The WS administration has a lot on its plate. Considering it needs to monitor an ever-changing construction situation while running a large high school, it is fair to say that the administration has a lot to worry about on a daily basis.
However, that does not excuse the lack of information it provides to WS students and parents. Since the beginning of this year, the school has been way too quiet.
The most dramatic example of this involves the mold and the air quality in the trailers. The issue was definitely a little overblown by the student body. Regardless, it is the administration’s responsibility to tell us when there is a potentially hazardous situation going on in the trailers we sit in every day.
The administration chose to tell the teachers, from whom the information slowly trickled down to the students. This caused some angst among the student body that went on for several weeks. The outcry on Snapchat and on Twitter was hilarious because it wouldn’t have been such a big deal if it didn’t seem like some secret to the students. Had the school sent a timely email in the first place, the drama would have never happened.
The email sent on September 19th came too late. However, the issue was brought up at the first PTSA meeting on September 11th. Principal Mukai says that increased student and parent involvement in PTSA would help the student body stay more informed day to day.
The PSAT test was another example of a lack of information throughout the school.
An email sent on June 29th was the most recent information I could find about the need for a calculator on the test. While you can’t blame it on an email, a calculator could have helped many students on the test. Everyone in my row certainly would have had better luck with one, and I certainly could have used the reminder. Those scores can be very important, especially for juniors, who rely on them for scholarship opportunities. A school that values academics and test scores needs to do a better job informing their students so they can succeed. That said, WS isn’t entirely to blame. An update to the Keep in Touch system makes a lot of emails from the school look like emails from the county, which could be overlooked by parents.
The new system is called News You Choose, and is an email from the county address. An extension to the morning announcements or a more personal email from the school could alleviate this lack of communication.
Some blame for what’s happened thus far can be placed on the students. I’m sure if we really tried, we could figure everything out for ourselves.
Half the kids taking the PSAT probably could have remembered to bring a calculator for themselves, and can figure out how to get their score themselves. However, that expectation is a bit unrealistic.
We need to be reminded of important events, and along with our parents need to know what’s going on in our school. It is the job of the school to update both students and parents. This is especially important considering the inconvenient situation our renovations present.
Principal Mukai sees this as an issue as well, and is trying to improve communication between the school, and students and their parents. “One thing we can start looking at is better ways to get information out,” he said.