good evening everyone We have a small group here tonight but um I would like to take a moment to introduce myself Um I am Jennifer O'Neal I am the superintendent for Norton Public Schools And tonight I have with me my central office team assistant superintendent uh
Brian Acriman Karen Winsper director of technology uh Casey Russo uh director of special education Vinnie Cersei director of counseling and therapeutic service services Christine Hadfield who is our school business administrator and Wade
Lazot who is our director of facilities And we appreciate the time that you're giving us tonight to come out and chat with us Um throughout the night I'm going to be asking you some questions So Mrs Winsper do people have the ability to unmute themselves if we and have a
conversation such as this since it's a small group or is that something you need to do on my end I think you as the host might be able to unmute them Um can also allow them to talk if they were to raise their hand Okay All right We only have three
guests so I figure it could be a nice conversation for us just to kind of in you know if people want to turn off their cameras they're welcome to Or if they would just prefer to write in the um in the chat that's fine as well Um
Mrs Winsper will make sure that we hit on everything that is in the chat as well And then um we are recording this so we can come back and listen to it again in case we have any questions Um but Dr Dr Arian is also going to be taking notes for us tonight So um we'll
kind of dive in Can I interrupt you for a second Dr O'Neal There is um one participant I don't know if you can see um that person who has their hand raised I don't know if you want to um how you want to handle um participants who are
looking to um ask questions Do you want to wait Do you want to um If there's a question now we can certainly take it I don't They put their hand down so I'm not sure if they meant to put the hand up Oh I I was just You were asking if there was a way for us to talk so I was
just trying to um I ra was I put my hand up so I can tell you that we can't talk unless you um give us a chance to So hopefully we're good now Thank you Yes Thank you Thank you for that Okay All righty Um so I want to go through a couple quick slides before we got into the questions So um we put together a um
strategic planning committee that met for the first time earlier this week and the goal of that group is to work together to help us create a new plan um with those members actively engaged in the process and um acting as representatives of their group So we
have uh parents and community members we have staff members and then we also have educators all as a part of that group um we want to identify effective targeted um opportunities to um get the community more involved So like this particular uh
item tonight for you guys to come out and answer some questions for us And then we want to make sure that we really have two-way communication with um our shareholders as well So whether that is through community forums or small working groups additional surveys that
perhaps would go out to families that's what we're working on as we go through this process Our current strategic plan is called vision 2026 and it focuses on three core areas It looks specifically as developing the whole child looking at
academic social emotional learning um opportunities for enrichment and intervention ways that we can build them as a citizen etc It looks at professional learning for our staff and then it also looks at the portrait of graduate skill sets So these are six
core skills that we hope that all of our students retain by the time they leave us at the end of uh their time here in Norton So that is what we focus on on the last time and our current strategic plan can be found on our district
website um underneath about us if you're interested in taking a look at that a little bit more So I'll start by driving uh diving in on our first question tonight and this is really an opportunity for you to share
some thoughts and ideas with us So what are what school programs are important to you Um they could be things that we currently offer or something that we don't offer at this time but you would like to see us offer in the future So please feel free um to unmute if that is
what makes the most sense for you and share some thoughts and ideas with us And if you're uncomfortable um speaking out loud you can also type in the chat um if that is a better option for you So I'll put the slide
back up again What school programs are important to you So they can be things that we're currently offering or something that you would like us to see offer you would like to see us offer in the future Um for us it would be art or things that
build on the kids u creative side Absolutely What um how old are your students So my son is in kindergarten LGN Yeah And then my other one just turned three so he's going to be joining preschool um in September I'm six
Oh hi buddy How are you Hi Hi Thank you Asa Thank you Uh David shared the afterchool care is really helpful I'm glad to hear that We definitely have a great u partnership
with our champions program um at JCS and LGN and at the Yellow School Hi Karen Uh programs for kids who don't do sports I agree Tech STEM arts music bands drama and more Um I had the opportunity to go watch the um middle
school play uh drama practice earlier this afternoon and it's we're still a ways out from uh Showtime but they're doing an incredible job over there Thank you Stephanie Reading fundamentals uh world language Now I know um Karen has a
middle schooler and a high schooler Stephanie and David would you be willing to share how old your children are Kindergarten second in preschool Great Thank you All righty Let's go to the next
