Saint Paul, Minnesota Education Initiative

The Saint Paul Public School Education initiative offers a great gleam of inspiration and example for all Minnesota public and private schools. Firstly, the site counsels operating at the schools have a unity of mission that makes it possible for a successful innovation. Their commitment and participation sets the stage for all other educational happening.

The site counsels make up a diverse population of citizens which includes parents, teachers, businesses, and community leaders working together to promote excellence in education. This is the kind of Initiative that should spread throughout the State of Minnesota and beyond with great intensity. Diversity of community is important because it includes all participants of society. It introduces the village concept of raising and teaching children and increasing community involvement.

The Saint Paul Initiative also recognized the dangers of social promotion (advancing children because of age factor alone) and has eliminated the activity. Social promotion doesn't take the child's future into consideration. For this reason, the Saint Paul Initiative realizes that all children are able to learn if given the right tools and attention.

The great thing about the Initiative is the focused concentration on the subjects that matters most: reading, math, and writing. A thorough understanding of this subject prepares a grade school student for all other advanced subject areas such as science and technology, and medical. But if a student doesn't have a through knowledge of the basic subjects the student will struggle in all upper level subjects. This is the reason the Saint Paul imitative has set high expectations for its children. These high standards assure that every child will at least have excellence in the essentials of education. This will also insure a higher graduate rate in which the Saint Paul Iniative has demonstrated.

Saint Paul has also a great strategy of assessing the progress of its students, using a level system, for example, when level one goes down in percentages, the percentages of the upper level increases. In this way, the student progress can be continually improved. A good assessment system is a must if great innovative initiatives are going to be executed. A good system provides hope and commitment when good progress is verified.

Another wonderful activity the Saint Paul Initiative does beyond usage of site counsels is that of reaching out deeper into the community to parents who may be underprivileged and illiterate and seeks to educate them in the basic subject matters. This strategy allows them to assist their children in the education process. If parents cannot read and write, they are unlikely to be involved in helping their children learn or help them to value education. The child will only have the school and the teachers for encouragement. But with the encouragement of the parents, teachers, and the community a child has a great chance at succeeding.

Partning with the business aspect of the community is also included in the Saint Paul Initiative. This wonderful activity enhances the child understanding of the value of the essential subjects of math, English, and writing. Having children engage in practical aspects of business life and activities gives the students actual experiences. Most students would automatically value math and writing if they see it used in normal business life. Therefore, classrooms should not only be visited by business people, but also writers, publishers, and other professions should regularly visit classrooms as well.

In conclusion, the Saint Paul Initiative is a great project because it considers the village concept of raising a child, with everyone involved: the parents, the teachers, and the community. Everyone must continue to be committed to the children. Saint Paul knows they are the future.