Review of Greenwood High School in Bowling Green, KY: Is it Right for Your Child?

Contextual Factors for Greenwood High School in Bowling Green, Kentucky

-Community and School Factors
Greenwood High School is just on the outskirts of Bowling Green with a student population of 1335. Overall, GHS's students have the highest socio-economic status in all of Warren County. So a good number of the students at Greenwood have all the tools and supplies they could possibly need while attending high school. Also, because of the high SES, that is one less thing for the students to worry about. In some schools that do have a large population in the lower income classes, students must come home to parents that don't have the time to assist with homework or cook meals for them. Overall it appears that the student population has a majority of white students but there is definitely a good mix of students from various backgrounds. Their were students that were: Asian Americans, African Americans, middle-eastern, and Hispanic students just to name a few. This mix of different backgrounds can help prepare students for their future because the farther you get away from high school the more diverse it can get(usually). There are plenty of chances for students to get involved in the school outside of the academic arena. Counting all athletic teams and school clubs, there are over 20 opportunities for a student to find their niche and have a sense of belonging while they are in high school. Students who have this sense of belonging are more likely to participate more actively in class.

-Classroom Factors

The classroom has only one window and that is on the door and most of the time that is covered up. The main distraction in Mrs. Meece's classroom probably comes from the numerous visitors she gets to her classroom each day. Almost every two periods there is a teacher or a student with a message coming into her class to talk with her. Also she has a teacher's aid that comes in and out of class. Although these can be distractions, most of the time Mrs. Meece handles them very quickly and they barely disrupt the flow of her lesson. At GHS, everyone but freshmen are on block scheduling. This probably helps to ease the transition into high school for these students and not to overwhelm them by just throwing them into the fire. So freshmen only have class with their grade level and not with any upper class men.
-Student Characteristics/Approaches to Learning

The classroom is entirely made up of freshmen, so no student seems to feel out of place in that regard. The teacher regularly calls on students at random to help keep every student somewhat involved in the classroom and help them feel like they can be an active participant at any time in her class. I did see a lot of students from various backgrounds, but the language factor didn't play a role in any of her classes because the students spoke English very well. Mrs. Meece also everyone once in a while will go on a tangent to another subject outside of math that might peak the students interests. She seems to know the students very well and she has let them get to know her. So she is able to interact very well with almost every student in the classroom.
-Implications for Instructional Planning and Assessment

There is a school program that assists in learning that Mrs. Meece is in charge of called ESS. This helps students who have trouble learning, whether it be because of language difficulties or they are having a difficult time comprehending the subject. The ESS program was able to help over 900 students last year alone. This program does have ESL instructors as well to help assist those students that do have trouble with English. Of course, sports and clubs play a big role in the school's overall environment. Many times during the heart of football or basketball season, teachers must plan around these activities. Some students may miss class to travel or the teacher may miss an entire class of students altogether because of a pep rally. The school has been treated well financially evidenced by the increasing amount of technology that is made available to all teachers and students. To catch up to the 21rst century and to catch the students attention, Greenwood along with several other Warren County schools has implemented Smart Boards in every classroom at GHS. This has made a teacher's job a little easier by making the instruction part much more efficient.
-Implications for Classroom Management

Mrs. Meece's ability to keep students' attention by calling on students randomly can help with students these days because it seems attention spans keep getting shorter and shorter. She is able to keep there attention by calling on them to answer questions or occasionally just talking to them about what's going on in their life right now. The distractions that sometimes can be created by numerous visitors to the classroom can have the effect of some students getting off task but Mrs. Meece is able to manage the situation by staying in the room during her talks with other teachers and she is also able to keep them very brief. The longer these conversations go on for the louder and more disruptive the students will get. Finally, I thought GHS had a very good idea of putting freshmen all together and not mixing them in with the rest of the school just yet. Putting a couple of freshmen in a class full of juniors can cause numerous classroom management problems, and Greenwood was able to avoid that by having freshmen scheduling.