question How can we ensure a sense of belonging for all students across Norton public schools And I promise we're all really friendly people Mr Barrett our JCS principal is here now as well So if you want to take if you want to just talk or turn off
turn on your camera it's certainly up to you Um we welcome any feedback that you're willing to give us tonight How can we build a sense of belonging for all students across NPS Um one of the main things that comes to mind for me is because we are
multicultural So um just like integrating that a little more knowing like this month is Ramadan for us So just having more talks about that like it's harder for my son in kindergarten to explain that to his friends because he's still young and then he says he's not comfortable telling them about it
because they they don't know it and they're not going to understand Um so I think just having more integration or seeing if some parents are willing to do volunteer things in the school to talk about it And then this obviously extends to all different kinds of multicultural things
Thank you Asia I think that's a great point That's a great way to make sure that we feel ensure that sense of belonging for our students Hi Dr O'Neal I think my feedback would be is um Hi is trying to find a way to
bring the Norton community into the school community and vice versa because I feel like a lot of times we're trying to make sure our school community is strong We have what we need for it right to make our students successful But I think there's a disconnect when we don't
have the Norton community intertwined you know so that there's an understanding between both right And making sure that the needs of the school are understood by the NOR community and vice versa So a sense of belonging I think is not just within the school but how do we think about it across the town
or across different generations Thank you Stephanie um my team please feel free to jump in too if you hear something that you want to respond to while we're all here So um I think that's a great point and I actually think that sometimes the people
that live in the community but don't have children in our schools they don't understand a how multicultural our school community is Um our our town has really grown over the years which is wonderful Um but people don't have a true idea of of the picture of our
schools and our students Uh David thank you Uh creating inclusion opportunities within the classroom like having examples of different types of families identities and other things within assignments administrative processes and fun It's a great
point Thank you Jen If I could just jump in for a minute Please Yeah Um one of the things we have uh an elementary library media specialist um that she used to work across three
buildings and she's currently um just part-time across the JCS and the LG and speaking to trying to bring the community in She was instrumental in um bringing back the library programs in our schools but also with getting uh our
senior citizens um to come in and volunteer within the uh especially the LG She has quite a a group of volunteers um and they actually get tax breaks um which is really nice So they she's very
good about making connections through the town hall and through the um the senior center So that's you know we can't have an overabundance of volunteers that we can't manage but it's a start and it's it's one small way but
perhaps in you know in the specialist areas I think with the creative arts might be um a way and I do know for a fact at our high school I know most of the parents um and guardians here today are speaking to um you know the the
elementary level but I know maybe Mr Cersei could speak to the high school level as well but we have students who go to the community center Um they're going to um I want to say it was world language correct me if I'm wrong but
they went and sang around the holidays Um so I know that there are partnerships within the community trying to make those the connections Yeah we actually at the high school uh do a number of number of things like that with different organizations honor societies
go out Um some of the booster clubs as well Um I know uh both as a employee but back back in the day when my son was on the hockey team before I was here in Norton uh we went out and did cleanups at the uh veterans uh facility and so forth So we try our best Um I actually
have some of um our senior citizens coming in to help with uh the AP testing and again yes they're going to get some some tax breaks as well uh as part of their volunteer hours So we do try to do that but any ideas Um we're always looking for ideas to bring the kids and
and folks in the community together So thank you both Uh Mr Barrett commented I think we want to help each student have at least one safe adult that they connect with at school and that adult doesn't need to be their teacher Absolutely Every child should have at least that one person Uh Stephanie
community partnerships are great mechanisms It would be helpful to get more awareness on these items champion and market these wins Absolutely Thank you Stephanie We've got a really great um communications intern uh from Norton High School His name is Benson and he does a great job with a lot of our
photos So we'll have to put him on um putting together some some info for maybe for an upcoming newsletter All right next question What are the roles and responsibilities of families in supporting your student in their
