I was both highly recommended and referred to Rota High School. I followed proper procedures and protocol in submitting my paperwork to transfer from Sinapalo Elementary to Rota High School. After interviewing with Rota’s administration, it was determined that there would be a symbiotic relationship between the school and myself.
I am more than qualified to handle student achievements as well as having great communication toward them.
I expected more reasonable headlines such as “A Teacher of Rota in Virginia for ‘We the People.’ ” I am currently attending a week-long summer institute which is fully funded by the Center for Civic Education, in which I worked so hard to achieve to enhance my knowledge to provide for our children. I believe that this type of headlines will boost teacher morale.
I am deeply dismayed and I deserve an apology had my reputation been tainted for a false allegation. It is never my intention to take for granted the system. I merely accepted the offer to provide a greater learning environment. The effort to restructure the administration at the high school has cost a great deal of lost to the Public School System in regards to entertaining one’s vendetta to satisfy a few.
With these in mind, we must, redirect our attention and focus on what’s most important: our children. Issues that need greater attention and therefore deserve greater priority include the following:
• Safety — recently, Sinapalo was vandalized because no fence is available to secure the property;
• Classroom Availability — currently, Sinapalo’s SPED class is being housed in the school’s library. Also in the library are the school’s lawnmower (with gas containers included), etc. How can the school’s library be used effectively with so many distractions?
• Transportation — There are only 1 to 2 buses being used to transport students both before school and after school. Keep in mind that the school has to transport 300 or more students with these modes of transportation. Passenger vans, which aren’t safe, are used for transportation.
These are just the few that we need to address and focus more on. As you can see, our attention is misdirected on issues of non-importance. If indeed our objective is to provide the BEST learning environment for our students, we MUST minimize the bureaucracy and concentrate on learning. TOGETHER WE CAN MAKE CHANGE!
JOEY QUITUGUA
Harrissonburg, Va.
