TheApple

While there may be some value to grouping students by ability rather than simply by age, but this principal's attitude is condescending and exclusive. Grades in school reflect a student's ability to navigate the social environment of school as well as their knowledge of the subject material. The principal's approach really sounds lazy at heart, build a school filled only with students who have fully bought into school culture and systematically exclude students who might question the value of what the school has to offer. One has to wonder if the real motivation is to set up a school for academic excellence or if they want a school that will be easy and pleasant to teach at.

I teach at Langley. This article is absolutely not an accurate representation of what our principal wrote and what he and all of us who teach there are trying to do. At all schools there are those lost students, the invisible ones, who don't cause trouble, but who don't reach academic success for whatever reasons. Many of us who choose to teach were those children. The staff at this school is actively confronting this issue. We are aware that it is all too easy for some students to be left out and to not reach the success that we want for them unless we intervene. What a shame that the people who wrote this did not publish all of the compassionate message by our principal. If they had, then we would be talking about how important it is for all teachers to do what we at Langley are striving to do. There are many ways to benignly overlook students who don't really succeed, but who don't make waves. The staff at Langley chooses to not allow those "good kids" fall through the cracks.

Every child is still doing good in school as long as it's an A-C. So, why are they just wanting A+ students. Every child is different. Some are brilliant. Some need more time to absorb.