learning as they progress through Norton schools And so we have everything here from preschoolers and elementary age students uh to high schoolers So I know those things look a little bit different if you have a kindergartener versus a
high schooler What do we think the responsibilities of families are So I think that we've got in in terms of roles and responsibilities of families Um from my perspective we've got a a pretty active CPAC our special education parent advisory council We've got some
um PTO SPO SP PT whatever all the acronyms are for all of the different buildings having their own the schoolbased parent boards Yeah Thank you Yes whatever whatever acronym they they choose to go by Um that have done some really amazing fundraising for playgrounds and things along those lines
have been really great Um I think we've had some parent volunteers in for different things and stuff things like that But I I mean just maintaining that level of communication and transparency with schools and vice versa is really important Um we have kids for six and a
half hours a day and then families have them for the other 18 or 17 and a half I should say but maintaining that So there's we have a we're with your children a lot but you are the primary source of of information and and support and we really want to be able to partner with families to make sure that we're
the kids are getting their their needs met across the board Thanks Casey Great point David said "Helping with homework reading at home that's what they try to do." Stephanie said "Partnering with school leaders communication advocating for your
children." Absolutely I think a part of it is also understanding that the learning process does not specifically only happen in school but a lot of it happens at home because like you said there's like the 18 hours that they're spending at home and that's the chance or that's the um the time that parents should be using to
actually teach their children not just actual learning like reading writing in math but also just general how to you know act outside how to like just manners and all those things that are very hard to get if you're not teaching
them at home It's very hard for them to actually apply them outside when they're in public Thanks Asia Absolutely Like as Casey said you guys we have your students a lot but they're with you more than they're with us And um that partner that strong partnership between school and
home is so vitally important Um Karen said "For us with teens and tween we make sure they get they sleep well and get a good breakfast." Karen I can't get my teens and tween to eat before they go out the door in the morning So I give you a lot of props Uh check in regularly
on their grades and assignments as well as checking in daily about what's going on at school And you know as a parent of a 15-year-old and a 12-year-old I get very limited information sometimes like "How was school today?" "Fine." "What did you do?" "Nothing." And so trying to
engage them in bringing out a little bit more asking specific questions about what happened "Who did you sit with at lunch?" or "Um what did you learn about in science today What was the topic?" Gets me a little bit more sometimes with my kiddos So the next question is almost exactly
the same but instead we're asking what we think the roles and responsibilities of students are and in their own learning as they go through Norton schools What do we think the roles of students are Oh thanks Brian Consistent Okay this is
this is for parents Consistent school attendance Yes reaching out for a supportive hand So if you're having a tr trouble getting your child to school we're we are always you know working with families to help k get kids here Um so you can always reach out to us if there's an issue Uh thank you David
Paying attention in class being respectful Absolutely Absolutely those lessons that we try to teach at home Um I love the projects and assignments that they give that gives students a chance uh to cho to choose
what they're interested in and or give them a space to be creative Yes absolutely When students can really focus on their own strengths and academics and show what they know it's a great way to do that Yeah how as
developmentally appropriate how we as a school can help So as a director of guidance I have to say they they need to um self- advocate for what they need um what they're looking to do Um seeking out support
when they need it Um seeking out support for others maybe their friends when they need it So I definitely think that's part of it and that also will help to develop a sense of belonging Thanks Vinnie Thank you Stephanie Active and present participation learning to
make mistakes Yes we all have to make mistakes if we if we want to succeed right Uh and then communicate just going along with what Mr Cersei just said advocating for yourself telling your teacher or whoever you're working with what you need to be successful Um that's
a really tough skill for a lot of adults And so we always try to help kids figure out how to self- advocate All righty What strategies can we use as a district to improve improve student
achievement As people may know um across the state we used to be well we were we are responsible for giving the MCCAST assessment to all of our students in grades 3 to 10 That's our state assessment However recently they just took away the um graduation
requirement um as part of um some some recent legislation But we look at a lot of other things besides MCCAST scores We look at um reading success by grade three We look at um writing and math We
do a lot of local assessments um on a continuous basis to see how our students are performing And then we look at ways that we can support them through targeted interventions to be successful Do you as families have any strategies
