Dear Parents and Caregivers:
We thank you and your family for being our partners as we work together to educate the children in our district. Newton Public Schools values input from our community – and we need to hear from your child or children! Student voice is important as we work to improve outcomes for everyone.
In order to learn more about student experiences at school and as a way of measuring students’ feelings of connectedness to school, their core social and emotional learning (SEL) skills, as well as mindsets, we will be asking for your child’s feedback via an online survey they will complete at school. We are partnering with a third-party vendor, Panorama Education, to support us in administering these surveys.
The survey will ask students to reflect on their responses to challenging feelings, emotional regulation, growth mindset, positive feelings, supportive relationships, learning strategies, and engagement (connectedness). The survey should take 15-20 minutes to complete and students can skip any questions that they are not comfortable answering.
We are asking all students in grades 3-5 to participate in the survey, once in December and again in May, as their feedback will provide invaluable insights into their experiences and how we can improve and adapt our district to their needs.
The individual responses to these surveys will be completely confidential. Individual student data is maintained in secure files and databases accessible only to teachers, administrators, staff, and school officials who serve these students. In partnership with families, staff review this data alongside other information to plan interventions for students with identified needs. Survey data will also be used to plan programming for the district, schools, grade levels, classrooms, and individual students.
District and school level results, which do not include individual student information, may be used by staff to improve SEL and mental health practices. District and school level results may also be shared with the community to describe the needs of our student body and opportunities for partnership.The SEL survey makes sure that student voices are heard.
This letter serves as parental notification under the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment. This federal law requires the Newton Public Schools to notify you and provide a mechanism for you to opt your child out of participating (or, in the alternative, obtain consent) in certain school activities including surveys that address potentially sensitive topics.
If you decide you do not want your child to participate in the survey, please return the opt out form (attached below) to your child’s school office by December 1, 2023. If you have not returned this form by December 1, 2023, survey administrators will assume that you have consented to have your child participate. This is an active opt-out process. However, even if you do not return this form, your child may voluntarily decide not to participate in the survey.
If you wish to review the survey, you may do so here. Specific questions about the survey should be directed to Jesse Krotick M.Ed, MSW, LICSW Coordinator of Elementary Support Stabilization and Multi-Tiered Systems of Support at 617-559-6167 or krotickj@newton.k12.ma.us.
Sincerely,
Jesse Krotick M.Ed, MSW, LICSW
