Dear Hastings Families:
One of Lexington's core values is continuous improvement. Feedback and effective communication are vital to fostering continuous growth and development. At Maria Hastings School, we encourage and value your feedback. This feedback can take many forms - both informal and formal. Here's a brief overview of ways you can offer feedback to our school.
1. Immediate Feedback: Helpful feedback is specific, constructive, and immediate and may emerge from a particular issue or concern. A note or e-mail can be sent to alert us to an issue. A phone conversation or in-person conference can allow for dialogue about the issue. Listed below are to whom these messages should be directed:
a) Classroom Teacher or Specialist
b) Assistant Principal
c) Principal
2. Feedback on My Work: I welcome feedback on my performance as an educational leader and administrator. Leadership in a learning community has many facets, including: articulating and modeling a vision for the school; supporting a safe and nurturing community for children, families and staff; setting and acting on goals that promote continuous learning and improvement; and advocating for the needs of children, as well as the school as a whole. The administrative part of school leadership is establishing and attending to procedures and structures in such a way as to keep the school running smoothly, thus enabling children and adults to focus their attention on learning and growth.
Parents should feel free to send me feedback anytime during the school year. This could be in writing via a note or e-mail,by phone, or through an in-person conference. I welcome both quick suggestions and more global comments.
I annually ask the faculty to provide me with feedback by completing a written assessment and/or participating in a general discussion led by members of our Faculty Planning Team, an advisory committee that meets with me monthly. In addition, in regular supervisory conferences with the Superintendent, I am asked to share and discuss patterns in feedback I receive from faculty and parents.
3. School Council Survey: Each year, our School Council conducts some sort of parent survey. A comprehensive survey is conducted every three-five years to help in identifying school goals. A smaller survey is conducted annually. These annual surveys focus primarily on short-term goals. For example, last year we asked about our efforts to enhance the climate at recess and our new spelling program. We also invite more general feedback each year by including more open-ended questions. Last year, we asked:
We encourage you to offer feedback on this spring's parent survey.
4. Get Involved: Another way to give and act on feedback is to be involved in ongoing work in the school.
I hope this letter clarifies the many ways you can provide us with both immediate and long-term feedback. I would only add my encouragement to speak up and be heard. Please don't wait for a problem to build up. Your comments and suggestions are always welcome!
Louise Lipsitz
Last update: 08-28-2008/mja