Posted on 04/17/2008 6:44:28 AM PDT by reaganaut1
We know that children must feel safe and welcome in the classroom to reach their academic potential. To feel safe, welcome, and ready to learn, all children, and especially young children, must be able to discuss themselves and their families in a manner that is caring and respectful. Our tradition of creating an inclusive environment and embracing diversity is consistent with our core purposes: Commitment to academic excellence, respectful and caring relationships, and a culture of reflection, conversation, collaboration, and commitment to continuous improvement. These core purposes have been supported by our School Committee and have been the cornerstone of the work of our staff for many years. To this end, we believe that all children deserve to see themselves and their families reflected in school materials and in conversations so that they feel safe and welcome, and are able to learn.
The Lexington Public Schools began the work of a comprehensive K-12 curriculum review in physical education/wellness during the summer of 2006. One of the components of this comprehensive process was an analysis of the Massachusetts Health/Wellness Curriculum Framework, including recommendations for curriculum adoptions for the Lexington Public Schools. As a part of this process, a group of administrators, teachers, and community members formed the “Windows and Mirrors” subcommittee to develop a comprehensive, inclusive K-5 Diversity Curriculum aligned with the Massachusetts Curriculum Framework and the National Standards for Civil Rights consistent with the historical "welcoming to all" philosophy of the Lexington Public Schools. This new curriculum promotes acceptance and understanding of the diversity of our town, country, and world, and includes both historical lessons on civil rights and contemporary lessons on families.
On March 18, we presented to the School Committee this new, formalized diversity curriculum in preparation for next year, when we plan to pilot four to five short units in each elementary grade. Some units will focus on families, including families with single parents, foster parents, and gay and lesbian parents. Other units will focus on racial and ethnic diversity and other areas in which human beings differ from one another. Resources in this curriculum include books, materials, and discussion points that help children feel welcome and allow them to talk about their families and the families of their friends. Some units will focus on stereotyping, historical roots of discrimination, and bullying. These units are tied to existing reading, social studies, and social competency curricula, and are linked to state and national frameworks for each grade level.
During the upcoming months, administrators and staff will participate in professional development centered around the implementation of this curriculum to ensure it is consistent and compassionate. Teachers will pilot this K-5 inclusive curriculum in classrooms during the 2008-2009 school year. At the end of next year, the pilot curriculum will be evaluated. Recommendations for modifications will be made to both the K-12 Curriculum Task Force and the Windows and Mirrors Subcommittee. The long-term goal is for this inclusive curriculum to become part of the complete Lexington Public Schools' curriculum and for full implementation to occur once the curriculum review process has been completed.
No one is saying that children of single mothers or gay parents should be bullied or made to feel unwelcome. But this is just being used as a pretext for teachers to indoctrinate students in the values of the teachers and administrators.
I doubt that the units on "racial and ethnic diversity" will be even-handed. Do you think the viewpoint of "The Bell Curve" by Murray and Herrnstein will be mentioned?
I suggest that Freepers periodically monitor the web sites of their public schools. Even if they don't have children in the public schools, they have the right to object to misuse of their tax dollars.
Nature abhors a vaccuum.
With God barred from public schools, guess who’s come in to foster evil amongst our children?
This from where many brave men stood up to the British and collectively said “No.”
I’m dumbfounded
The entire diversity curriculum in that regard should be: Children should not be held accountable for their parents’ choices.
No wonder US children are so ignorant when they graduate from high school. They don’t have time to learn reading, writing, and math with all this diversity garbage taking up instructional time.
Any Christian parent who lets the government indoctrinate his/her child in this ungodly way is doing Satan’s work, sacrificing their child’s soul for free baby sitting.
Any need to say it?
Interesting that participation by parents does not appear to have been allowed. I interpret "administrators, teachers, and community members" to mean 'liberals, more liberals and homosexual/deviant lifestyle practitioners'.
That right there should have been the end of that sentence.
How about letting normal little kids feel safe and welcome in the classroom? Or is that on the curriculum? or is the curriculum to silence normal little kids? or is the curriculum to promote everything that is unnatural?
Gobment skools brainwash our children to tolerate the intolerable. Blur the boundaries and insert moral and cultural relavitism here.
The entire statement by the school is pure garbage.
here is the real translation:
TRANSLATION: We are going to teach CHILDREN about homosexual behavior. Everything else is window dressing.
That is it. They want to teach CHILDREN about recreational mating.
Where are the parents? Or more specifically, where are the men of the Lexington Public School district? When only one or two sheepishly ‘voice concerns’ over this type of indoctrination there is something wrong.
Double plus ungood edubabble.
The se children’s education is being held hostage by the radical Gay agenda.
Whatever happens after 3:30 should not be a concern of the school. The school should stick to teaching the 3 R’s.
There is that word ‘Wellness’ again.
People have been cowed and conditioned by years of gay advocates hyping any kind of opposition as “hate speech” and bigotry.
What a coup they have pulled off. But in the end, the price will be more than they could pay before a just and holy God.
Sure it took two and a half paragraphs to get to it, but did anyone here have the slightest doubt that it was coming? I just wish they would stop wasting our time and simply say something like, "All units will focus on families with gay and lesbian parents." The rest of this BS article is simply a cover for that sentence.
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