Dear Whitesboro School Community:

Last spring, district staff, students in grades 3-12, and parents were given the opportunity to participate in a school climate survey. The survey, which was offered in collaboration with the National School Climate Center, was developed to assess key school climate dimensions including safety, teaching and learning, interpersonal relationships, and the external environment.

First and foremost, I would like to express my sincere appreciation to each of you who took the time to participate. I am pleased to inform you that the results of the survey have been compiled into a formal district report, which can be viewed by clicking here.

Overall, our results were very encouraging and confirm the presence of a positive school environment for our students and staff. We have identified two highly-correlated areas that we would like to explore further – social/emotional security and social media. For purposes of the survey, these are defined as:

Social/Emotional Security – Sense that students feel safe from verbal abuse, teasing and exclusion.

Social Media – Sense that students feel safe from physical harm, verbal abuse/teasing, gossip and exclusion when online or on electronic devices (e.g., Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms, by an email, text messaging, posting photo/video, etc.).

The survey results are being reviewed by building teams and will be utilized to develop targeted plans focused on our school climate. Included in our plans will be initiatives directed at both teaching students about the proper use of social media and developing strategies to use when faced with issues related to its inappropriate use.

Thanks, again, to all of you who took the time to participate in our school climate survey. In doing so, you provided us with the insights and information we need to achieve a positive school climate for everyone.

Sincerely,

Dr. Brian K. Bellair
Superintendent of Schools