As you are aware, in each of the past few years the district has been hosting One Community, One Book evening event centered around a parenting and/or education topic. This year our community is reading Frank Bruni’s bestselling book, Where You Go Is Not Who You’ll Be: An Antidote to the College Admissions Mania. We are excited to announce that this year the district is partnering with the Ramsey Community School, the Ramsey Public Education Foundation and the PTOs of all five schools to bring in the New York Times columnist to speak about his book and answer questions in the high school auditorium on December 5th from 7-8 pm.
Based on the title of the book, you may be asking yourself, “why should parents of elementary and middle school students read the book and attend the speaking event?”
While the book centers on college admissions and post-collegiate success, Bruni makes the case that the college admissions mania has affected the K-12 educational landscape negatively – and we agree. The idea of cultivating a perfect resume in order to be attractive to college admissions officers has crept into the elementary school. In our district we have seen middle (and even elementary!) parents worry that a “bad” grade on an assessment will affect their child’s ability to get into the college of his or her dreams. This is not an exaggeration. While of course we appreciate and applaud our students having hopes and dreams, we do not think it is healthy for an elementary or middle school student to pin these hopes and dreams on one decision made by a few select colleges. We know it sounds ridiculous to think that this topic is relevant for parents of elementary school students.
We hope you find time to read this important book and to join us on December 5 to hear Frank Bruni speak to the Ramsey community. We are confident that you and your children’s K-12 experience will be better because of it.
