Investment Schools Community Meeting
Robinson G. Jones Elementary
Thursday, May 9, 2013
Guiding Questions for Families and Community Members
People: The adults who work in your scholar’s Investment School
1. How would you like the adults from the school to communicate with you about
your scholar?
 Face-to-face meetings
 One-on-one phone conversations
 Contact at the beginning of the problem, not when it has escalated
 Personal letters by mail
 Be prepared to use all forms of necessary communication
 There must be a formal parent/teacher introduction (open house) prior to the school
year so the parents can meet the teachers and see the environment ahead of time.
o Chance to explain expectations to parents ahead of time
2. Describe the personality of the kind of teacher and principal who would be most
helpful for your scholar and your family. What should they be able to do?
 Effectively communicate
 Have a set discipline policy from the beginning of the school year
 Do not play favorites
 Need to be more positive
 Understanding of students and parents’ time
 Communicate how much effort needs to go into a project
 Be culturally sensitive
o Different neighborhoods have different social needs
o Be aware of the neighborhood in which your students reside
 Focused- don’t just follow ‘No Child Left Behind’
3. Some or all staff members of each Investment School will re-interview for their
positions. Who should be part of the committee to select new hires? When staff
members are selected, they must sign a Letter of Commitment to the school. What
are some terms that they should agree to?
 INVOLVEMENT
o Needs to be more faculty to be present at SPO meetings
o Parents should be part of the process
o Grandparents should also have some involvement
o Legal guardians
o Scholars- provide personal insight into what type of teacher they want
o SPO officers
 AGREEMENTS
o Teachers should be dressed/presented/act professionally
 80% do, but some do not
 Kids have a dress code, teachers should dress equally appropriate
o Teachers should conduct class without disrupting the whole classroom when
a single child needs to be disciplined.
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Be able to appropriately address conflict
Be fair- see each student as an individual
4. Some Investment Schools will lengthen the school day for everyone, and in others
there will be opportunities for scholars to take part in extended learning time.
What should this extra time be used for? (i.e., work time on computers, extra
instruction in reading or math, small group or individual tutoring, book club, etc.)
 Extra tutoring- not just for those that need it, but those seeking enrichment
 Leadership opportunities teaching students how to become leaders
 Open to all kids- can catch on with many others
 Book clubs
 Individual tutoring and not always in a group setting. Personalized help is necessary
because some students do not feel comfortable in a group setting.
 Knowledge College and the flexibility to meet outside of the school (McDonalds,
Starbucks, etc.).
5. If your scholar could spend more time at school, when would work best for your
family? Staying later in the afternoon? Starting earlier in the morning? Coming to
school once a month on Saturday? Keeping school hours the same but taking
shorter school vacations?
 Saturdays
 Year round school years
o 9 on, 3 off; 3 on 1 off
 Evenings are not best for everyone
 Mornings are good for parents
 Morning work best for young students, evenings work best for older students
6. How can the visible appearance of the school buildings be improved? What would
make it feel more clean, more safe, more welcoming?
 More welcoming
 Bigger parking facilities
 More safety
 More organized approach to picking up/dropping off students
 R.G. Jones is a good, newer school, but the bathrooms can be cleaner.
 Additional helpers can be present to help direct the pick up/drop off of kids.
7. Have you noticed anything about the school that makes you feel money is being
used in smart ways, or that money is being wasted?
 SMART
o Smart boards
o Text books
o Materials
 WASTED
o Box tops
o Text books (some parents felt they were good, others bad)
o Needs to be a better understanding of how funding is spent
8. What kinds of investments would demonstrate to you that the school has changed
in positive ways?
 More programs
o Physical education is only twice a week.
 Additional sports programs
 Healthy foods for students
 Do not take recess away
9. What organizations in the community do you trust to offer services to your
scholar and your family, and how do you think the school should work in
cooperation with those organizations?
 Boy Scouts
 Girl Scouts
 Positive activity programs after school
Guiding Questions for Scholars
1. If you were a principal and you could change one thing about the school, what
would you change?
 More teaching time; so scholars can learn more
 More help from teachers
 Better and more menu options for lunch
 More physical education classes; so you can be fit!
 Smaller classes so there is more interaction between scholars and teachers
 Teachers who aren’t so hard to understand (better at explaining things)
 More of a mainstream curriculum (not so many special classes, like music and
art); more focus on math and reading
 More field trips – to broaden horizon
 More teaching – less playing around
 More learning games – more interaction and hands-on learning
2. Describe a helpful teacher. How should your teacher work with you to help you
learn best?
 Help kids learn so they can move on to the next grade
 More speech classes
 Spend more one-on-one time
 More interaction between scholars and teachers
 Offer more tutoring
 Explaining things clearer-spend more time on explaining answer than explaining
question
3. If you were at school for more time than you are now, what would be valuable to
do in the extra time?
