The following is from Columbia High School Principal Elizabeth Aaron:
Hello, CHS families.
As you have heard us say for well over a year, CHS is preparing for a visit from a team of outside evaluators (fellow educators) to review our current performance and programs as well as review our school’s mission and strategic goals and plans for the next decade. We have been working on this Middle States Self-Study process for well over a year at CHS as developed through student, staff, family and community work and conversations since 2013. The visit takes place November 10-13.
The Middle States Accreditation visit allows us and our outside evaluators a ‘deep dive’ into all aspects of life and learning at CHS. The five visiting educators spend three full days at our school, visiting classes, reviewing data, speaking with staff, teachers, community members, members of our Board of Education and Central Office staff, and more.
They also review the comments and information gleaned from students, families, and staff from completed surveys. We would very much like to have your support in this process through participation in that survey.
Below please find three things:
-A survey for parents/guardians.
-A survey for students.
-A link to the short film made by CHS TV and film students that highlights the work we did at our May 2015 conference, Columbia 2025, that brought together 63 community partners and stakeholders to envision Columbia in 2025. We think it would be helpful for you to view the film before you answer the survey.
Finally, attached, please find the Mission, Core Beliefs, and Profile of Graduates for CHS that has been developed over the past year throughout all of this work. You may recognize the mission – it is that which is cast in bronze in our front hall at CHS. We think it serves our students and community today as well as it was intended to do in 1927, and thus it remains the cornerstone of our work.
You may watch the film here, with no Google ID or log-in required.
Here is the Survey Monkey Link for parents/guardians. We estimate that it will take you about 30-45 minutes and appreciate your thought and feedback.
Here is the student link. We appreciate your encouraging your students to complete the survey.
(You may start and finish the surveys at a different time, but please know that you must use the same computer with which you started to finish.)
Please review the mission document attached as it will help you answer the survey questions. In advance, thank you!
We need all of the surveys completed by midnight Sunday, October 11.
Thank you for your work with us,
Elizabeth Aaron
