Niles North hosted the Principals’ Town Hall meeting where teachers and parents were able to openly discuss topics in the Annual Review of Programs and Personnel for the 2014-15 school year on Tuesday, Nov. 5 .
The meeting focused on four main topics: the current school day, school based health clinics, student and parent surveys [for feedback], and pathway to college readiness. Niles West principal Jason Ness and Niles North principal Ryan McTague were in attendance along with two school board members, seven school directors, teachers, and parents.
“Community voice is very important to us,” McTague said. “We hold these types of meetings so that we can get feedback, opinions and outlooks from those that the changes in our school district effect.”
The meeting started with the discussion of the current school day, and audience members were encouraged to voice their opinions. One mother brought up block and mod schedules. Other schools such as Glenbrook North and South have recently switched to this type of school day and have said nothing but good things about it.
The same parent brought up possibly changing the start and or end time of school. This parent expressed how not all students are ready to learn at the same time. Some are ready at 7:30 a.m. while others are ready at 9 a.m. By changing the start time to 7:30 a.m. and students have more time for extracurricular activities after school, while getting home at a reasonable time that they would have time for homework.
“There is no perfect school day,” Superintendent Nancian Gatta said. “I am open to all suggestions.”
Another concern with changing the way the school day is run is making time for students to meet with their teachers to get help in a specific class. This concerns the value of homeroom and a students schedule. Some parents felt that there needs to be more time for students to meet with their teachers, which led to the idea of introducing focus groups.
A second suggestions to better change the Niles Township Schools is introducing school based health clinics. These clinics allow health care where students are when they need it. This clinic would serve insured and uninsured students with medical and mental health care with written consent of their parents before and service is provided. Within the clinic, staff would consist of nurse practitioners, physicians, clinical social workers and psychologists. The school would work with other off campus clinics when a students situation surpasses the school’s ability.
A very positive outcome of introducing these health clinics would be that a student would be able to be diagnosed right there in school instead of having to be sent home and then go to the doctor’s office. For example, if a student goes to the nurse with a sore throat, a throat culture would be given to the student and he or she would find out immediately if she or he has strep.
A concern with the health clinic is staffing because each branch cannot be done by one person, so with that, the staffing number would change.
“It is very important that students achieve all that they can to ready themselves for college,” Gatta said. “This is why a teacher’s curriculum from kindergarten through 12th grade should consist of readying material. Also, common measures and assessments given to students should be the same.”
The Niles Township schools are in partnership with Oakton Community College in allowing students the materials they need to receive dual credit. This is another step in readying all students to go to college.
In order for The School Board and its members to make the right decision for Niles West and North, they need feedback from students, parents, and staff. Without the opinions and suggestions of the community, nothing would be able to run smoothly. This means that it is very important to take surveys that are sent out to the community because the results help the board to make positive changes for our schools.
