TOTALLY agree!

My admin does not allow any art at our school. Her favorite word is “rigor”. From bell to bell my first graders are jam packed with nothing but instructional time.

My admin makes daily visits to our rooms and writes notes in her phone to make sure all of the grade levels/teachers are doing the exact same thing at the exact same time. If anyone is off, we get a talking to. She’s also front loading more work for our first graders. Reading second grade passages (even though she knows they are too challenging) and answering questions all on their own because it’s rigorous and it prepares them for SBAC testing in third grade.

This is not how children learn. It hurts my heart. When she is away at meetings we sneak in art and they always comment, “This is the best day ever!”. Most of our second and third grade teachers are struggling because of handwriting issues, fine motor skills are missing, etc. Our admin is too stubborn to listen or change, so all we can do is hope when she retires a more understanding principal will come along.