Irving School Principal Jennifer Olson was hired last year promising to change the climate at Irving School — and now she has data showing attitudes are much different among parents who send their kids there.
The Irving School Climate Survey, completed at the end of the last school year, shows:
- 96 percent of parents believe there are high expectations in the school
- 96 percent of parents believe their child is safe at the school
- 93 percent of parents report their child is learning a lot
- 84 percent of parents would recommend the Irving School to a friend
The school climate data from parents shows improvements in every category of the poll, which is given to parents, students and teachers.
“We definitely saw the greatest growth in satisfaction among parents overall,” Olson said. “Their numbers in the previous climate survey tended to be the lowest.”
The 2011 – 2012 Irving School climate survey showed just under 80 percent of parents felt their child was safe at the school. Only about 70 percent of parents in 2011 – 2012 believed the principal set high expectations. About 60 percent of parents in 2011 – 2012 said they would recommend the school to a friend.
The families whose children attend the Irving School have a high poverty rate. In recent years, 67 percent of the students qualified for free or reduced-price lunches, compared with 23 percent at the Bradley School (Derby’s other elementary school). There is also a substantial achievement gap in Derby between minority students and wealthier students.
Last year Olson and the staff at Irving rolled out the “respect” model, a structured behavior program that was successful within the New Haven school system, where Olson previously worked. The idea was to pay more attention to kids from the minute they walked off the school bus, and to give them clear instructions as to what was expected from them.
In addition, the school became much more open to parents within the school community. Example — a parent teacher organization was launched (and they are scheduled to meet 6 p.m. Wednesday at the school).
Olson said she was happy to read that parents are comfortable talking to their child’s teacher — and that the parents feel teachers show parents respect.
“It’s important because it builds a partnership,” Olson said. “Teachers can’t work in isolation. What we do needs to be a home and school partnership.”
The surveys also reveal areas that need improvement.
For example, only about 25 percent of teachers in the school said morale is high. That’s better than the roughly 18 percent the year prior, but still nothing to jump up and down over.
About 30 percent of teachers said students treat adults with respect. That is a double-digit improvement over the previous year, but it’s still an area that needs improvement, Olson said.
Only 48 percent of the students reported that students are nice to each other, another area staff will concentrate on this year, Olson said.
Twenty eight percent of parents still say bullying is an issue. That’s down from 40 percent in a previous survey.
“It’s a significant decrease, but 28 percent, in my opinion, is still too high,” Olson said.
Staffers have been concentrating on positive reinforcement and teaching kids what good behavior looks like.
Example — in the morning, an announcement might be made telling staffers to be on the lookout for a student helping another student. Those students could be recognized for their good behavior.
“(We) constantly talk about building strong character in kids,” Olson said.
