Under the guidance of professionals from the Center for Social and Emotional Education at Columbia University, the Jericho School District invited parents, students and staff members to complete a school climate survey this past spring. The survey was designed to measure perceptions about physical and emotional safety, quality of instruction, social, emotional and ethical learning, respect for diversity, school community and collaboration, morale and environment. "Our goal is to evaluate this input from all constituencies," explained Jericho Superintendent of Schools Hank Grishman. "We continually look for feedback to improve both the academic and social emotional climate in our schools. We hope to establish a revised set of formal goals for the district this year based on the information we have received."

Sixty-five individuals, representing students, parents, faculty and administrators from across the district, as well as members of the Board of Education, met for more than six hours on Friday, September 21, to begin analyzing the data. After an initial workshop where Columbia professionals outlined the format of the data to be examined, the committee broke off into small groups to review the input from each school. "Follow-up discussions are in the process of being scheduled to develop a series of building-level and school-wide recommendations," said Grishman. " We will continue to keep residents apprised of our progress to develop an action plan for school improvements."