In preparation for our high school planning retreat, we did some focus groups—with parents, with current college students, and with our own ISW students. Though I enjoyed all of the groups, my conversation with our own upper elementary and middle school students was, by far, my favorite. We asked our students several open-ended questions; their answers are revealing about who we are as a school community. You can learn a lot about a school by talking with students!
First, we asked our students, “What characterizes an ISW education?” We recorded all the answers on the white board, and then each student placed stars by top three responses. Here are the results:
- Creative/artistic/musical (11)
- Fun/cool (9)
- Small (7)
- Strong academic subjects: math and history (7)
- Friendly/socially easy/happy/loving (6)
- Hands-on, experimental (6)
- Inspirational/ new hope (4)
- Dreams (3)
- Peaceful/calm (3)
We also asked our students to paint a word portrait of an ISW graduate. In other words, “Who do you hope to be when you graduate from ISW’s high school program?” Again, the results speak volumes about who we are as a community:
- Kind, never bullies (6)
- Good face-to-face skills (4)
- Mature, responsible, knows what is appropriate when and where (4)
- Physically fit (4)
- Smart, strong academics (4)
- Respectful (3)
- Ready to live with others (2)
- Has a good plan for life (2)
I was so proud to see “kind” at the top of the list! We have some wise, “old souls” here at ISW. How lucky I am to work with such amazing young human beings every day.
Claire McDonald