an open
discussion meeting. The family will be notified within two days of the
decision. If the placement process has been done carefully, there would
be very few changes based on grievances. In addition, at this point it
is very difficult to move a child without damaging the integrity of the
groups that have been formed.
Additional Information
Transfer Policy
There are some cases where
parents wish to have their child transferred out of a classroom after
one year. Requests for transfer will be considered by a committee as in
the grievance procedure listed in step five. It should be noted that
transfers are very unusual at Graham and Parks. Our commitment to
maintaining well formed groups makes it very difficult to accommodate
transfer requests.
Parent Lobbying for Placement
We would ask that
parents not lobby for a certain class placement for their children with
the child’s current teacher. Doing so is very awkward for the teacher.
The staff has worked diligently to create a process that considers all
factors. Parents are encouraged to visit classrooms in order to become
familiar with teachers. They should think about the best learning
environment for their child or any special circumstances that would help
inform our decision, and then trust our process. Thank you for your
cooperation