Culture: A way of thinking, behaving, or working that exists in a place or organization. OR
The arts and other manifestations of human intellectual achievement regarded collectively.

Cultivation: The act of developing the intellectual and moral faculties especially by education.
Enlightenment and excellence of taste acquired by intellectual and aesthetic training.

Santosha Kuykendall posted this on the Flower City Parents Network site:
“I went to my daughter’s report-card conference yesterday and was concerned about two things:

I was shown a model of the new report cards . . . and [was] told that, “This is the sort of report card you will be seeing.”

It was full of Ds and Fs — because, I suppose, this is what we have to prepare parents to see when the report cards come out????? My daughter’s poor teacher finally had to put the model away because I wouldn’t focus on anything but the question of whether if, in the eastside suburbs (or the westside suburbs, for that matter) had decided to roll out a new report-card format, the administration would have created a sample report card full of Ds and Fs. Didn’t anyone wonder whether parents would interpret this as, “You should expect failure from your children”?”

The culture that exists in the Rochester City School District is one of failure. That is evidenced by the decades of failure it has experienced.

The expectation of failure is supported by the acceptance of failure from and by our district leaders.

The 2013-14 District Comprehension Improvement Plan is now posted on the RCSD website. It is incomplete, at times incomprehensible, and signed by Board President Malik Evans and Superintendent Bolgen Vargas.

However Deputy Superintendent Anita Murphy is now the contact name and individuals responsible for compiling and completing the document, the District Leadership Team, are listed. This list includes “Open: Drop in for all Schools” and members of the Excellence in Student Achievement Committee.

As with the 2012-13 DCIP, the 2013-14 DCIP lacks the required Overview of the district’s plan to improve student achievement.

We must cultivate a culture of success in our district.

Join the Movement to Save Our Children!