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20 | March 8, 2018 | The Northbrook tower news
northbrooktower.com
Photo Op
News Briefs
Northbrook Symphony to present ‘Solace
of Nature’
The fourth concert of the Northbrook
Symphony’s Music is Magic series, “Solace
of Nature,” will celebrate the beauty
of nature and simple, rustic joys of a bygone
era with a trio of classical and romantic
works.
Of special interest is a rare performance
of Robert Schumann’s final masterpiece,
the long-lost Violin Concerto, presented
by violinist Dmitri Pogorelov, one of the
work’s most ardent champions and a favorite
NSO guest artist.
Do you see
this ad?
Rabbi Meir Moscowitz
submitted
this photo
of children and
parents trying their
hands at making
Hamentashen in
honor of the Purim
Holiday at Chabad
of Northbrook’s
pre-holiday event
that took place
at Northbrook
Mariano’s.
Did you snap a cool
photo of a beautiful,
funny or cute moment?
Send it in as a Photo
Op to Editor Martin
Carlino, martin@
northbrooktower.com.
The program opens with the exquisite
Dance of the Blessed Spirits from Gluck’s
opera Orpheus and Eurydice, a vision of
the mythical Elysian fields.
All are encouraged to bring young family
members to every concert this season;
the NSO is continuing its exciting offer of
free tickets for grandchildren when accompanied
by a ticket-holding grandparent.
The concert will be held at 4 p.m. on
March 25.
Submitted by the Northbrook Symphony
News Briefs are compiled by Editor Martin
Carlino.
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847-272-4565 www.22ndcenturymedia.com
Northbrook District 27 Board of Education
Survey results indicate satisfactory
performance from District 27
Todd Marver
Freelance Reporter
Bill Foster, president
of School Perceptions, an
independent research firm
that specializes in conducting
surveys for public
and private schools, educational
service agencies,
communities and other
state-level organizations,
was in attendance to present
the Northbrook School
District 27’s satisfaction
survey results at its Thursday,
March 1 school board
meeting.
The parent/community
survey was conducted in
late January to early February.
All parents were
sent an email invitation
to take the survey online.
Each email contained a
unique survey link that
could only be used once.
Postcards were also
mailed to community
members to inform them
of the survey opportunity.
This year’s survey had
375 responses.
The survey had around
500 responses two years
ago the last time it was
conducted. So there was a
slight decrease in participation
from the last time
the survey was conducted.
Foster interpreted the
decrease in participation
to not having major problems
in the district.
“Participation is a little
lower than it was two
years ago,” he said. “My
experience is if there’s
a problem, participation
goes up. I’ve done some
projects in neighboring
districts around here
where participation has
been very high and there’s
been big problems.”
Eighty four percent of
respondents have children
attending D27 schools. In
terms of overall District
satisfaction for non-parents,
86 percent are either
satisfied or very satisfied.
Sixty-seven of nonparents
felt the District
does a great or good job
in accomplishing its mission
of educating students
to succeed in a changing
world. Seventy three
percent of non-parents
felt the perceived quality
of District 27 has a positive
impact on their home
values. Fifty nine percent
of non-parents gave the
District an A grade. In
terms of overall district
satisfaction for parents,
94 percent felt very satisfied
or satisfied with
the district. Eighty three
percent of parents felt the
district does a great or
good job in accomplishing
its mission of educating
students to succeed in
a changing world. Eighty
two percent of parents felt
the perceived quality of
District 27 has a positive
impact on their home
values. 62 percent of parents
gave the district an A
grade.
“I’d be surprised if that
5 percent of the parents
who aren’t happy right
now would go 4 or 3,”
Foster said. “You’re really
at a high level. I think
that’s the takeaway.”
A staff survey was also
conducted in late January
to early February. All
staff members received
a survey invitation via
email, which contained a
unique access code. Each
access code could only
be used once to take the
survey. This survey had
148 responses. Seventy
nine percent of teachers
gave the district an A
grade. Eighty six percent
of teachers rated District
27 better or much better
compared to neighboring
school districts.
“When you look at the
data, you want to put almost
more emphasis on:
How is our staff doing?”
Foster said. “Because if
they’re going south and if
they’re not feeling good,
it’ll ripple. The good news
is your staff is extremely
positive. That’s always
encouraging to me.
These are probably the
best results that I’ve seen
bar none. They don’t always
look like this, trust
me.”
Moving forward, the
district looks to improve
on or maintain its already
high levels of satisfaction
from the survey results.
“We’re at such a high
level the only place for
us to go is pretty much
down,” Superintendent
Dr. David Kroeze said.
“Our goal is to try to be
laser like in some areas to
improve them and hopefully
try to maintain the
other ones.”
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