Ness School Seeks Mission Statement

A handful of parents and a larger handful of teachers - about two dozen in all - spent an evening this week working with big educational ideas.

The purpose of the meeting at Ness Elementary was to finalize a mission statement to guide the school’s work for the next five years.

“Let me tell you how important this is,” said Doug Wieber, president of the Ness Parent-Teacher Association. If Ness Principal Tom Moore were to leave - “God forbid,” Wieber said - the mission statement would explain to a new principal what Ness is all about.

The goal of finalizing that statement eluded the group’s grasp.

Despite notices sent home, phone calls home and the offer of a free German sausage supper, Tuesday’s meeting attracted just a few parents.

They came up with ideas for tweaking some language in the proposed mission statement. “Must” was too confrontational. “Will be” or “is” seemed better.

“Teaching” was too narrow. “Promoting student learning” won support.

But the biggest alligator of all - values - escaped untackled. So did another major topic, academic standards.

Wieber seemed eager to wrestle with questions about the role of parents in a school, the role of values in a school. The following scenarios were raised - but went unanswered:

If a child finds someone’s pen on the floor in her classroom, may she claim it as hers?

If a teacher discovers that a student has lied, should the teacher reprimand the child?

If the school discovers that drug or alcohol abuse by a parent is hurting a student’s ability to learn at school, how should school officials react?

Writing a mission statement is part of what’s known as a self-study. It’s a process that each public school goes through every five years, under state law. Work on the mission statement has occupied countless hours for the parents and teachers involved.

Some early discussions were heated, said principal Tom Moore. The school community involves a diverse population, including a high proportion of transient families who may not have students at Ness for more than one year.

The self-study, overall, involves looking for strengths, weaknesses and assembling a plan to emphasize the former and improve the latter.

At the end of the evening, Wieber listened with half an ear to his wife, Linda - “Cameron has homework!” she stage-whispered from the door - while he brainstormed for yet another meeting.

, DataTimes MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: FINAL DRAFT It is the goal of the Ness community to provide a foundation for every student to be a successful lifelong learner. This can best be accomplished by establishing a nurturing atmosphere, effective partnerships, solid footings, a safe environment, individualized instructionand excellence. Academic and citizenship standards must be priorities for effective learning to occur.