Update: Support Quality Science Education for Northwood High School Students

Thank you everyone for your support. We would like to give you an update on the situation regarding Evert Science-Every Year Integrated Science (ESEY IS) at Northwood High School (NHS).

We have received close to 500 signatures on this petition, demonstrating a solid and steady community support. After months of attending IUSD board meetings and repeated attempts to request face to face meetings, a small group of parents with a diverse ethnic backgrounds met with board members Ira Glasky and Lauren Brooks in early August. (Superintendent Terry Walker and Assistant Superintendent Cassie Parham did not agree to meet.) It was a positive and productive meeting and the parents felt listened to. The two board members understood the concerns and what was at stake if the ESEY IS program falls short.

Outside of these meetings, we have followed IUSD policy to request that the controversy over NHS ESEY Integrated Science be included in IUSD Board Meeting agenda, and that request has been turned down multiple times. IUSD replied, “The IUSD Board, district administration and school staff have devoted countless hours to compiling data, answering questions and corresponding with concerned parents”; “The request for dialogue has been afforded through numerous avenues.” However, for most of us in the community, the following link is the ONLY avenue for obtaining information about NHS ESEY IS. This FAQ was last updated on 8/5/2019, and we encourage you to read it carefully to see how much you agree or disagree with the statements it presents.

http://bit.ly/IntegratedScienceFAQ 

Here is the page where you can type and submit questions regarding the FAQ Http://bit.ly/IntegratedScienceFeedback

For many of us who sent detailed questions challenging the statements and conclusions in the FAQ, all we received was a generic email that did not address any specific question that was raised.

In addition, although the meeting with the two board members was positive, nothing concrete has been promised in response to the requests of students and parents. Our requests include asking the board to:

1.      Compare NHS’s ESEY IS curriculum with Irvine, Portola, University and Woodbridge high schools’ in terms of teaching quality and student learning outcomes;

2.      Allocate sufficient funds to hire qualified science teachers and increase students’ accessibility to science courses, including advanced placement courses, both in terms of total classes offered and number of seats available for enrollment;

3.      Increase transparency in both curricular decisions and school program funding allocation;

4.      Consider offering NGSS Three Course Model at NHS and making ESEY IS elective instead of mandatory.

ACTIONS:

1.      Please attend the IUSD board meeting at 6:30 PM on September 3rd, 2019 (Tuesday) in the IUSD District Administration Center at 5050 Barranca Parkway, Irvine, CA 92604 to let your concerns be known. The school and the district need to know that our concerns haven't been addressed properly, and a lot more concrete actions need to be taken quickly to improve the science program in NHS. Elementary and Middle school parents, we encourage you to come as well, because this is about your children’s future, too.

2.      Please ask your NHS student(s) or graduate(s) to give feedback on their experience with ESEY IS by filling out the survey below. We keep the data strictly anonymous. https://forms.gle/xkn2SKjMU7hHzzJZ9

3.      Closely monitor your child’s science classes, the instruction, course materials, course availability, testing, etc. 

4.      Join our facebook group (iCare Northwood High Curriculum) to stay informed and help with our efforts .  We welcome your comments and questions.

5.      Share this petition with everyone you know who care about quality education in NHS. It’s only through your help that we will be able to convince the school district to make a positive change for NHS students.

Thank you!