that we could use to help improve student achievement Hi this is Stephanie I think I'm trying to find the right words of how to explain my thought but you know having there's a willingness and an openness right for communication Um it's underlying theme that obviously I keep
bringing up but I think the idea of of having the family the home unit understand better what is happening on a day-to-day basis you know like what is the curriculum what are activities kids are are are being set up to do And obviously my children being in elementary having better visibility into
what that is I can try to give you know more prompts at home or I can try to engage them with questions or I can try to make sure that you know if there's a principle or or or learning opportunity that we could try to bring home that would correlate to what they're learning
in school I think it might help us try to achieve what they're supposed to be grasping in the moment better But if we're not you know as aware you know to your point you know we're we're kind of like "Hey how was science class?" or "Hey how was this?" versus like if we're
trying to get in more into the weeds with them I'm wondering if that helps them be more successful if they get it at home and at school Um I'm not sure what that looks like but just you know at the opportunity to try to be more involved I like that And I think it's um because
often when our students come home they can't always verbalize what they did at school today and they can't share it with you always in a way that helps you understand how you can continue to work with them So whether and I don't know I think probably every teacher does this a
little bit differently in terms of how they share what's going on in classrooms but maybe curriculum updates or you know sharing resources with families on a consistent basis that gives them ideas of what you can do at home um to enhance
the things that we're working on uh day-to-day in the classrooms And of course as the students get a little bit older it gets a little bit more challenging Um not all of us are are are proficient in middle school math anymore Um which makes it tough sometimes but um it
definitely giving parents that option or just an idea of of what's happening I appreciate that Stephanie Uh David said "Gi the penguin." We love Gigi Everyone loves Gigi Uh seems to be working at the kindergarten level Uh your daughter is excited to earn the new Gigi cards Every
once in a while Gigi comes and visits school and we never know who is going to be inside the Gigi costume each day Um so that's really fun and we do that across um all of our schools K to five Uh Karen said options for diverse
learners Uh some lessons in programming around grit and determination That's a really tough skill for kids Uh Vinnie do you want to talk a little bit about um Character Strong Absolutely So we do have a SEAL
curriculum that goes K to8 um and the teachers provide lessons and I know they're they may not use those exact terms um but the lessons themselves do carry u information not just about you know kind of emotional understanding emotions and regulations and uh but also
on how to p persevere how to overcome things that are challenging or frustrating uh and how to manage that um how to again self- advocate and uh seek out assistance when needed Um so the character strong absolutely covers a
variety of those kinds of topics We you know and then um for the high school this year we have my cap which is um kind of more focused on college and career but still very important soft skills right that uh we hear from the businesses that they want and the
colleges want from kids And then we also back that up with um navigate uh 360 which again um what we've done at the high school is kind of taken a look at our academic calendar and um broken our lessons based on kind of what those what
the year might bring and for in terms of challenges So you know at the beginning of the year it might be about building relationships and friendships and you know healthy relationships later on around AP time we start talking about managing anxiety and time management and
those kinds of skills So uh we definitely do that Oh yes right We do monthly uh character strong has monthly traits Looks before this month was perseverance Yeah Uh and then Stephanie said "Grazkids offering subscriptions that
could work at school and home." Thank you All righty Let's see Dr O'Neal if I could just jump into that Um Stephanie we had um many subscriptions at one point um but
had to make some um difficult decisions um when we had to cut some software uh from the budget due to a challenging budget So unfortunately um we did have to cut Raz kids So
hopefully we can bring that No understanding Karen I think what I'm trying to articulate there is just how can we tie success of kids is having opportunities of subscriptions be extended to home regardless of what is in scope I also do think we we do have
some things that um students can use outside of the classroom Um I do think one of the things that I was just thinking about at all levels is is communication and how um teachers are communicating with families um and the
the methods that they're using to communicate and whether that is something that we could do better on our end um to streamline that process Um so that is certainly something to think about
I was thinking the same thing Karen Whinsper Um because I feel like there's got to be a better way for us to be able to share some of those things that are are available right Well we do have parent square Um and everybody has
