If you’re sending a little one off to public school kindergarten this fall, you might want to attend the “kindergarten roundup” event at the school, as a first-round orientation. Here is the schedule of the remaining sessions at South County schools:
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Now playing in Boca Raton and Delray Beach: Bully, the controversial documentary.
Every parent of should see this – and more importantly, every middle- and high-schooler.
It will make you sad. It will make you angry. And maybe that’s the first step toward ending this problem.
The film follows five kids from towns around the country who are systematically tortured by their schoolmates: A gay girl bullied into quitting the basketball team. A boy hit and stabbed with pencils nearly every day on the school bus. A girl who gets so fed up, she brings a gun onto the school bus. Two other boys who end up committing suicide.
In some cases, the parents had no idea of the severity of the abuse their kids were suffering. In other cases, parents went to school administration, or even the police, and got no relief.
The most infuriating part of the film – beyond the cold-hearted, animal behavior of the bullies – is the school administrator in Sioux City, Iowa, who is so inept that people in the theater wanted to punch her in the face. The fact that she didn’t even pretend to take the parents’ complaints seriously – even on camera – just underscores how clueless she is.
(A blog has sprung up to monitor her continued employment – see kimlockwood.wordpress.com.)
Now that the film has a PG-13 rating, schools should be able to show it. Because the kids who really need to see it are the ones whose parents aren’t likely to take them.
This is a profound opportunity to talk to your kids about how to treat other people – and to extend compassion and friendship to their classmates who may be struggling. Tell them to stand up for the new kids, the different kids, the ones who are picked on and who don’t seem to have any friends. One kind word, one show of support can make a big difference.
Jackie Libby, mom of Alex, the boy abused on the bus, told U.S. News that every day since the film premiered, people have told Alex he is inspiring. He even received a few prom date requests. Those kind words go a long way, Libby said.
“It works the same way both ways. You can build them up or drag them down, but words are very powerful,” she said. (Read the whole report and watch a Bully trailer here.)
And tell your kids to report the bullying they see. Our local middle schools all have bullying hotlines and drop boxes on campus where kids can make anonymous reports. Make copies of the ones your kids submit. Don’t let administrators use “we didn’t know” or “no one reported it” as an excuse to tolerate this behavior. As parents, we need to follow up and make sure action is taken.
The makers of Bully are trying to change the culture. To get kids to stand up for tolerance. To make it cool to be kind. Isn’t that what we all want for our kids?
READ MORE
Parents of a student at Don Estridge High-Tech Middle School sue over bullying
At The Bully Project website, kids can tell their stories sand get ideas for how to make a difference at their school
At Boca Raton’s Promise, find resources for dealing with mental health issues in young people.
In 3-Minute Guru:
What to do when your child is bullied
Protect kids from bullying – listen to them
Bully is showing at Cinemark in Boca Raton and Regal in Delray Beach. Check showtimes.
Read a review of the film at MomsMiami.
- CHARLENE PACENTI
The food served in Palm Beach County school cafeterias may be healthier than you think.
Hormone-free milk. Corn on the cob and green beans fresh from a local farm. No fried food.
A documentary shown recently to a Boca Raton parent group had us wondering about what efforts the local schools are making to serve healthier food. Cafeteria Man tells the story of a Baltimore chef tasked with making over the school menus. He partnered with a local farm to supply fresh produce to the schools – for cheaper than some of the canned fruit and vegetables that were being shipped across the country. (Sadly, some of the kids had never even seen a real peach).
Farm-rich Palm Beach County seems a likely place for this idea to take root. And it has.
Jamie McCarthy, nutrition and wellness promotion specialist with the Palm Beach County School District, said its farm-to-table program has been bringing fresh green beans and mini corn on the cob to the school cafeterias since the 2008-09 school year. (See it on the menu for Fridays this month). The food comes from R.C. Hatton Farms near Belle Glade.
(The corn has been popular – except for kids with loose teeth; the green beans, not as much, McCarthy said).
This spring, the district is working to provide some fresh Florida strawberries.
And when bids go out again this year to produce providers, McCarthy hopes that local farms will be able to meet the district’s price for broccoli, yellow squash and zucchini. The district is working with Localeopia, a nonprofit that helps brings together businesses, producers and other organizations to support local product consumption.
