CISD's decision on the President's address to the nation's school children

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9/3/2009
Coppell ISD Offers Educational Opportunity
According to information provided by the U.S. Department of Education, on Tuesday, September 8 at 11 AM (CST), the President will address the nation's school children about the importance of education. During his speech, the President will challenge students to work hard, set educational goals, and take responsibility for their learning in order to be competitive in the global market. It is the decision of the district to offer live and taped viewings of the President's speech, however, teachers will not be utilizing the materials provided by the Department of Education: rather, they will make age appropriate connections between the speech and the grade level Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS).

Parents may view the live broadcast at http://www.whitehouse.gov/mediaresources/or watch it on the C-SPAN channel or view a downloadable recording at http://www.coppellisd.com/or on http://www.ed.gov/index.html. Parents are encouraged to view the national address prior to making a decision about their child's participation.

However, if a student is in a high school Social Studies-related course at the time of the live broadcast, those parents may need to make a decision regarding their child's participation prior to the broadcast.

Should the CISD Administration find that the speech is at all objectionable, the digital recording will not be shown in class. In addition, we trust our great social studies teachers to lead whatever discussions are appropriate according to our TEKS and the age of the student.

At the high schools, the speech will be aired live for those students who are in subject-appropriate classes (i.e. social studies, government, etc.) at the time of the live broadcast. The digitized recordings may be viewed when appropriate during the remainder of the week. Parents will have the opportunity to have their student “opt out” of the viewings by submitting a written note to the main office. The note must also include the student's name and their grade level. Those students will be provided an age appropriate alternative activity by their teacher and will not be penalized in any way.

At the middle schools, the President's speech will be digitally recorded for viewing during Social Studies classes on Thursday and Friday. Parents will have the opportunity to have their student “opt out” of the viewings by submitting a written note to the main office. The note must also include the student's name, grade level, and the name of their social studies teacher. Those students will be provided an age appropriate alternative activity and will not be penalized in any way.

For the elementary grades, students will be viewing the digitally recorded speech during their social studies lesson on “Patriot's Day,” Friday, 9/11. After pre-viewing the speech, if parents decide to limit their child's participation, they will simply need to submit a written note to their child's teacher: those students will be provided an age appropriate alternative activity and will not be penalized in any way.

Coppell ISD values the support of its school community as a partner in offering the very best educational opportunities for all students. CISD Administrators and staff take the role of educator and protector very seriously and hope to make this a positive experience for all students.

Posted by Coppell ISD at 5:00 PM