June 13, 2008

Dear Parents:

I am sure that you are looking forward to a relaxing and fun Summer Vacation with your family.

Thanks to those of you who participated in the 2007-2008 parent survey.  We were pleased with the response rate of almost 37%. The purpose of this kind of survey is to collect as much information as possible from parents in order to identify aspects of the school environment that need improvement and those aspects that are successful. Results of this survey will help in planning for school improvement. Key areas that were identified as being important for us to discuss in the near future include homework relevancy and teacher availability for extra help. Parents reported that they are made aware of important activities taking place at school and highly rated access to student grades via PowerSchool and Connect-Ed telephone calls as effective means of communication. In an effort to increase accessibility of PowerSchool parent access, we will be mailing home parent access information to all families in August as part of our yearly back to school mailing. Weekly Snapshots was considered an effective means of communication, but the consistent concern reported was that students did not always bring them home. We will continue to post Weekly Snapshots to the Central Tree Website (http://www.wrsd.net/centraltree/centraltree.htm) along with previously released Snapshots for parents who may have missed an announcement. We are also looking at ways to send Weekly Snapshots out as a weekly mailing vial email each week.

When asked to rank three things that the school does best, several parents mentioned that Central Tree presented students with a supportive and nurturing learning environment. It was reported that teachers and administration were approachable and that a wide variety of activities were made available to students. 

When asked to rank three things that the school could do to improve, parents mentioned homework, grading and extra help.  Fundraising was also an issue that was brought up several times. Specifically, parents felt that there was too much fundraising too often in the year.  In response to the concerns raised by families, we will continue to discuss our homework and extra help practices.  In addition, we will collect details on the frequency and need for each fundraising event to determine whether we can streamline the process and reduce the amount of fundraising that is asked from parents.

Overall, the findings of our survey were positive and supportive of Central Tree as a learning environment.  With that said, we continue to strive to improve in all areas and welcome your ongoing feedback and words of encouragement and suggestions for improvement. Without your honest opinions, we can not adequately address the concerns you have.

Thank you for your support in our efforts with your children.

Sincerely,

C. Erik Githmark
Principal 

Central Tree Middle School
 Parent Survey
May, 2008

Below are response results for the four open ended questions included in the survey:

Question #1: I am satisfied with the subjects taught and the programs offered at my child’s school.

• I would love to see a typing course offered.
• Special Education department is outstanding.  Teachers go above and beyond.
• Should not have done away with advanced math class – need more opportunities for the “advanced” students.

Question #2: The school’s frequency and amount of communication between school and home meets my expectations.

• Leverage the “phone - cast - call” more – not just for snow days.  I think that this is such a great tool!!  Also, leverage e-mail to a greater extent.
• CTMS Snapshots information is great!
• Being an involved parent helps with good communication.
• Keep Snapshots and similar information on the Web –it doesn’t always make it home.
• Snapshots -When my child brings it home!
• Love the Connect-Ed phone calls and PowerSchool. It allows more communication between school and home.

Question #3: My child has homework that helps him/her learn better.

• Sometimes a bit too much homework but reasonable for the most part.
• I’d like to see more homework.
• I wish the teachers would communicate better with each other.  Some nights my child gets overloaded with homework.  (two plus hours)
• I am not opposed to homework but feel some of it is useless.
• I agree homework helps keep concepts fresh in the mind, but the amount can sometimes be excessive.
• I’d like to see more homework.

Question #4: The school places the right degree of emphasis on grades and student evaluations.

• I think that Student of the Month and honor roll really encourage kids to perform better.
• Some policies RE: Grades/Homework seems overly penalizing.

Question #5: The use of technology is appropriate for my child.

• The students don’t have much access to technology except the smart board.
• Students should use more technology and computer labs.
• Excellent!
• I strongly hope that the District maintains its excellent use of technology and continues to strongly support technology.
• Some homework assignments have involved using the computer. This is good.

Question #6: The school’s administration is friendly, communicates effectively and is available to parents.

• Phone voicemail boxes at school would be a nice addition.
• Erik and Bev make themselves available when necessary and seem to always be around for extra curricular activities. 
• Very happy with the school principal!
• Mrs. Cochran does an excellent job with Special Ed and interfacing with parents.
• Administration is always quick to respond to our needs.

Question #7: The school’s system of discipline is clear and fair.