access to parent square All teachers have it And then we've tried to encourage the um the texting piece um of Parent Square which is kind of like the remind that kind of like our middle age um
teachers really really like Um so middle grade teachers not middle-aged teachers right I said grade Okay I didn't know if I heard you Sorry Sorry Um I would be the middle-aged teacher right No I'm kidding Um yeah we definitely need to look at that communication I think all
around that would be great Oh um Christine is saying uh okay so Paul asked "Do families find regular and weekly updates from the schools helpful via parent square and social media." And then Christine said who she she has she
has a fourth grader and a third grader She's a Norton mom in addition to being our Norton business administrator Uh some teachers do give parents access to StMath and or other math and reading platforms which is helpful as they get older So I guess we'll ask Mr Barrett's
question Do you as families find regular and weekly updates from the schools helpful and then we'll go on to our next question Yes definitely Thank you Stephanie I think one other thing and this might
be for the higher level because um I am a grad student right now like in uh in Bridgewater State University So I deal with the students who are coming in as freshman undergrads and there's a big disconnect between um the the the world they had in high school and then college
life even learning wise like the papers that they have to write they're so shocked they're so overwhelmed I think this is something that like just trying to bridge that gap between the jump between high school and then between college and you know the things that go on there
Thank you Asa And then David said yes because my daughter doesn't elaborate on what they talked about in school that week Join the club David It it it's a tough one right Um all right let's see what we got here uh what areas can we
improve upon to develop well-rounded productive citizens So it's you know Asia I think this is kind of similar to what you were just talking about that big jump between high school and college Um and it's hard for us when we have young children to
think about developing them into productive citizens What can we improve upon as a school community I think there's this concept of like when you bridge the gap to Aisha's point about going from high school to becoming an adult right and and I'm not as
experienced with Norton is offering in the high school at this point but like readying them to like pay bills or be aware of like running their own household or you know the idea about going and voting and like I'm just kind of curious is like is there something that goes towards that and then you know
as you get to the transitions between say elementary and yell to middle school like you know thinking about how we prepare them for that next step right like what does that look like is it I know we'll do like you know go tour around town but Like what if um what if there's a way to kind of like shadow
what's going to happen next Like do they spend a half day someplace and go see what the new school looks like and kind of get into the next shoes before they're there Like is there a way to kind of give them a a sneak peek Does anyone want to touch upon that
So we um we have step up days u specifically I can talk uh in in a little bit more detail about what happens um between the middle school and the high school but uh for the eighth graders uh the high school administration goes down to start uh
meets with all the kids and comes in and out of um their their classes just starts to have a friendly face Um we bring our academic coordinators over and uh we do a presentation to the eighth graders about kind of the different departments and what's offered and then
the guidance department comes in in a different point and we do a presentation on kind of the differences like what are credits what does that mean what does graduation mean Um and we talk about that and this year we brought over some high school students who also talked kind of about the in particular the
world language Uh but in general what it's like to be a high school student And then at the uh I think this year it's going to be on June 10th Um we have the entire eighth grade come up and we break them up into about three cohorts Um one meets with the administration to kind of go over expectations and the
differences Um and then one goes for a tour and then one uh group meets with students and they kind of talk again about the difference between high school and uh middle school in terms of their um you know what it's like to be be a student what it's like to what's the
differences and those cohorts um rotate So we try to do that and I know there's there's things that they also do at the other at the other grade levels I'm not quite as familiar on that details Um but one other thing I wanted to mention is at the high school we actually just
started a personal finance elective um that we're trying to talk about some of those those life skills that they're going to need to know as young adults So definitely something we're thinking about and trying to figure out how to grow those kinds of um electives and programs into their day
Yeah piggyback off what um Vinnie is saying there I think that um the Mr Gagan and Mr Balawa at the yellow go down to the JCS and the LG and they spend some time down there to get familiar with um with the third graders um who are coming up to fourth grade They talk to them they at lunch they
they um answer questions and then the third graders will come up to the middle to the Yell for um a transition day as well Similarly um with the fifth and sixth grade Mr Hayward Mr Goldstein will come down to the Yell visit with kids and then they'll have another vi um transition day up to the middle school
