Two auditors from the Blue Ribbon School Of Excellence spent the day at Hayes High School Tuesday speaking to parents, staff, community members and students.
Hayes Principal Richard Stranges said he organized the audit earlier this year after some staff at Hayes gave a presentation about Hayes’ House system at a Blue Ribbon conference. Stranges said he would love it if the school became recognized as a Blue Ribbon school, but added he just wanted more feedback on how to improve the school.
The evaluation will be done over the course of two days by long-time educators and principals, Scott Stewart and Ed Bernetich. During their two days at Hayes, the pair will evaluate classrooms, meet with the principals, speak to students, meet with Superintendent Paul Craft, and evaluate the school’s House program, where-in the student body was divided into eight houses in an effort to foster social growth and break up cliques.
“Today (Tuesday), we are looking primarily at instruction in the classrooms and relationships,” Bernetich said. “Relationships between parents that came in and what they think of how the school communicates with them; relationships among the kids; the relationships between kids and teachers; and the relationship between the teachers and the administration. Trying to get an idea of what the school’s culture is like.”
Stewart said once they get a feeling of what the relationships are at Hayes, they can get a better sense of the culture.
“That relationship thing Ed mentioned, combined with expertise of teachers, really has a lot to do with what we are looking for,” Stewart said. “We also look for community support and get perspectives from as many teachers as we can speak with.”
Adam Haynes, a history and social studies teacher at Hayes, was one teacher who was evaluated Tuesday morning. Haynes said he was a little nervous, but mostly excited about the audit.
“I’m used to people coming in (my classroom), because I welcome the feedback,” Haynes said. “There’s a little excitement and anxiety, but at the same time, it’s an authentic audit. Any profession would get nervous, but we welcome that.”
Haynes said he’s excited to hear back from Blue Ribbon, and he wants to find ways to improve for his students.
Hayes Vice Principal Rex Reeder is responsible for bringing the House system to Hayes, and he’s eager to get back the results of the audit along with the survey that was sent to parents ahead of the evaluation.
“I’m excited to be audited by a neutral party,” Reeder said. “I’m happy with our product, but I always like to get better.”
