MHS Wants Your Opinion

Montville High School wants to improve. And to do that, it wants know what parents and kids think about the school.

And, says Principal Chad Ellis, MHS wants to know when kids think one way about a particular aspect of the school, and parents think another.

Ellis is hoping that parents will take an online survey that focuses on school climate. Kids will take the survey in school.

The school is “in the process of doing a couple complementary things,” Ellis says. For starters, it is revising its five-year strategic improvement plan – and part of that, he says, “has to do with school climate and community relations.”

MHS wants to know what parents and students truly think about school climate – how students feel about their relationships with teachers, how they feel about group communication, how safe they feel the school is. And Ellis wants to know parents’ impressions, too.

"Is there a  disconnect between what the student and parent results are?" Ellis asks.  “I’m very curious about it.”

THE SURVEY IS A SERIES OF STATEMENTS, with a range of responses for you to choose from, ranging from “Strongly Disagree” to “Strongly Agree.” There is a place for comments with each answer, too. Here are some of the statements:

• Montville High School is a safe place for my child
• My voice is heard by the administration and faculty of MHS
• Student achievement standards and expectations are high, yet reasonable
• The physical appearance of MHS promotes learning and encourages school pride
• Students at MHS are mean to/bully others
• Physical violence is a problem at MHS

At the end, parents are asked to give their own responses to a couple questions.

THE SURVEY, ELLIS SAYS, stems from work the core values committee is doing. And that work has to do with improving the school and keeping its accreditation.

In New England, every school goes through the accreditation process every 10 years. Montville is five years away from the next review.

“Instead of scrambling at the last minute,” Ellis says, Montville is tackling some of the issues now.

In the past, every school had to have a mission statement and predicted outcomes – goals for what students could be expected to accomplish on graduation. Now, the focus is on these core values, at the very center of the learning process.

On the front page of the school’s new website, Ellis touches on those values: “We strive to live our core values of EFFORT, RESPECT, and RESPONSIBILITY in everything we do. From the classrooms to the playing fields, we expect our students and staff to model these values.”

To reach the parents’ survey, click here. To reach the students’ survey, click here.

Both surveys are anonymous. Ellis hopes to have results in a month or two.

Want to give your opinion? Come back later today for a poll on the climate at Montville High School, and add your comments in the box below!

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