• Zero tolerance for bullies is excellent!
• From my understanding, it is very fair.
• Don’t know much about discipline. We haven’t needed it thankfully!

Question #8: Parents are informed about important activities and events at school.

• Sometimes – via Connect-Ed is great.  Relying on children – not so great.
• I love the Snapshots!
• Notices sent home and Connect Ed is great!
• The automatic call system and Snapshots work great!
• Snapshots are great as long as my child brings them home.

Question #9: Teacher(s) provide extra help when my child needs it.

• Teachers are always available to my child. This has helped her in a few subjects that she just needs a little more instruction to help her get a better understanding of the material. Thank you.
• Sixth grade teachers are wonderful transitioning the students from elementary to middle school.
• It is often difficult to find a time for my daughter to meet with teachers for extra help.  Most teachers do not have a set time and since most of us parents are working we need to be able to plan for rides or to be able to change our schedules for a few days.
• Although the extra help is available, I would like to see teachers initiate or suggest it rather than waiting for parents to request it.
• I have emailed and gotten no response.

Question #10: Teachers make themselves available to meet with and/or speak with parents.

• We have always been given the opportunity to meet with the teachers when necessary.
• Always!
• I miss regular parent-teacher conferences!
• Teachers always respond to email promptly.
• My recent experience is with the 6th grade team –which is excellent and there have been significant improvements in staff compared to several years ago.
• Yes, never a problem. Always a quick response via phone or email.

Question #11: Please rate the following methods of communication for their effectiveness.

• Being from a different school district we are amazed at the advancement of communication.
• Some modes of communication are no good to those of us who have no internet/e-mail access – we may be the minority nowadays but not all of us can afford it.
• I am unhappy with all of the half days, which not only decreases time on learning but makes it difficult for working parents.
• The progress reports should contain the student’s current grade.  Without the grade, they are useless.  Voicemail would be nice. 
• You need voicemail at CTMS. Naquag has it!
• Teachers and administration have made my son’s transition to CTMS wonderful. I can’t say enough good things about the school and staff.

Section II:

Question #1: In rank order, please identify three things you feel the school does best.

• Good atmosphere for learning – approachable teachers and administration. Special Education – very supportive of parental concerns. 
  Focus on academics – well trained staff, good coverage of academics.
• Personal/social growth of students.  Helping each child learn at his/her own pace.
• Offers a safe, caring, learning environment.  Dedicated teaching staff.
• PowerSchool access is great!!
• Very friendly, positive, learning environment.  Nurture pre-teens very well.  Academics/challenge students.
• The music program.  Student of the month.
• A lot of different activities and sports.  Always looks clean.  A safe, friendly atmosphere.
• Security.  Social – dances, clubs, after school sports.
• PowerSchool access. 

Question #2: In rank order, please identify three things you feel our school could improve.

• Too much fundraising - would rather have parents/families make donations.
• Understanding that space is an issue, especially with a rapidly growing student body, the lockers are very small for all that the students need to have and/or store.
• Homework that still allows bedtime.
• This is tough – I guess I’ll let you know in two more years.
• Ensure teachers put grades in early so PowerSchool is effective.  All teachers should use e-mail (that wasn’t the case last year, may have improved).  Teach keyboarding skills.
• Too much of a reliance on calculators.
• Consistent schedule for extra help. 
• Homework grading policy.  Consistently put current grade on progress report.  Teach “study” skills/organizational skills.
• Fairness in “group” projects – same people lead, same people follow.  Allow for more independent work to be done that will challenge the individual.  I am tired of the group projects!  Grade the kids on what they do, not what the group does.
• Voicemail to reach teachers.

Section III:

Question 1: Overall, how satisfied are you with the quality of the education your child receives at Central Tree Middle School with the number 1 being “very satisfied” and number 7 as being “very dissatisfied”.

• Our child has settled well into the school, she is comfortable, confident and we are very happy with it. The school must be doing the right things to make this possible.  Thank you.
• CTMS is wonderful – promotes a great sense of “community” and solidarity among its students.
• A wonderful group of teachers.  Everyone I has had contact with at middle school had been very helpful…great school.
• My son has grown so much as a person while at CTMS.
• Both of my children have done well at CTMS and seem to be receiving a first class education.  My oldest daughter was certainly ready for WRHS and has continued to do well.