With next week’s Thanksgiving holiday, I have recently been reminded of the many reasons I am thankful to be a part of the school community here at ANCS.
This past weekend our school’s governing board and leadership team gathered for a day-long strategic planning retreat. Guided by a facilitator, we analyzed feedback from inside and outside the ANCS community—students, parents, teachers, APS, city council members, key partners, foundations—about the school’s strengths and areas for growth, and we began to discuss some possible strategic objectives for the school in the coming years. The energy and thoughtfulness displayed during the retreat is one reason I am thankful to be at ANCS. We have parents, teachers, and school leaders who care deeply about students and what the school experience is like for them. I am grateful to work with a governing board and school leadership team committed to excellence for our school.
But what I am most thankful for about being a part of ANCS is what “excellence” means for our school. Certainly we want students to demonstrate growth in their learning, and on that measure, we are succeeding: meeting or exceeding our charter goals for the CRCT, Georgia writing test, and other assessments. But at the retreat, there was much talk of other signs of excellence that are not always so easily captured in a single test score or number. The “magic” of morning meeting, where students take the stage and perform. Students’ showing an ability to be incredibly reflective about their learning. Teachers who care about and support their students.
All of our students, parents/guardians, and faculty/staff had the opportunity to take short “satisfaction surveys” a few weeks ago, and the responses support what we discussed at the retreat:
- 94% of parents/guardians are satisfied with their students’ educational experience at ANCS
- 100% of parents/guardians, 98% of faculty/staff, and 85% of students feel that students are known well by at least one adult at the school
- 97% of parents/guardians, 98% of faculty/staff, and 88% of students report that students are engaged in meaningful learning
- 92% of parents/guardians, 97% of faculty/staff, and 90% of students think there is good communication between school and home
- 98% of parents/guardians, 95% of faculty/staff, and 91% of students believe there is a safe learning environment at ANCS
At ANCS, we place a great deal of emphasis on relationships, which is why we ask for feedback about them. We believe an excellent school is one in which students are known well so that they can be appropriately supported and challenged and so what students are learning is relevant and meaningful to them. We recognize the importance of building a partnership between the school and home on behalf of each student. And we also strive to develop authentic relationships between and among students and teachers because we know that is the way you create a safe learning environment.
Terms like “data-driven instruction” and “student learning objectives” and acronyms like “CCRPI, TKES, and CRCT” currently dominate much of what gets talked about in many places in regards to teaching, language that seems totally devoid of any human element in one of the most human of professions. I appreciate working at a school that values the people in the building and knowing them—their flaws, their strengths, their interests—well to really broaden the definition of what “excellence” means beyond only high test scores. And I am most thankful for the faculty and staff at our school who carry out this important work each and every day.