Jessica's third summary

Calming Schools by Focusing on Well-Being of Troubled Students

By Anna Phillips

New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/15/nyregion/calming-schools-through-a-sociological-approach-to-troubled-students.html?ref=education

Summary

According to Anna Phillips’s article “Calming schools by focusing on well-being of troubled students” in the New York Times Wednesday Review (October 14^th 2011), Mark Ossenheimer, who was principal of the Urban Assemble School for Wildlife Conversation, convoke the meeting include several teachers and a social worker. They watched the students and list names of student, who have problems outside the school such as deep depression of housebound parents, illness, gender-identity issues and etc. This meeting was Turnaround for Children, a nonprofit organization for helping student solve their issues. Dr. Pamela Cantor, who was Turnaround’s founder and president, said that this organization was created to solve and these children can leave their issues at the door and come in and perform is dreaming. Turnaround focuses on students’ psychological and emotional well-being. After many years, people argue that school should pay attention on what high-quality, well-trained teachers can achieve in classroom. In 2009, an independent study by the American Institutes for Research found that after three years with Turnaround, five Bronx middle schools were happier places. Each school reported fewer student suspensions and teacher absences, and four of the five placed fewer 911 calls. Moreover, the rate of improvement of grade at school is increasing clearly day by day. For instance, Patrick Kelly, principal of the Urban Science Academy, said that the improvement in the school’s atmosphere as “dramatic” because this school has been working with Turnaround for 5 years. Every teacher in a Turnaround school is required to undergo training and good experience in how to manage and prevent yelling or asking a student to leave the room. In New York City, federal grant brought Turnaround to more schools, even in elementary school.

Response

This article is true and I agree with that. In my opinion, I think Turnaround is good organization for all students because it could provide metal help for students who are in trouble. For example, Jenny, my friend was really depressed after her parents’ divorce; she couldn’t concentrate to study because she felt really upset about that. I think if my school has Turnaround organization, it will help my friend cope this problem easily. Turnaround could make many schools become happier place.