Um on another note we do also add in usually a an additional day for our um students who are in our specialized programs for those transitions It can be very overwhelming for them when they go with the whole group the whole grade level So we offer them um an additional
day to go up to have a smaller um more focused visit as well between when they're doing transitions between buildings Um additionally Mr uh Dr Dr Rackerman and I have been working with our teachers to do some transition visits between building grade levels as
well So um we started with our preK and K um special education staff to get a um do some observations and really see get a a more logistical hands-on um first point first-person point of view of what expectations are in preschool for
kindergarten teachers and conversely for um preschool teachers to see what kindergarten is and when they're going from a a class of 15 kids with two staff to a kindergarten classroom with a teacher and maybe some parent support if their special education students are in there or whatever to help us help guide
our um professional practice um in terms of writing goals and objectives and and developing expectations and lessons for kids as they um prepare for those transitions So that's definitely something that we're working on as an administration with our staff as well And if I could just jump in and piggy
back off of Casey Um I do know and this is to speak to Karen's comment just to make sure that there's space for arts and music and such because um at the elementary level um there's music and art and steam but there's not
necessarily drama So at the middle school there is the you know huge drama production that they have It's typically the fifth graders visit the middle school so that they can see the drama production in the spring Um so that is
always a highlight for them I can't add anything to that you guys That was that was very comprehensive everybody So nice job Uh and so Karen also said critical thinking skills and how to learn versus busy work and memorization I couldn't agree with that
more We have lots of conversations about u mastery of learning versus compliance in learning Um so I appreciate that All right Only have a few more questions and this one might be target Well this is for everybody We would love
to hear what everybody thinks How can we improve family engagement at the middle and high school So the majority of you here tonight are um elementary parents um what can we do to get parents of older children more engaged within our school community Whether that is
attending um events at schools or participating in district-wide events um it becomes more of a challenge when students get older I can keep going if no one has anything for that one Um can I just say something to Yeah sure
Please I just I mean my kids I'm so old My kids are like really old They're in their 20s And so I just remember when they were in high school um thinking maybe they don't want me to go to school you know to see their
teachers and um to be engaged at all but it was still important for me um to meet their teachers and to see what they were doing So I feel as though we still want to engage um families and whether that
is showcasing in the art nights Um I know for a fact like I always love to go and see the artwork that the high school students um create That is just an amazing um opportunity for the for the community and the parents to come out Um
but even just the steam night that we had not too long ago um you know inviting the middle school students to come we did have a lot of middle school um parents because those kiddos can't drive um who you know ended up uh coming
So I think if we can try to engage families in more um curriculum based or just trying to engage them in more activities to to demonstrate that academics are still important or activities whether it be drama at the high school or arts or you know not just
sports and such but that is a piece of it as well I'll speak on I'll speak to this because it feels like it's um my age group of my kids Um I mean I we still try to attend as much as we can and I mean but we see
the difference in meet the parent nights and we show up and there's only a few parents in the classroom Um I do think that um it's it's an interesting I we I was saying I don't know if I have the answer because um uh I think some of the parents are probably fatigued because
they are by the time your kids get to middle and high school um if your kids are in sports you're some parents it's all the same parents are volunteering for boosters and they're volunteering for different things and they're just tired Um but I do think there's also an
element of like once your kid gets to middle school there is a message that the kids should be doing it themselves and that the communication drops off and so there is a message to parents like let your kids do it So I think there is
a balance there around how much are we supposed to be letting our kids pay attention to announcements and how much are we supposed to be like doing that and then also how much are we supposed to be paying attention to those announcements as well Um but for events I don't I mean we're we try to go to all
the events and um I don't know maybe it is a little bit of you know I'd say have the kids invite their parents but to Karen Winsper's uh point maybe the kids don't want their parents to be there Um so I wish I knew what the uh the answer was to this one because this is a tough
one It is a tough one Thank you Karen Karen I think I think that's a great point you make about that balance though of um they need to they need to do it themselves and and not you know overdoing it but keeping an eye out Um so I I never kind of thought of it that
