CCMS honors-change planning and stakeholder engagement
A January 2020 CCUSD email chain documents internal planning to remove sixth-grade honors at Culver City Middle School. Principal Elsy Villafranca said the ELA department supported the change, while Assistant Superintendent Tracy Pumilia emphasized stakeholder meetings, presentation materials and an FAQ before implementation.
Source contents
Villafranca wrote that the ELA department was strategizing to remove sixth-grade honors and asked which parent and community groups should be approached. She said she had intentionally not discussed honors at fifth-grade parent events.
Pumilia supported moving the idea forward but expressed concern about starting in 2020-21. She recommended stakeholder engagement, meetings, a presentation and an FAQ, and said she generally preferred a year to prepare for changes that would be significant for some families.
ELA department chair Leah Thomasson's talking points argued for mixed-level classes on grounds including inclusion, differentiation within classrooms, concerns about academic tracking and equity, and the department's view that honors and regular sixth-grade ELA were not different enough to require separate classes. The packet also contains later 2021 correspondence about enrollment and scheduling in Biology Honors.
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