Dear Lansing School District Community,
As always, it is a pleasure to write to you all. I hope that you had a wonderful Thanksgiving and were able to rest, relax, and spend time with family. My parents came to visit. We visited a cider mill, drove to Cleveland to see my sister, her boyfriend, and his family, went to Cranbrook, where we walked the grounds, and cleaned the garage so we can actually use it for a car and not just stuff. It was a good Thanksgiving all around.
Today, I want to write about increasing face-to-face communication throughout the district. In our modern age, we spend so much time communicating via email or text, interacting through screens and pixels. I love this new form of conveyance since it allows for information to be transferred to thousands of community members instantaneously. However, something is always lost when we talk through devices rather than in person. Ever since COVID, I have seen an increasing lack of personal interactions. And I think because of this, forms of distrust, anger, and frustration percolate faster and stronger. Thus, I think it behooves all of us to find ways to interact with each other in person, making sure we listen as well as talk.
Last week, we didn't have a weekly newsletter, but we did send out an email asking for families to join a Family Roundtable. The idea is for me and other senior administrators of the district to have a monthly face-to-face meeting with families of the Lansing School District. The response has been overwhelming. More than 50 family members have signed up to participate in this roundtable, committing to a monthly meeting at the administration building. Almost all schools are represented. I am thrilled I will be able to hear from at least one family member from a majority of our schools. The sign-up (see below) remains open until Dec. 8th. Depending on how many folks sign up, we might consider moving to a bigger space. We will keep you posted.
The incredibly strong response has led me to think about other ways to break down walls between the district and our community. I want to make sure the Family Roundtable gets off to a good start, but as we get the Family Roundtable off the ground, I want all of us to think about other ways to increase face-to-face communication. How can we increase the time for principals to talk to the school staff? How can we increase the time for parents and families to talk to principals and school staff? How can we increase the time for community members to talk with school and district administrators? How can we increase the time for school-based staff to talk with central office staff? There are so many groups of folks that could benefit from open, face-to-face dialogue. I look forward to all of us working on this endeavor. Please feel free to send me your ideas.
Thank you so much for all of your incredible support of our district. Together, we will do great things for the children of Lansing.
Benjamin Shuldiner, Superintendent
Lansing School District
