As a former mentor, I know how a standard day in the classroom played out at Hope Online Academy. My students were on the computer about 4 hours/day. That means only about 3-4 hours they were interacting in the classroom or outside for recess. Even adults know what it feels like to be working on the computer constantly- and it's not fun. Only 1 of my students would remain focused from beginning to end- the rest would be sleeping or doodling and I don't blame them. My students are 11 to 12 years old.. they want to talk and interact in the classroom! They HATED having to go on the computers.. but there was nothing I could do as it was a part of a mandatory curriculum.
I understand Hope serves an under performing, at-risk community of students.. but that doesn't mean they shouldn't be challenged. Our Language Arts curriculum consisted of 1 chapter book for, I believe, a 3rd grade reading level for my 6-7th graders. Fine, that was tolerable because 3/4 of my class still had a hard time reading this; however, this single chapter book consisted of the entire year's curriculum. No matter how difficult a concept or lesson may be... students get bored too! They don't want to be working on the same thing for weeks, yet alone an entire year! I finished this book with my class and the actual pertinent assignments relating to it within the first quarter. My students thought it was a fun and exciting read.. imagine if I dragged it out for another 9 months.
I'm not saying this for future employees of Hope, but for future parents and students who are considering this charter school. I do not support this school's curriculum nor do I believe that it is built for students' success. It's truly a for-profit school system, created to bring higher ups $$$.
I loved the students' that I served so much, but I hated that I couldn't do more for them bc of the system. It was so badly flawed and corrupt. I hated that these great students who had so much potential and just needed to be challenged to enjoy school and learning were being restricted to a small box that bored them to sleep.
What's even worse was that I had students who were significantly below the grade level learning curve who needed additional support; however, the lady who was supposed to come out to our center only came once a week for an hour to work with them. These students need support EVERY SINGLE DAY, not an hour once a week!!! What is that going to do for them?! I didn't know what to do for 1/2 of the class that didn't get it, 1/4 of the class that was ready to move on, and the other 1/4 that were falling significantly behind and didn't even want to try anymore.
Does the staff at Hope even care about these reoccurring issues? Is this just a sinecure for you guys?
CLOSE HOPE.
