Parents, Teachers—the Brass Wants to Know What You Think

"And the survey says ... ?" No, the re-make of the "Family Feud" is not coming to town. But the Survey Workgroup of the Norwalk school system has arrived.

The program has been created as another vehicle to improve schools and school districts in Norwalk.

"This is the first time something like this has been done around here, and we're really excited about it," said schools Superintendent Susan Marks. "We are going to gather all the data from the survey's and see how we can make our schools better." 

The working group has created detailed, individual surveys for parents and staff members. They can go on-line to the Norwalk Public Schools web site to fill out the  survey in topic areas such as student progress and expectations, atmosphere, learning experience, school leadership and professional development. The staff survey will be posted until May 31st. The parent survey will be up until June 6th.

"The survey allows parents and staff members to help guide the administration, teachers, and all the professionals in the building toward positive outcomes," said  Joe Giandurco, a teacher at Ponus Ridge Middle School. "It will help us establish goals for all the schools and see what works well and what needs improvement." 

This program wasn't designed by an administrator who said, "This is how it's going to be done," but rather by a compilation of teachers,parents, administrators, and community representatives, who are trying to do what's best for everyone. 

"We want to listen to our constituents and stakeholders, " said Marks. "We need to gather all the data and figure out how we can improve on every aspect a student, staff member and parents experience in the school system."

Another goal of this type of survey is to improve the lines of communication between parents and school administrators.

"It's important to make sure that parents have a voice and know where to go to have it heard," said Lisa Lenskold, president of the PTO council. "Some parents tell us they may not get along with a certain principal in the school district. This is a way to open the dialogue up and correct the problem." 

Results of the surveys will be rolled out some time in the fall.

The survey is not an end-all and be-all for the problems that may plague Norwalk Public Schools, but it's definitely a big step in the right direction, said Dr. Robert Polselli,  Director of Technology and survey committee member.

"This is a work in progress. We still need to polish up a few things," he said. "But I really think this is going to be a great thing for the schools and I definitely think that they will improve because of it."