way So thanks for sharing that Yeah And Brian said provide more opportunities to celebrate Absolutely And I think Karen you were saying like the art show the you know the play like all those things everyone comes out for those How can we do that more with other things too Um
all right So what approach can we take to help foster a connection between students their peers and their teachers What can we do to help foster a connection between students peers and their teachers
Oh yes like the spotlight to the school committee meetings Yes we like doing those It's fun to celebrate kids and then we get parents out to school committee meetings as well Not everyone stays Most people leave but it's okay They still come
What approaches can we take to help foster a connection between students their peers and their teachers Champion Thank you David The Champions program has helped my daughter make friends across different age levels Absolutely when they're all together they get to see other familiar faces and
it creates a nice school community They walk by each other in the hallway they make a little wave Uh we we do are very fortunate to have the champions program here in Norton So one of the things that we've tried doing um is that we have our our step classroom at the JCS that has
created a book buddies program with the step prep program up at the high school Oh that's awesome And so creating that connection for the younger kids to see the older students that have been where they are and and um being able to make those connections So I think and like Vinnie was saying earlier having some of
the high school kids come down to the middle school during those course selection things to talk about what they're experiencing So I mean we're trying to put as many of those those programs and initiatives into place to build connections for kids across grade levels like you mentioned there David um
to really to see to to to see not not necessarily a light at the end of the tunnel but to see um how their paths have progressed and and give them a little bit more of a an opportunity to see what what life is like once they get past third grade or
fifth grade or or whatever it might be Yeah high school kid I was reading to elementary students When I taught second grade at JCS we had a kindergarten book buddy classroom and we would go every other week and sometimes they would come to our class and sometimes we would go to
their class and sometimes we meet in the library and get fancy Um but always fun to bring kids ac together Karen Drain has her hand up Oh I'm sorry Karen go right ahead No that's fine Um I was going to say that um sometimes it's the
extracurriculars that really make those connections Um I mean I my middle schooler this year I mean I would not have expected but some of the best teacher connections he has made is through his afterchool clubs that he did
Um and how connected he felt there And and then when he meets those teachers in specials later on in the year he's like you know he's already got a connection with them And um you know and I Rebecca's up at the uh high school this year and she's noticed the high school
does it really well um with this I don't know they do they play music on Friday afternoons and they um the different departments do fun they did Pi Day and they she and she's noticed it that like it's those little things that you
remember and the little things that make a difference I was actually going to say I thought that the middle school actually does um their clubs very well Um I feel like they have whether it be the cubing club
that they start at the middle school that then extended up to the high school Um you know robotics they do uh the different uh TV video like there's so many different things um at the middle school that I feel
like if a student is not purely an academic student if they have other interests they're going to connect with peers um in a different way And I think you said it beautifully in terms of connecting with teachers in a in a different way as well
I'm going to say one of the things I think we do well um at the high school although it can be the bane of my personal existence is all the electives because I think many of the electives are what teachers are passionate about and as students have an opportunity to go and
try different things whether it be computer science whether it be art whether it be something in business or technology um woodworking they they get to be with teachers who are also passionate and oftentimes with other students who find that passion and that
I see is a really strong place for kids to um build those connections uh amongst themselves and with their with their educators So um it's a challenge um in terms of scheduling and we spend a lot of time my guidance counselors spend a
lot of time during ad drop trying to make sure that students can get into the electives they want Um because we really do believe that's that's a great way for them to find some joy and some connections at the high school when
maybe drudging through math if math is not their thing um you know they get to look forward to that art class or to that robotics class down you know the next the next block So um and Asa also said the lunch bunch was
really helpful for her son Yes lunch bunches are awesome and and kids get to invite their friends It's so great It's such a great opportunity to have like a small little personal connection with a teacher and a few kiddos It's really great Um I've got two more questions for