 Reading more books
 Doing homework at school and then reviewing it
 Grade divided assemblies to talk about what was learned that day
 More math classes
 Time to get on the internet and research what they’re learning
 Meetings to discuss what they like and don’t like about school and classes
4. If you were at school for more time than you are now, which would you choosestaying later in the afternoon or starting earlier in the morning, coming to school
once a month on Saturday, keeping school hours the same but taking shorter
vacations?
 None of them (response from both 7th graders [2])
 Saturday classes; so they could learn more (3)
 Afternoon (2)
 Early in the morning (2)
5. What extra-curricular activities would you be interested in? Sports, gardening,
chess are some examples to get you thinking.
 Gardening
 Sports (basketball, soccer, football)
 Church
 Math groups (teams to play against each other)
 Tennis
 Reading clubs
 Music, bands
 Playtime (sports)
 Art Classes
 Dance classes
6. How many of your friends would participate in extra-curricular activities
 50%
 None (7th grader)
 All
o One scholar commented he would tutor his friends so he could participate
in extra-curricular activities. He said good grades are important.
Guiding Questions for Community Partners
1. If you have provided services/activities at the school in the past, (or currently),
describe how you know your work is having positive impact on students (and
their families, if applicable)
 Parents support programs
 Students play at recess which brings students together = work together in class
 Builds pride
 Kids burn off energy
 It brings the students together – then they work together better in class
 The kids have pride in their T-shirts
2. If you are not currently working in the school, in what ways do you think your
organization could best offer support to the school and its students?
 Media coverage – “come catch our act”
 See and report good things
 Parent engagement
o Parents need to come and interact with the school/students.
3. What other needs have you observed not being met in the school, for students
and/or families?
 PARENTS
 Parent involvement (is a big concern)
o How do we get them to come?
 Special education teacher suggested that an opportunity to teach parents what to
do with the children’s emotional and/or behavioral issues would be wonderful.
o The parents are lost because they aren’t trained to respond.
o BPDC suggested workshops regarding anger defusing
 We need a liaison between parents and teachers
 Need to make parents feel welcome
 Teachers should consider visiting students at home – long discussion from
special education teacher about behavioral issues stem from homes and/or
prenatal issues
 Consider a program for teachers to call the homes of their students
 De-escalation techniques for teachers
 No real time to teach other stuff – teaching designed around children passing the
Ohio Government Test
 Clubs, softball and tutoring after school
 Keep building open later than 5:00 o’clock (can’t really accomplish much before
school)
 Offer space at the school for SPO meetings
o BPDC offered meeting space for the Student Parent Organization (SPO)
in the evening so more parents have an opportunity to attend.
 Life skills lessons
 NPR mentioned social/emotional PATHS program
 The school opens at 8 am –breakfast – then school day starts at 9:30 am. Before
school is the more optimal time to have additional lessons. Grade school kids are
awake the morning; high school students are awake after school.
 Tutoring should not be done after school. Kids are shutting down and the
teachers are too. Kids need to play.
 More after school programs and extracurricular activities that involve both
students and parents, i.e. parent/child basketball or sports
 Consider pot luck dinners
o One Saturday the school was open to students, parents and teachers
from 9:30 am – 11:30 am. Teachers were there in jeans in a less formal
atmosphere than the school day. The kids were showing off for their
parents and enjoying it.
 More family oriented programs after school or on Saturday
 Need dedicated time to teach PATHS and Special Life Skills programs
(Due to time constraints, the facilitator asked questions 4 & 5 together and were answered
simultaneously)
4. Does your program/service have a direct tie-in to students’ academic or socialemotional learning?
5. What are effective ways to communicate with school leadership and teachers
about the program work being accomplished in the school? What gets in the way
of effective communication?
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School website where teachers could check a student’s progress, send mass emails
to students and parents
Would like to encourage parents to take advantage of free computer program so
students have access to computers
o One such program, Connect Your Community
o One teacher discovered more than half the students in his classroom did not
have computers or access to them.
o A math website for kids was not accessible for children to do their math
because they didn’t have access to computers.
Robocalls to parents regarding activities and school updates
Old school style community night with parents
Go to local media (radio stations mostly) and get free stuff for giveways to inspire
students
Encourage healthy eating habits – have a cooking class
Eric Gordon’s direction are years beyond the former two CEOs. It seems like he has
a purpose and it feels different. He sees things from both sides. Is an advocate for
teachers.
Phone tree
Best way to get parents is to have an open community night with food – they come
for the food
Progressive Arts Alliance – they come to you and it could be an afterschool activity
Teach kids to make movies
Use the school for a community center
Build habits of coming to the school
Get in-kind support
Radio Disney in the Hanna Building is a good place