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In discussions and emails with community members, I have heard distressing stories about incidents of bullying and harassment in our schools. The targeted students report not feeling supported by adults at school, disciplinary actions that students feel target the victim, and not wanting to attend school. These feelings are borne out in the results of SPS’ annual Student Connectedness Survey, which is an anonymous survey of students in grades 3-8 that gauges students’ feelings about the school environment, covering a wide range of topics including:
- Do they feel welcome at school?
- Do they feel rules and consequences are administered fairly?
- How frequently do students observe and experience kind and unkind actions?
- How do adults respond to problems they report?
The survey results from each school reveal much about the day-to-day school environment of our students. If SPS truly lives by and models its equity statement, then 12 percent of Curtis students saying they don’t feel safe in the hallways is too many. Has your child ever told you about something that happened at school and your first response is to ask if they told their teacher or any adult? The survey shows us that a large portion of our students did not report to an adult at school that they were threatened, called mean names, or were stopped from being friends with other students. In our elementary schools that number ranged from 31-40% of students and at Curtis it was 76% of students. Our students need to trust that telling an adult will help, not lead to a worsening of their situation.
Attention to professional development for SPS teachers and staff around these issues could give the adults in our schools the tools they need to model welcoming and supportive behavior for our children. According to data supporting the Wingspread Declaration, there is strong scientific evidence demonstrating that increased student connection to school promotes educational motivation, classroom engagement, and improved school attendance. Those three factors in turn increase academic achievement and the findings apply across racial, ethnic, and income groups. When students feel supported and connected to their school, they are primed to succeed in their academics and in their friendships.
See the School Connectedness Survey data at https://sites.google.com/a/sudbury.k12.ma.us/social-emotional-resource-site-for-sps-parents/social-skills/local-sel-data
Find out more about the Wingspread Declaration at
https://www.pcsb.org/cms/lib/FL01903687/Centricity/Domain/202/national_strategy.pdf