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What if teachers are unavailable except during class?

Original post made by Been There, Palo Alto High School, on Oct 15, 2015

Do teachers have to help students? Some Paly teachers leave campus as the bell is ringing. The only time they are available is during class. Tutorial often has lines, time is limited and sometimes students have to see more than one teacher. And they don't answer emails or they only answer them on weekdays. Are they laughing all the way to the bank with their six figure salaries, six hour workdays, and 3 month summer vacation? The lack of access leaves students posting questions on Facebook and hiring tutors for those who can afford them. This is added stress for our students. I guess there is no rule that teachers must help students? It's not just the struggling students who need help. Some teachers are ambiguous.

My apologies to the dedicated teachers who not
fit this description.

Comments (4)

Posted by Nothing New
a resident of Palo Alto High School
on Oct 15, 2015 at 1:00 pm

My youngest graduated in 2009, my oldest in 2004. Both of them complained of unavailable teachers after school, as well as unavailable peer tutoring on campus.

Many of the on-campus services ragged about by the then-principals were actually unavailable or non-existent when needed or asked for.

I suspect this whole Paly-superior-education thing is a myth.

We ended up spending a fortune on tutors, as do most parents of successful Paly students.

It isn't the schools--it's the parents and their resources.

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Posted by Former Paly parent
a resident of Adobe-Meadow
on Oct 15, 2015 at 2:06 pm

@ Nothing New

There IS peer tutoring on campus at Paly. This is the whole point of the Academic Resource Center (ARC). I encourage any student interested in tutoring or being tutored to drop by ARC. It may take a couple of days to get paired up with someone but it is alive and kicking and helping many students.

Math tutors are in high demand and sometimes there have been shortages of math tutors, but the system is there and helping.

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Posted by Mom
a resident of Crescent Park
on Oct 15, 2015 at 2:23 pm

Peer tutoring isn't the same as talking to the teacher or paying for a tutor. Peers don't always know how to teach or have the right answers. Teachers should do their job, not forward the responsibility to other students. Teachers should be available, but in the case of math help, I think the math department has rotating teachers who are available at some point, unsure if it's during the day and/or after school.

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Posted by True
a resident of Palo Alto High School

on Oct 15, 2015 at 8:22 pm

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