Maya McFadden Photo
New Schools Chief of Staff Michael Finley: Reports back from listening tour.
New Haven students are looking to get leaky school roofs fixed, more after-school programs, and more help in making the transition from middle to high school.
That feedback was gathered from a pool of 120 NHPS students. Schools Chief of Staff Michael Finley, who started his job this academic year, found those concerns out while setting out to find out the good, the bad, and the ugly about what the school community thinks the district is doing well and what to improve on.
Finley presented his first round of findings during Monday’s regular Board of Education meeting. (View the report here.)
He presented the feedback provided by a “small pool” of stakeholders including district leadership, school leadership, teachers, support staff, students, and parents.
Finley plans to continue surveying stakeholders to “face the brutal facts of what we do well and what we can improve on,” he said.
Those that volunteered to participate submitted open-ended responses to three questions:
1. What brought you to NHPS, and what keeps you here?
2. What do you think is going well in NHPS?
3. What do you think we could improve in NHPS?
The three largest groups of stakeholders surveyed were parents, teachers, and students.
Student Feedback
Surveys respondents named teachers and staff as the number-one asset making NHPS successful, describing them as “dedicated, committed, caring, and hardworking.”
“Our teachers and our staff are definitely the highlight for what is going well in New Haven Public Schools,” Finley said.
When students were asked about areas needing improvement, they suggested offering more clubs, field trips, and sports at the high school and middle school levels.
They mentioned a lack of soap, sanitizer, and paper towels in bathrooms and a need for some to be remodeled entirely.
Improvements to school culture and climate also weighed on students’ minds regarding fights, use of slurs, and bullying.
Some suggested schools offer better college pathway initiatives and more resources about alternative secondary pathway options like trades.
In classrooms, students asked that instruction and curriculum be more engaging and relevant.
Other student suggestions included a return to “wellness Wednesdays” or alternatively more study hall opportunities to catch up on school work and have mental health breaks. They also called for more student input in district decision making.
“They want us to reach out to them to see how they’re being treated,” Finley said.
Pool of those surveyed by NHPS about school workings.
Parent Feedback
Parents surveyed praised some of the communication they receive from the district, while seeing a need for improvements.
They reported that they enjoy getting calls and text about what’s happening in schools and with their students. Some said at times too much of that communication occurs.
In addition parents suggested improvements in last-minute communication and errors in communication efforts.
Some suggested the district website be kept up to date more.
Parents also expressed concern with fighting, bullying, disruptions, drugs, and vaping in schools, Finley reported.
Some surveyed parents pointed to a lack of rigorous academics for their students and lack of assignments for quarantined or absent students.
Finley added that parents are eager to get back into schools to attend student events, meet teachers in person, and get more parent-teacher time.
The central office plans to continue to conduct stakeholder surveys for the district to “prioritize, plan, respond, and listen for continuous improvement” through safe avenues for feedback, Finley said.
Board of Ed Vice President Matt Wilcox suggested the district offer its stakeholders an option to offer input anonymously or in partnership with unions.