The Walker Butte Apollo program is ineffective, it creates classroom overloading, groups students by age not ability, and causes hostility among the staff. I work at Walker Butte as a paraprofessional and am slowly watching my once friendly workplace turn into a toxic, self-centered environment. We were fortunate to have a journalist come to the school and do a piece on our autism program. This was to bring awareness to the community and hopefully attract donors to keep the program afloat. However this article does not tell the whole story.
It is apparent to me that Mark Cowling believes Walker Butte is unlike any other school. (2016) He goes on to explain that the Apollo program is for students with autism. He was led to paint a picture in your mind about students and teachers working together as one cohesive unit. Cowling talks about the sensory room and goes on to explain it’s a space for students to relax and unwind. He explains the smaller class sizes needed for the students to perform academically and even discusses past field trips with quotes from Linda Schow and Andrea Parrott, teachers at the school, as well as Shelly Spiro the school psychologist. …show more content…
This in itself is a falisey. Due to classroom overcrowding throughout the school many teachers are not working with one another to fix any problem. Furthermore many Apollo students are unable to leave their self contained classroom due to understaffing. Less paraprofessionals throughout the school means many students are left playing on computers for a majority of the
It is apparent to me that Mark Cowling believes Walker Butte is unlike any other school. (2016) He goes on to explain that the Apollo program is for students with autism. He was led to paint a picture in your mind about students and teachers working together as one cohesive unit. Cowling talks about the sensory room and goes on to explain it’s a space for students to relax and unwind. He explains the smaller class sizes needed for the students to perform academically and even discusses past field trips with quotes from Linda Schow and Andrea Parrott, teachers at the school, as well as Shelly Spiro the school psychologist. …show more content…
This in itself is a falisey. Due to classroom overcrowding throughout the school many teachers are not working with one another to fix any problem. Furthermore many Apollo students are unable to leave their self contained classroom due to understaffing. Less paraprofessionals throughout the school means many students are left playing on computers for a majority of the