Dear Bolinas Stinson School Families,
We are off to a great start this year, in spite of the challenges we are facing with COVID. By beginning the year with the BSUSD North Star Event, we jump-started our work together to develop exemplary school programs, foster inclusion, and build better ways to connect and communicate with each other. Please reach out to me if you have any questions, suggestions or ideas to help our school move forward with this important work.
BSUSD VIRTUAL BACK TO SCHOOL NIGHT FOR GRADES 2ND-8TH GRADE, TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 7TH, 5:30-6:30 PM
I hope you are able to participate in your child's virtual back to school night to connect with your child’s teacher and other families. Teachers in grades 2-8 will be sending a zoom link to all parents for their class sessions. This is an important time to learn about your child’s teacher, classroom expectations, grade level curriculum, homework, Google Classroom, and more!
BSUSD NORTH STAR EVENT ~ OVERVIEW OF THE PROCESS
Our BSUSD North Star Event was a huge success - we had a great turnout with the diversity of our school community well represented. The feedback we gathered from this event and the survey was honest and thoughtful. Please use this link to view a compilation of the information we have gleaned thus far: North Star Feedback.
REFINING ~ HOW DO WE MAKE SENSE OF ALL THE DATA?
Following the North Star Event, we began the iterative process below of refining the responses. This process helps to ensure that the information we gather is used to create a final North Star draft for our school that is actionable and will have a meaningful and positive impact on our school.
The BSUSD staff worked together at our Wednesday meeting to correlate, coalesce, and condense the North Star feedback (unintentional alliteration - I promise!)
The BSUSD School Site Council then reviewed the distilled North Star information and helped to further hone the responses. (Special thanks to Grace Godino for her efforts.) The Site Council worked to identify which ideas were most important for our school based on the number of times they showed up in the responses.
Share information (current draft) widely and gather additional feedback to create a final draft for our school.
SHARING ~ HOW WILL WE USE THE NORTH STAR INFORMATION TO ALIGN OUR VISION FOR OUR STUDENTS?
Once we have created the final draft for our school, it is important to share this information widely with the school community and focus on common goals. By using the same information to guide our work, develop programs, and modify school wide systems, we are better able to align our efforts and have a greater impact. We will share the North Star final draft with parents, students, staff, community partners, and board members and collect any additional feedback during the school year as we hone our vision for our students.
NEXT STEPS…INFORMING OUR WORK
We will review, modify, and develop school wide programs, systems, teaching, discipline, activities/events and committee work through the North Star Lens. Below are a few examples of how we will be using the information and the questions we will be striving to answer to guide our work together:
How does (program, activity/event etc.) support the qualities we value and want to build in our students?
What does our community view as our school’s biggest needs? How can we prioritize?
What school programs and activities will support those needs and build those qualities in our students? (Enrichment, SEL, curriculum, field trips, activities/events etc.)
Thank you for working together to make a positive change for our school! I will be sharing more information about the work we are doing in my future Principal Messages.
Warmly,
Michelle