Professional Documents
Culture Documents
MAY 2011
Survey deadline is May 24, 2011. One survey per parent, please.Complete surveys online at
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/2VKGFST
Return paper copies to the PAC drawer in the school office or put in the Abraxas Books Free Post under 'S'.
This survey will help us give the School District clear direction about hiring priorities. The
questions in the survey reflect emerging themes identified thus far in the community visioning
meeting of April 21, the follow-up meeting of May 2, and a number of PAC meetings. Over the
next year there will be an ongoing visioning, self-educating, experimenting and discussion
process about the focus of the school. Our goal for now is that the forthcoming hiring bring us
the best possible staff for that process.
Name (Optional and confidential): 26 people completed the survey (19 online, 7 on paper).
I am a...
2. It is important for the PAC to have input during the hiring process.
1 skipped answer
3. Which five qualities would you most like to see in school staff?
We need Karla Florian and Bethany Ireland (the new amazing music teacher) and
Amber Clark (E.A.)
Male
Honest
Local if possible
Fresh
Someone who enjoys being with the students and has fun while still teaching.
Have music background, 2nd. Language specialization, and an understanding and
ability to engage in a 21st. century teaching model.
The following definitions may help to clarify the questions below. For more information on these learning
approaches and models, please visit the links attached to the distributed minutes of the April 21 meeting or follow
the links below as a starting point. (Paper copies of the information in these links are available in the Transition Year
Documents binder in the school office.)
Interdisciplinary: Taking one activity or theme as a starting point for learning a variety of ‘subjects’ – for instance,
gardening as a way to study biology, nutrition, food science and cooking, health and medical science, botany,
working and planning in groups, meteorology, social studies and history (the development of agriculture and its
influence on human civilization; gardening and use of plants in different cultures), art, literacy and music (art, books
and songs about gardens) etc.
Place-based: Uses the students' community/neighbourhood and surrounding landscape as a classroom for hands-on
learning, exploring the curriculum, local history and culture through creative projects.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Place-based_education
http://www.antiochne.edu/anei/cpbe/
4. The staff should have familiarity with, and be interested in, educational
approaches that …
Connect the student with the place we live in – its natural environment, culture and people
(Place-based curriculum focus).
(Please note that due to a typographical error (incorrect spacing) this question appeared to be part of the above
question on the paper copy of the survey. The error was discovered after the survey deadline. Therefore, 7
people’s answers may have been different than shown. These individuals’ responses have been applied to both
the active learning and technology questions. Please accept my sincere apologies for this oversight. –W.W.)
Group students according to interests, abilities and learning styles rather than age.
No respondents selected the Disagree or Strongly disagree options for the above questions.
Male, sports interests, arts, music. I feel that the ‘3rs’ (reading, writing, arithmetic)
are very important.
See above.
The candidate should be flexible enough to adapt to changes within the school over
the next several years and have a genuine interest in the directions the Denman
school is looking at. They cannot be territorial about their class if they are going to
work with community mentors. This is not a job for ‘9-5ers’.
Fresh
Hiring someone who knows the kids and loves them, that would be someone that is
involved in the community and that the parents trust 100%. Someone who is educated
and has many years experience working with kids. Someone that the kids will listen to
and has a natural gift when it comes to dealing with kids.
I believe it is imperative that we have a team of people who work well together, and
with the successive circles of community that surround the school. This team will
obviously be very small, and needs to be functional, enthusiastic going into the year,
and led by a creative and flexible leader who has experience and skill in small
communities. I think getting job descriptions/postings from any of the small schools in
SD64 (from Jeff Hopkins) might prove very useful in this process.
Teachers need a principal who will work with them as a team member not a dictator.
Like a team captain rather than a general manager. Happy teachers make good
teachers. Teachers also require the support of parents to work as a team, rather than
their judgment… open the conversation.
The staff should be present in the school 5 days per week. The staff should be local.
The staff should be committed to working not only in the classroom but at lunch, after
school and during field trips.
Supportive of gender differences in behavior and learning styles (i.e. not expect boys
to be girls).
We need to have feedback as to who will be hired for the teaching/administrator position ASAP
so that parents have time to make appropriate decisions should they chose to leave the school.
Thank you for taking the time to do this survey and gather the results .