Observation #1

In preparation for my observation hours at FAIR elementary school in downtown Minneapolis, I met with the assistant principal and explored the neighborhood for a few hours. Upon first arriving for my meeting, I noticed immediately that the doors that are facing Hennepin avenue, one of the busiest traffic avenues downtown, were not the entrance doors. They appeared to be emergency exit doors, but I’m still not sure. I had to walk down the right hand side of the school for about a third of a block before I hit the entrance, which was not just the entrance for FAIR school but just a general entrance to a building that serves a large variety of people. The entrance I went in wasn’t busy when I first entered, and it wasn’t busy when I passed through a couple times later in my exploration of the building. Instead of a ton of traffic when you walk in the large entrance what you’ll actually be hit with is a set of stairs and escalator positioned straight in front of the entrance. On the left hand side of the stairs is main entrance to FAIR and on the right hand side is the counseling offices for St. Thomas university.

My meeting with the assistant principal was short. We went on a mini tour of the school and after telling her I was interested in teaching first grade one day, she introduced me to some of the first grade teachers. The assistant principal told one of the teachers that I would be starting Monday and that I was there to observe as an MCTC student but that I could also help out as needed as long as there was another teacher present. The teacher seemed eager for the help, and I noticed what I think was an associate educator looking overwhelmed and asked to talk to the assistant principal about student behavior after school. These interactions were short as we were only in that first grade classroom for a minute but I could understand where the vibe that I was experiencing was coming from. The room looked torn apart and students were standing and moving about the room freely while talking and shouting to one another.

Another key point of my meeting was the immediate open feel of the school. I quickly noticed that this was a theme throughout the entire school, as it was present on the entire tour, even in the sign-in lobby area, the large stairwell that overlooks downtown Minneapolis, and the 1st grade classrooms that have high ceilings and open doorways.

After the meeting I begun my exploration outside the school’s main doors. I followed the escalator upstairs that led me through a doorway, past some vending machines, and down a hallway. In less than a minute I was in the hallways of the skyway and quickly was able to make it past many offices, restaurants, and stores. I immediately wondered how this could benefit the high school students at FAIR school, and  also wondering if this was a big challenge for teachers when it came to students skipping class.

I think the school being located in the heart of downtown Minneapolis is one of the main contributions to the urban theme that the school embraces. On the outside of the building are messages encouraging, success, diversity, and the fine arts. There’s also sign on the front side of the school facing the busy city traffic, that lists all the different suburbs and towns surrounding Minneapolis that students at FAIR elementary school come from. As for the urban surroundings of the school, not only were the skyways and corporate business world within easy access but also many bus routes pick up right outside of the school. There’s also clubs, fancy dining restaurants, theaters, offices, and convenient stores all within a block of walking distance. On the left hand side of the school there’s an alleyway that I noticed was reserved for delivery drop offs in the day and school bus drop off and pick up. It’s a large alley way so the buses are able to line up nicely and it keeps students out of the way of the main downtown traffic.

The very first thing you see on their website is their mission statement and photos of the children and their work. There is a link at the top that brings you to the main page for the Minneapolis Public School system . Clocking around some of the sections are vaguely labelled (such as “Be in the Know) and there are several broken image links that don’t display properly. Overall I would say the site is really basic. There are several general information pages which can be helpful, but not much that goes very in depth. It feels a bit like an inexpensive sales page that was created for the school .

I wasn’t able to find any data on the Minnesota school report card but I did search the school on Youtube and the very first result is a news report about the school’s turmoil, which resulted from several instances of misconduct from the administration.