SIMI VALLEY : Visitors Get a Look at School Activities

Christina Bradley didn’t come to Big Springs Elementary School in Simi Valley with any expectations Monday, but she was heartened by what she saw when she shadowed the school’s principal for the day, she said.

An area manager with Southern California Edison, Bradley was among more than two dozen business people and community leaders who spent a day in the district’s schools to get a firsthand look at the state of education.

Similar events will be held today in the Conejo Valley Unified School District and this week in districts throughout the state as part of Educational Partnership Week.

As Bradley followed Principal Lynn Friedman in classroom observations throughout the 525-student school, she noted, “There aren’t many (children) that appear to be distracted.”

Bradley said she was impressed that memorization has largely been replaced by teaching methods that encourage youngsters to think through their answers.

“I think it’s exciting and beneficial, because people in the business world are being asked to be more creative and innovative,” Bradley said. “That’s going to be expected of them.”

For example, third- and fourth-graders learning about percentages and probability didn’t work purely with numbers and equations. They saw their lesson by spinning a needle on a circle with different colored sections to see how often a single color is randomly selected.

“What I like is, they understand why they’re doing what they’re doing,” instead of just mastering abstract formulas for translating fractions into percentages, teacher Nancy Brewer told Bradley.

Principal Friedman, in her first year heading a school after five years as an assistant principal, said she spends a lot of time in the classroom to become acquainted with teachers and to talk about what works.

“I want to be an instructional leader,” Friedman said. “That’s my love.”

But as Bradley learned, Friedman also spends her time monitoring the playground, talking with concerned parents, disciplining students and meeting with community groups to plan for the school’s needs, she said.

This was the second year that Simi Valley participated in principal for a day, said Susan Parks, deputy superintendent.

“Last year, people walked away with a real respect for schools when they saw teachers teaching hard and children learning,” Parks said.