In the Vista Ridge High School cafeteria for the first Leander ISD Community Conversation on Student Experience, a group of Reed Elementary School Roadrunners circled around an oversized sticky pad to jot down their favorite parts of their school.
Among the highlights they listed:
- unstructured recess;
- math strategies and practice;
- fun in the classroom;
- help when you need it; and
- opportunities for both group and individual work, depending on the lesson.
“I really like when teachers teach me different strategies, but I can choose my own way to solve the problem,” said Valeria, a third-grader at Reed, who joined her parents and brother at the first of six community meetings hosted at each LISD high school.
The Vista Ridge Community can share feedback on ThoughtExchange until Feb. 17 at 11:59 p.m.
Thirty-four parents, teachers and community members joined the Reed students to talk about their hopes and dreams for Leander ISD schools. Now, all VRHS families can share their ideas, as well as read and rate the opinions of their neighbors.
Members of the Vista Ridge community can comment about the futures of their schools using ThoughtExchange until 11:59 p.m. on Feb. 17. We want to hear from parents, students, teachers, staff and community members of:
- Akin Elementary School,
- Block House Creek Elementary School,
- Cedar Park Middle School,
- Cox Elementary School,
- Faubion Elementary School,
- Henry Middle School,
- Reagan Elementary School,
- Reed Elementary School,
- Rutledge Elementary School,
- Stiles Middle School,
- Vista Ridge High School, and
- Westside Elementary School.
As part of our effort to host in-person and online conversations throughout the district, Leander ISD will have additional community meetings for the remaining five feeder patterns on the following schedule:
- Leander High School on Feb. 10, 6 p.m. in the cafeteria;
- Vandegrift High School on Feb. 17, 6 p.m. in the cafeteria;
- Cedar Park High School on Feb. 18, 6 p.m. in the cafeteria;
- Rouse High School on Feb. 24, 6 p.m. in the cafeteria; and
- Glenn High School on March 2, 6 p.m. in the cafeteria.
During the meetings, attendees break into small groups to spark discussions about the future of schools in our community. They share their hopes and dreams with the other participants before launching into ThoughtExchange, the virtual tool for open-ended responses to the question: “What are the most important things our schools should do for each and every student?”
“We want to be accessible, authentic and transparent as we collect ideas, feedback and the dreams from our entire community,” said Superintendent Bruce Gearing, Ph.D. “We will share all of this input with our Board of Trustees to guide our work in transforming our schools to meet the needs of students who will graduate into a world we can’t imagine.”
The district will release a final report on the feedback from VRHS on Feb. 26, followed by a districtwide report in late March.
For more information about the conversation on community conversations in Leander ISD, visit leanderisd.org/conversations/.