Some other steps the district has taken over the past few years to make school meals healthier:
They use some frozen vegetables, but no canned. They use some canned fruits, in their own juices or light syrup.
Some parents dis the prepackaged peanut butter sandwiches that make up one of the daily vegetarian options. But McCarthy said those are used as a precaution to protect kids with peanut allergies. Making fresh PB&J’s in the cafeteria provides too great a risk for cross-contamination, which could be a serious health hazard to a student with a severe peanut allergy.
The district also eliminated salad bars in 2005 for health reasons.
“The main issue that we had with salad bars is safety and sanitation,” McCarthy said “They are breeding grounds for different germs.”
Instead they serve a variety of entree salads – mandarin chicken, chef’s salad, taco salad, etc., which have been popular in many schools, she said.
Most of the school food program changes required by new federal guidelines will be administrative for our schools. Some portion sizes may change for middle-schoolers. Kids will be required to take a fruit or vegetable with their lunch.
The district is also looking to make over its high school cafeterias. A pilot program at Atlantic High School turned the lunch room into more of a food court, with six different choices at six counters. As a result, more kids are buying lunch, McCarthy said.
That program may be rolled out in other schools over the next few years.
Read more
Do you know you can not only pay for your child’s meals online, but you can also see what they are buying? Go to School Cash Online. School lunch menus
The school district wellness program’s annual report
Cafeteria Man was shown as part of Sunflower Creative Art’s Share and Learn evenings. Read more about its programs for kids and parents at www.sunflowercreativearts.org.
Read all about Cafeteria Man
Do your kids eat in the cafeteria, or do you pack a lunch? Tell us your thoughts in the comments.
If you have a child who is already attending preschool or one that is scheduled to start later this year, the free Voluntary Prekindergarten Education Program could save you thousands of dollars. The state-sponsored program aims to prepare 4-year-olds for kindergarten by helping them develop vital learning and social skills.
If your child was born between Sept. 2, 2006, and Sept. 1, 2008, you can enroll this year at one of a wide selection of public and private programs in the area. Registration started Feb. 1 for the summer and fall sessions.
There are two programs offered annually, and your child can only attend one. The school-year program begins in August and includes 540 hours of instructional time. The summer program offers 300 instructional hours and can start as early as May 1.
The application process requires all parents to have a face-to-face visit with a Family Central parent counselor to determine eligibility for the program. The main Family Central office is located at 3111 S. Dixie Hwy., in West Palm Beach. However, there are a couple of local off-site registration opportunities:
Save yourself time by filling out the VPK application before heading to one of the above locations. Visit the Family Central website to download the application. You will also need to provide proof of Florida residency and an original copy of your child’s birth certificate with your application.
Once your child is approved for the program, you will receive a voucher and a list of participating providers. There is a wide selection of public schools, private centers, and faith-based programs that meet the VPK quality standards.
Family Central has identified these VPK providers in our area (click on pink center names to visit their websites):
Boca Raton
Delray Beach
Boynton Beach
MORE ON PRESCHOOLS
Read more about other local preschool programs – and how to find the right fit for your family in the BocaParent Preschool Guide.
Can you recommend any of these programs? Share your advice in the comments.
- MERCEDES COPPIN
What’s going on in our children’s schools?
What you don’t find out from the fliers in the backpacks is what is going on at the state and national level that can have a big impact on how our children learn, how they are tested and how changes to the public school system will affect them.
The bottom line is that individual schools are virtually powerless to stray from the course set by lawmakers in Tallahassee, or Washington, D.C. With the Florida Legislature set to convene on Jan. 10, it’s a good time to catch up on what’s happening with “education reform.”
Among the issues:
How to keep up with all this? Here is a list of sources to follow to stay informed on what’s happening locally and nationally, with some perspective.
Online
More on Facebook
“Subscribe” to or “Like” these Facebook pages, which post links to news and opinions from all over. You may not agree with all of them – and I am not endorsing their views – but they stay on top of the issues. Some of them are on Twitter, as well.
I also repost interesting education stories on my Facebook page. You can Subscribe to my public updates. And while you’re at it, be sure to Like BocaParent, too. - CHARLENE PACENTI
