Communication
Keep communication
open, keep parents informed
The Granite
School District Board of Education is conducting nine community meetings to give
citizens better access to the board. The responses on this website are part of
the communications plan to help keep you better informed. In addition to these
special board meetings, citizens are welcome to attend any regular board
meeting. If you want to offer suggestions at any board meeting, please
contact us to let us know you are coming and
what you would like to talk about, so we can be prepared to help you.
Schools
frequently communicate with families through back to school visits, school
newsletters, telephone calls, etc. There are other ways we provide communication
opportunities for parents, students, and other patrons. Perhaps one of the most
active communication tools we use is our “Updates by E-mail” service. On our
website, citizens can sign up to receive new information on specific topics such
as school weather closures, board meeting agendas, news about district division
initiatives, school boundary changes, and to receive the Board Report and
other publications. You may
subscribe to receive
e-mail notices on the topics you want here.
Granite
District also publishes a parent newsletter, Pathways, five times a year.
All parents of Granite students should already be receiving the newsletter. It
contains news about the district that affects all of our patrons. If you are not
receiving Pathways, please visit our website to
download the publication.
If you are
trying to reach a district office and are unsure who to call, go to the district
website and click on
Contact Us in
the upper left corner. This page contains a list of most district departments,
their functions, e-mail contacts, plus phone and fax numbers.
If
you are not getting information you need from any of these sources, please
contact us by
e-mail or by phone
(646-5000), and we’ll have someone get an answer for you.
Our mailing
address is Granite School District, 2500 South State Street, Salt Lake City, UT
84115.
Asked at Cottonwood High School network meeting, October 17,
2007
Asked at Olympus High School network meeting, November 23,
2007
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Granite
High School
advocacy
Each school in the district has the responsibility to
promote itself to the public. Granite High is a school, not a program.
Consequently, as with all schools, Granite High has the duty to advertise
its unique educational elements. Many high schools receive assistance from
their communities in promoting their strengths. As students and teachers
learn of distinct opportunities found at Granite High School that meet their
needs, they should be drawn to this small learning environment.
Asked at Granite High School community meeting, October 24,
2007
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Patron communication with the superintendent and other
district leaders
At times, parents of Granite District
students have concerns with school or district programs, and they need answers
or solutions to local problems. Superintendent Stephen F. Ronnenkamp is willing
to help parents resolve any such problems, and he believes that your best
solution lies where the problem exists.
It is suggested that parents or other
community members who have school or class concerns, should first address them
directly with the appropriate teacher or principal. If you don’t receive a
satisfactory response, you may contact the superintendent’s office at 646-4529,
or you may send him an
e-mail message.
You may also address your concerns
about a school, principal, or teacher with a district School Services director
at 646-4535. If your concern is about a district program, you may contact the
director of that program using the Contact Us directory on
our website.
Asked at Cyprus High School community meeting, January 8,
2008
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How can I be better informed about education issues so that I can talk to
legislators about our schools?
Some Granite District parents and other patrons want more
information about the school district so as to be better informed when issues of
public education come up. We publish several good sources about our programs and
services.
Our
Pathways
parent newsletter, which is mailed to all
parent homes five times each year, is also archived on our website.
The 2006-07 Annual Report, recently mailed to all parent’s homes, also give
statistical and program information about our students, schools, and programs.
Attending
board of
education meetings or reading the board’s
agendas
or
minutes
will provide information about current district issues.
In addition, anyone may subscribe to
our
Updates
by E-mail service. This allows you to choose
what topics you want to receive by e-mail such as daily news stories relating to
public education, notice of board meeting agendas, school test scores,
school calendars, district publications, proposed school boundary changes, and
more.
Asked at Skyline High School community meeting, January 16,
2008
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District website
Some of our patrons have commented that the district website
needs to become more user-friendly. We agree!
In fact, in the weeks prior to our high school What Counts
meetings, we began the process to redesign the website, particularly the home
page, to make the information that parents, students, employees, and other
people need easier to find.
We hope you will understand that it will take a few months to
make a complex website easier to use. We plan to have a more user-friendly site
up and running by April 2008. In the meantime, you may find what you are looking
for by using the search window at the top of the home page (it’s immediately to
the right of the words “all sources” at the very top).
If you have
suggestions on what you would like to see on our website, please send an
e-mail message to Public Relations.
Asked at Skyline High School community meeting, January 16,
2008
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Supporting public education
There are many ways that individuals can help support and improve public
education:
-
Volunteer in your local schools to assist teachers in
their classrooms.
-
Attend special events at your local schools and become
an advocate for the schools among your friends and neighbors.
-
Join the PTA and get involved in the many services and
activities they provide for children.
-
When you encounter a problem concerning education, don't
jump to conclusions. Contact those who are most directly involved and ask
questions to learn as much as possible about the situation; then ask how you
can assist in correcting the problem.
-
Stay informed about public education issues and contact
our elected officials with input as they make decisions that affect public
education.
-
Serve on community councils.
-
Attend community council meetings to learn about the
challenges and issues facing your local schools.
-
Be an informed voter.
-
Read the information sent by the schools and school
district and help correct inaccurate and incomplete information when talking
with your neighbors and friends.
Asked at Skyline High School community meeting, January 16,
2008
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Representation and accountability
When board members take their oath of office they clearly commit themselves to
serving the entire district. Once on the board of education, we members must
look at the issues in relationship to their impact on the district as a whole.
While we may not always agree with each other on issues, we are all committed to
what is best for all the children of the district. However, each member of the
board brings with them a specific understanding of the needs of the community
they represent and has a responsibility to advocate from that perspective and
share that knowledge with the board as a whole when discussing issues and making
decisions.
The superintendent of Granite School District is accountable to the Board of
Education for implementation of its vision, programs and policies.
Asked at Skyline High School community meeting, January 16,
2008
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Creating electronic publications
A Granite District patron has suggested that we send our publications
electronically and save the costs of printing and mailing. In fact, many of our
publications are now available by e-mail. Please visit the Updates by E-mail
webpage.
We plan to improve the electronic presentation of our publications and to reduce
the number of issues that we print and mail. We recognize, however, that some of
our employees – and some parents – do not have internet access. We don’t want to
lose contact with them or deprive them of information.
Our plan for the newsletter, the annual report, and for our parent newsletter,
Pathways, is to create electronic versions that can be easily navigated and read
on a computer screen. Then we will notify all recipients that they may continue
to receive a printed version upon request. All others would receive only the
electronic versions.
Designing a publication that can be easily navigated and read on a computer
screen will take some time and money, as well. In the long run, we believe that
it will save resources and provide speed and access to information about Granite
District and our schools.
Asked at Taylorsville High School community meeting, January
22,
2008
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