you and I'm hoping that our group will be willing to answer these last two questions So the first one says "How can Norton Public Schools support families in improving student attendance?" Um we all know that it's so important for
students to be in school because they need to be here so we can help them uh with their learning and more days the miss they miss the harder it is to get caught up So are there ways that we can help families improve student attendance Having one week of spring
break instead of February and April having more time off at winter break when we actually have time to travel Okay I like that idea David I'll put out the last question too so any people can answer either of them Um
as we're thinking about this the last question is how do we get more information from people who were unable to participate tonight or unable to complete the survey So tonight we have four of you lovely attendees and double
the amount of panelists um eight panelists four attendees Um how can we get other people involved Do you have any insight as to ways that we can reach out to those families that are not able to join us um in an event like this
or not able to complete a survey What are your thoughts Dr O'Neal I wish I knew the answer to this one I feel like I'm always trying to get people to care about stuff That's why when you pop up it says KD and I
said there's Karen Drain I know who it is because you come to all my events and I appreciate it I know And I'm like people need to get here Um I don't know and if it's not this it's other things that I'm like come please be informed Um
so I don't know what it is It's I mean I think that the schools do great with communication I mean I get parent square messages and uh each of the schools are doing newsletters and I'm getting superintendent newsletter every week and emails and um so I don't I don't know
what's up for lack of information I just don't know where the people are So Karen I also think that kind of goes back to the comment that you made earlier when we talking about engagement and stuff and how um or getting people to go to things So like my children are I have a a sophomore in college and I have my
youngest as a senior in high school this year and I um was very I was a very active parent in terms of different boards and coaching things and well I didn't coach things I'm not going to lie but and involved in like in youth sports and things along those lines and doing a
lot of volunteer work and I still do um my so my son is a senior right now and we're working on our postp prom party committee and it's supposed to be all underassman parents that are running So the parents so senior parents can enjoy it But this year in in my town it's all senior parents that are running it We're afraid of what's going to happen next
year for the kids that are coming up and um if we're still going to have to run it even when our kids are gone So I think that there's something there's something has changed I don't know if it's postcoid or what happened but there's definitely um a is a challenge across everywhere I think for for
getting people to engage and to participate And um Karen I I truly appreciate like Jen was saying having you available for for so many events and activities and and things that are here and but it's a challenge when it's really seeing the same faces over and over and and sharing the same messages
Um so if there's anything that we can do to help participate and and grow that we would love to David said perhaps sending papers home as well Agreed Some I think sometimes people don't read emails I think you're absolutely right David I'm sorry Karen Did I interrupt you Oh sorry I was going
to say say to Casey that um the music parents program at the high school Matt and I joined this year and all the other board are seniors and so I guess him and I are taking it next year Good luck with that I want to go back to the same point that
you said There's I don't think there's a lack of communication on your end I mean we like you said we received the parent square messages We received the emails the reminders Like I myself have recently started volunteering with the LGN PTC to help like more for more social media outreach And I think you
know have trying to post all those things multiple times with multiple reminders but still not getting that increased presence from parents is more of a parents not really trying to be engaged kind of issue And I think that also goes back to the previous question
with the attendance because if the parents are not um trying to get their kids to go go to school the kids themselves aren't going to push for it either So I think both of like the solution for both of the situ those questions and situations are the actual parents
engagement And I'm not sure what to do about that like you either get the parents who want to actively participate and volunteer and be present or the parents who just don't and like we are also facing that same issue with the LGN school and like the parents over there
and the outreach Thank you Asia I I agree and it's hard because we when you get you know you do certain things you do see the same faces over and over again and you do see the same names And so we are so appreciative
for you guys for to coming out to you all for coming out tonight Thank you for spending part of your evening with us Um if you think of anything else that you think would be important to this process please don't hesitate send me an email give me a call Um I would love to have a
conversation with you So um thank you all for your participation tonight And if anyone has anything else to share I'll stay on for a few more minutes But otherwise have a great night Thanks for coming David Thanks for
coming Assha Thanks for coming Karen