Representatives from the District Board of Trustees visited M-A to observe classes and interview students and staff on Friday.
“The Board likes to understand what’s going on at schools from a more local perspective, and there’s no better way to do that than come and visit,” Trustee Sathvik Nori said.
Representatives spent the day stepping into classes for five to ten minutes each. They observed classes with a range of grade levels and disciplines, including AP English Language & Composition, science classes, and freshman English, known as MCLV, a class central to recent controversies about detracking.
“I got a chance to see Mr. Rosenberg teach a lesson on absurdity and Albert Camus, and it was really cool to see his passion on the subject and how interesting he made philosophy,” Nori said. Because the District is often removed from the day-to-day life of students, visiting each school in the District every few years provides the board with a more real perspective on student life.
“We really appreciate the passion that a lot of the teachers have. A lot of teachers shared stories with us, especially elective teachers, about how they saw students who might not have traditionally enjoyed school really thrive in their elective classes, and how it improved their self-esteem and might have given them a reason to try school. Hearing those stories was really fulfilling and made us understand how important a lot of these classes are,” Nori added.
The Board spoke with a focus group of 12 students, each involved in a different aspect of the M-A community, for an hour. These activities ranged from community service and clubs to basketball, debate, and robotics.
“I talked about my personal experience in debate—how it helped me find my people, the accolades and the accomplishments the debate team has, and how it’s really transformative for a lot of students,” junior Shawnak Shivakumar said. “Each person brought their own unique experience.”
“I talked about robotics and how it changed me as a person,” senior Luis Licea said. Licea, who plans to major in robotics, described how he found community in the robotics team after moving to the U.S.
“The activities people are doing in M-A are shaping their career, which is really profound to me,” Shivakumar said.
Students also discussed what they would improve about M-A, which included more diversity and representation in student activities and improved communication about the opportunities M-A offers.
At the end of the day, board representatives interviewed department heads, who discussed AI and cell phone usage.
“They shared a lot of interesting tools about how we can encourage students to do their own work and how we can prevent cell phones from being distracting in our classrooms. We talked about the importance of having a uniform policy and what we can learn from other districts and other policies that we implement in our own district,” Nori said.
“The Board always enjoys visiting classrooms, and it’s really cool to see the hard work M-A has put in this year. There have been a lot of ups and downs, especially considering how many tragic losses of life that have happened at M-A, but it’s great to see how resilient our community is and how we’re so focused on ensuring that people have a great four years in high school,” Nori said.
