Conversations:
January 23, 2006

Attendees: Carol Halpern, Marilyn Clark, Rob Lescoe, Michael O’Neill, Nicole Kowalski, Valerie Pitts, Colleen Day-Flynn, Chad Carvey, Daniel Norbutas, Rebecca Sarokin, Dominique Halilej, Lisa Choy, Sheri Mowbray, Mary Eaton, Malcolm Guthrie, Ted Stoeckley, Jane Shapiro, Bruce Friedricks

Purpose: The attendees worked with facilitator Michael O’Neill to generate ideas, responses, and meaningful questions for later dialog at board and staff workshops regarding vision and goals planning for 2006-08.

Areas of Pride

  • Foundation and the PTA
  • Student transition process from NC to Hall to Redwood
  • Staff are student centered
  • Schools feel “homey” and intimate
  • Schools maintain focus on programs and know how to say NO
  • Excellence of staff
  • Amazing kids; healthy and good spirits
  • Incredible Board of Trustees
  • Staff
  • Parent involvement (and willing staff)
  • Student achievement – still groups that need help
  • Entire community supports education
  • History – first school in the county (LCM)
  • Facilities
  • Libraries
  • Open Communication
  • Professional board focused on kids
  • Our staff level of dedication – willingness to do what is good for kids and community. Everyone supportive.
  • Parent involvement – welcome environment.
  • Student achievement/student involvement.
  • Community support – the town/city values the school.
  • Openness/receptivity/rapport/good communication – equal relationships
  • Commitment of Board/focus on students (professionalism)
  • Administration
  • The effort to achieve
  • Enlist support of others
  • Making decisions to do the “right things” rather than to do things right
  • Trust
  • Common desires/attributes
  • Small district/two schools
  • A community of caring and contribution to the school
  • Strong parent commitment
  • High test scores
  • Remodeling/beautification
  • Partnerships with community
  • State/national recognition
  • Support for students by admin/teachers
  • Special ed program offerings/mainstreaming efforts
  • High degree of tolerance and acceptance of others
  • Striving to make the program better (counselors, PE, music)
  • Setting of the school district

Developing Critical Questions and Connections

  • Do tremendously high test scores mean your children are ready to compete head on with the highest achieving anywhere?
  • How are learning programs or outcomes designed to sustain high test scores as opposed to teachers doing their own thing?
  • How does it happen that we have high test scores? Is it by design?  Is it sustainable? Is it the proper method?
  • How do we increase awareness/cultural diversity in a somewhat homogeneous area?
  • How do we address increasing enrollment without shifting classes/schools?
  • Is a long term plan really being discussed?
  • How can we improve the ways we forecast enrollment?
  • How can we continue to be inclusive at the risk of being exclusive?  Keeping services high? At the risk of program effectiveness? How do we maintain the “specialness” of our district as enrollment grows?
  • Are we complacent?
  • Pullouts:
    • Right mix?
    • Is more better?
    • Is less better?
    • Why do we have the programs we do?
    • What part does loyalty play in determining program?
    • How well do we do in the high school and beyond (our stats)?
    • Do we take kids where they are and move forward?  How do we know where they are and how do we know if they progressing?
    • Are there gaps in our curriculum?
    • How could we attract all the kids in our community?

Characteristics of meaningful shared experiences

  • Mutual respect
  • Honor diversity and opinion
  • Common, shared goal
  • Patience
  • Willingness to compromise/cooperate
  • No sabotage
  • Good will
  • Don’t ascribe motives to others
  • Rid yourself of preconceived notions (re roles).
  • Open mindedness – willing to give up preconceptions.
  • Hierarchical distrust
  • Mutual respect, honoring diverse opinions
  • Shared goals
  • Patience and time
  • Open communication
    • Level playing field
    • No voice of judgment
    • Ability to look at issue from all angles
    • Listen for understanding
    • The speaker needs to know that others heard and understood
  • Communication out – keeping people informed
  • Communication in – input/feedback
  • Willing to take risks
  • Caring – coming from a place of mutual respect
  • Flexibility
  • Distributing the workload/people taking responsibility for their part
  • Understood/attainable goals
  • Measurement – develop beforehand
  • Effective leaders and followers
    • Achieving buy-in/collective buy-in
    • Reach a consensus or abide by decision of group