{"id":7512,"date":"2019-04-03T13:21:19","date_gmt":"2019-04-03T18:21:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/5badbfa87a.nxcli.io\/virtual\/?p=7512"},"modified":"2019-04-03T13:21:19","modified_gmt":"2019-04-03T18:21:19","slug":"superintendent-message-about-student-voice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mtcs.org\/virtual\/superintendent-message-about-student-voice\/","title":{"rendered":"Superintendent message about student voice"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">I fell in love with MTCS last year, and took on being the Superintendent because I want to help make great programs, even better\u2014for students, staff, families and the community. \u00a0And how do you make things better? You listen. Deeply. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Engaging students\u2019 voices in the process is one of the most important steps. \u00a0To really understand all that MTCS can be, I have started meeting with students at the various programs to ask them things like: \u00a0What does the school do really well? What do you wish someone asked you? What do you think the school could do to be better? Who believes in you and how do you know it? \u00a0How can we help you more? <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">So far I have met with students at MTS Secondary School, the Powell Leadership Academy, Banaadir Math &amp; Science, Banaadir Academy South Campus, and MTS Elementary. \u00a0I will be meeting with all the schools in the coming weeks, including our online programs. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Students from kindergarten to our soon to be graduates in 12th grade, have joined me around a table and shared lunch, or snacks and honestly and openly shared their ideas, hopes and dreams for their school and their lives. \u00a0Not only did I get to know them better, but they offered great ideas and insights! <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">I am excited to meet with all the programs\u2019 students, and meet again with the students I have already talked with, to dig a little deeper into some of their ideas. \u00a0Here are some of the things I heard: <\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">they are interested in more creative classes and opportunities\u2014to explore careers and options, <\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">they want more after school programs and more field trips and hands on experiences,<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">and they want more choices and more freedoms \u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">and Banaadir South students would really love a soccer team!<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">As a group, students expressed they felt connected to someone and supported here. \u00a0One student said, \u201cWhen we need help, someone is there.\u201d And a number of students talked about how the school solves problems very well, with its restorative justice circles. \u00a0This was so important to hear, because supporting each student, one-on-one, is at our heart as a school. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">I also heard students sharing their value for friendships and relationships with other students, staff, and their families. \u00a0Students at MTS Elementary expressed their appreciation for their principal, Sue Dornfeld, as she greets each and every child as they arrive, every day. \u00a0One of the second grade students shared that Mrs. Dornfeld greets her as \u201cLittle Principal\u201d as she has a goal to one day become a principal. In listening to the second grader talk about her hopes and dreams, I am encouraged by the work and learning taking place and confident that she can and will achieve her dreams. \u00a0Without doubt, we as the MTCS community, are fortunate and privileged to serve over 3800 students via our 9 programs across 7 sites. With that, it is an honor to offer diverse programs as a means of providing an education that truy meets the diverse needs of our students and families. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">I was so proud to be at the table with them, hear them, and pledge to work together to make their supportive and caring schools even better.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">It\u2019s the kids that make a school a great place. Our students and families have many choices for their education and I am very grateful for the choice to be part of Minnesota Transitions Charter School. Because of the genuine care and commitment on the part of students, staff, and families, we are on a path to achieve greatness for all. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">And speaking of better\u2014the world is going to be a better place because of our students and I look forward to continuing to getting to know them all. \u00a0After all, as a \u201cstudent centered\u201d school, we have tremendous value for each and every child. Each student brings with them a wealth of diversity making them who they are and who they want to become. \u00a0With all sincerity, we believe in welcoming and accepting each and every individual and we are committed to continuous growth for all. Education provides a means to achieving the hopes and dreams of all. \u00a0We welcome all, we serve all, and we believe in all at MTCS.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I fell in love with MTCS last year, and took on being the Superintendent because I want to help make great programs, even better\u2014for students, staff, families and the community. \u00a0And how do you  [&#8230;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":7513,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7512","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mtcs.org\/virtual\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7512","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mtcs.org\/virtual\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mtcs.org\/virtual\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mtcs.org\/virtual\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mtcs.org\/virtual\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7512"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mtcs.org\/virtual\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7512\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7514,"href":"https:\/\/mtcs.org\/virtual\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7512\/revisions\/7514"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mtcs.org\/virtual\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7513"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mtcs.org\/virtual\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7512"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mtcs.org\/virtual\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7512"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mtcs.org\/virtual\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7512"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}