Be open to innovations even when disguised as challenges
In order to be successful, we need to hear what students and staff have to say and put them in the driver’s seat of their own education and practice. Through the survey and other ways of listening across the district, we heard that students want the opportunity to work together on real-world problems. Hearing what students and staff have to say—and giving them an opportunity to know they were heard—was the critical first step in our three-pronged Climate Suite and work to reinvent Meriden Public Schools.
Expanding time and professional learning opportunities is a critical part of the Meriden mission. The MPS Climate Survey is one systemic method of listening we employ to better understand and capture all voices in the decision-making process. Effective change requires a unified commitment, open communication, and honest collaboration with all stakeholders.
School is hard. Being a student is hard. Growing up is hard. No one knows this better than our students who are rising to the challenges every day. Transition Essays provide a way to support students by having them share their own experiences and learn from those of others. Through our transition work we have built and grown opportunities for students to share with each other through reflection, mentorship, and open discourse.
We put students at the center of our work. In order to be successful, we need to hear what our students have to say and put them in the driver’s seat of their own educational journey. Through the surveys and providing opportunities for student voice and choice across the district, we heard that students want the opportunity to work together on real-world problems. We needed to adjust our instructional practices to meet our students’ needs and deliver student-centered learning models.
Innovation Portfolios
Introduction
