While clear and consistent communication is a key component of the trust shared between families and the OJR School District, it is vital to the collaborative relationship families expect from the district’s Pupil Services Department.
This past December, Pupil Services hosted a pair listening sessions where parents and guardians were invited to share opinions, feedback, and ideas about special education, gifted education, and section 504 plans with members of the OJR Board of School Directors and district administrators. We sincerely appreciate everyone who took the time to join us and share their experiences with us. Your experiences are helping us to design strategies that will better serve your children and that will drive our ongoing efforts to continually evolve with the needs of our students.
The listening sessions yielded positive and constructive feedback, with several clear themes emerging from both meetings. Overall, families expressed positive sentiment about the services we are able to provide in our schools. In addition, many participants shared inspiring stories about school staff and the role our teams have played in their child’s progress.
We received strong feedback about our referral process and the role we can play in helping to communicate about pathways for your child. Parents expressed concerns about the screening process for support services and the potential loss of valuable time due to a lack of knowledge regarding options.
As part of better supporting students, we’re also going to focus on best practices for training OJR staff and ensuring staff is equipped with the knowledge, training and tools they need to prioritize the unique needs of our children. We also understand that transitions are key component we’re going to re-vitalize as we move forward, including consistency across all classrooms and grade levels.
We know that quite often our schools serve as second homes for our students. Teachers, staff and administrators serve as trusted leaders for students and are instrumental in helping to shape the adults our children will someday become. Trust, inclusion and forging stronger connections will continue to be a priority for our staff and a focal point of any and all strategies and trainings we implement.
Time is of the essence, and that is why we have already begun to dive into your feedback, develop action plans and are moving forward with members of the Pupil Services Board Committee to finalize our strategies, trainings and next steps.
Once again, we thank you for your partnership in helping to uplift and support our students. For us, the listening sessions were a crucial step toward providing students with the highest levels of support. If you were unable to join us at either of the listening sessions, we invite you to reach out to your school principal or special education supervisor with your feedback and questions.
We look forward to sharing additional updates in the future, including here in The Wildcat Way newsletter.
