Jill Davidson lives in Providence with her husband Kevin Eberman and sons Elias (age 11), Leo (age 8), and Henry (age 5). She is a past president of the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Elementary School Parent-Teacher Organization and is an active parent leader in the Providence Public Schools. She writes about education in Providence and beyond at http://providenceschools.blogspot.com. Professionally, Jill is an independent education consultant and writer and Managing Director of the Coalition of Essential Schools. Some days, there’s not too much time left for more, but when there is, Jill loves to multitask with combinations of cooking, shopping locally, gardening, exercising, reading, hanging out with friends and family, and exploring Rhode Island.
First published in the April 2013 issue of East Side Monthly. Until fairly recently, I have not spent a lot of time thinking about bullying at our neighborhood schools. While I don’t believe that the East Side is a magical conflict-free zone, and I have certainly heard about bullying incidents in school buildings, on school […]
During the past decade, federal and state policies have dramatically expanded the significance of high-stakes standardized tests, not just for students preparing for four-year colleges but for all students as they head toward high school graduation. What does it really mean?
Jill Davidson shares her thoughts on holidays, schools, and cultural identity (also available in the December 2012 East Side Monthly issue). How do we celebrate the diversity of our kids’ cultural traditions without imposing ones religious views on others? The public school, out of necessity, practically bans discussion or acknowledgement of the December holidays in the classroom, but does this breed ignorance or is it a missed opportunity to celebrate and learn about our different heritages? - Anisa
Jill Davidson shares this slightly expanded version of the column that she wrote for October 2012’s East Side Monthly, (out later this month). Although she has more to say about absenteeism, achievement, transportation, and related issues, she is starting the conversation here and looks forward to continuing the discussion in the coming weeks and months.
Ever since the fall of 2005, our family has had a child in kindergarten, first grade, or second grade at Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Elementary School. By the time we’re done with our three kids’ passages through the early elementary school years, we will have experienced nine consecutive years of little kids going to King, from which we live 0.9 miles. According to the Providence Public Schools’ transportation policy, my kids are not eligible for transportation by school bus. We’d need to live a mile or more from school in order to qualify for bus transportation to and from school, and that tenth of a mile has made a gigantic difference in our lives.
The Broadband Rhode Island (BBRI) Digital Literacy program aims to educate Rhode Islanders who lack access to and information about technology through a freely available curriculum, volunteer instructors, and face-to-face classes based in communities and locations where the need for digital literacy education is highest.
Learn more about the program…
In part one of several on getting back into the school game, I’m thinking about how we can facilitate homework-doing so that our kids are productive and efficient, and that they have quiet when they need it, support when they need it, and access to the supplies they need. In other words, what can we do to make sure that homework is neither: 1.) a festival of anxiety or 2.) ignored? I want to give homework its due, but not much more beyond that. Our situation and plan, such as it is, follow.
Mark your calendar and spread the word: on Saturday, August 18, 2024 from 10:00am-1:00pm, local community organizations and businesses, with support from Citizens Bank, have joined together to distribute free backpacks and school supplies statewide at the following locations: United Way of RI, 50 Valley Street, Providence Hope High School, 324 Hope Street, Providence Nathanael […]
On Friday, July 13, RIDE released a list of the state’s school ranked according to its brand-new classification system that was the result of Rhode Island’s ESEA waiver (clicking on that link leads to a PDF from RIDE that provides an overview of the system). The results weren’t great for many schools in Providence—as if any real good could come of simplistic rankings of schools. 21 of PPSD’s 37 schools are now on “the list,” a number that includes the several schools already designated as in need of improvement and receiving SIG funds.
Now that school’s out, do you and your kids look forward to hang out time or are you thinking how best to keep the kido’s engaged and enriched and ready for school in the fall? Do you have a plan or is your plan to have “no plan.” Jill shares her thoughts (first published in […]
I didn’t have the necessary magic ahead of deadline to do the project justice. I Was There is a great example of the ways learning happens inside and outside the classroom seamlessly for kids, of the ways that neighborhoods have valuable resources, of the way the school itself can and should be an essential resource for a neighborhood, and of the abilities of young people when they’re engaged and supported in the right ways.
© Kidoinfo. All rights reserved. Site designed by ANISAdesigns.
Please do not use anything without permission or without noting its origins on your blog or website.
about |
contact |
terms |
privacy |
advertising
Hosted by Site5
Kidoinfo
Recent Comments