Greetings Arthur CUSD 305 staff, families, and community members,
While the pandemic has all of us focused on the here and now, Arthur CUSD is also looking to the future to ensure our students have what they need to be successful. As our district plans for the years to come, we know that there is always room for improvement; and we hope to be able to get your perspectives on what we should be considering as it relates to learning spaces, learning opportunities, and how we continue to provide a quality school system with the means we have available.
A task force comprised of school board members, administrators, staff, parents and community members has been launched and will be meeting over the next several months to develop a strategic plan, which will include a long-range facilities plan that aligns with the strategic vision and goals of Arthur CUSD 305. To help inform their work, we are seeking input from the district community to understand what our community values when it comes to our schools and classrooms.
Today we are launching a crowdsourcing tool called ThoughtExchange to collect your feedback on what improvements we should consider as we develop our long-range facilities plan. Specifically, we ask you to share your thoughts about what is most important in district classrooms and other ideas you have for improving the school facilities.
We then ask that you review and rate the ideas contributed by others. In the end, we will have a pool of prioritized ideas that comes from all of us and that will help us to continue inspiring and preparing learners for their future.
HOW IT WORKS
ThoughtExchange is not a survey, but rather an online conversation that operates as a way to crowdsource ideas. Participation is about not only sharing your thoughts in response to an open-ended question, but also about reviewing and rating the thoughts of other participants.
ThoughtExchange operates like a three-step process in the span of a condensed period (in this case, roughly 10 days):
- SHARE - First, share a thought or idea in answer to the open-ended questions posed
- STAR - Review the thoughts of others and star thoughts you like
- DISCOVER - See the results of the exchange, including which thoughts were rated highest by your peers and see themes that emerged.
DIRECTIONS
- LOG ON - You can participate in ThoughtExchange via your web browser or by downloading the ThoughtExchange mobile app. Note that all responses are confidential. Thoughts are not linked to specific participants or to which thoughts they star.
- DESKTOP - Follow THIS LINK to participate in your browser
- MOBILE - Follow THIS LINK to participate via a mobile device (e.g. tablet, phone)
- THOUGHTEXCHANGE APP - Participate in this exchange by downloading the ThoughtExchange mobile app (Apple store) or by navigating to tejoin.com and entering the following 9-digit code: 972-983-726
- SMS/TEXT ACCESS - Text the 9-digit code 972-983-726 to the phone number 728-55 to get a link to participate in this exchange (NOTE: Message and data rates may apply. You'll receive responses to any messages you send, and up to 3 messages total to keep you up-to-date with this exchange. Text STOP to opt out or HELP for help. For our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy, go to https://terms.thoughtexchange....)
- SHARE THOUGHTS - Add a response (“thought”) to the open-ended question posed. Enter as many thoughts as you like
- RATE THOUGHTS - React to or (“star”) thoughts shared by your classmates.
- DISCOVER - At any time you can go to the Discover Dashboard to see the top thoughts in real-time. After the exchange closes, a report of the top thoughts and a link to the full results will be shared with district leaders and will be shared with all staff after May 14.
- TRANSLATIONS - A note about the language translation option - This platform uses Google Translate to allow for real-time engagement across multiple languages. As such, some of the translations won’t be perfect, especially when a participant uses slang or conversational language to articulate their thoughts. Nonetheless, we use this translation option to allow maximum participation and access for all Willmar Public Schools community voices.
TIMELINE
The Arthur CUSD 305 facilities feedback exchange will remain open through the end of the day on Wednesday, Nov. 25. During that time you are encouraged to visit the exchange multiple times to fully engage in the discussion, respond to ideas from others and discover how your ideas compare.
Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts and ideas. By including all voices, we better ensure that our facilities are appropriate to the learning needs of Arthur students for years to come.
Sincerely,
Shannon Cheek, Superintendent
Arthur CUSD 305