What To Know About Madison Public Schools Construction Project

MADISON, CT — In a message to families, but also geared toward the community at large, Madison schools superintendent Dr. Craig Cooke announced that as the district is considering a schools construction project, input from stakeholders — families, students, staff and the community — is being asked for.

The big question is as the school district is considering a project that in part would build a new Pre-K to 5th grade elementary school, convert Brown School to a K-5 building, and update Polson Middle School, what are the most important things the Madison Board of Education should consider.

Cooke wrote: "As our community moves through these challenging times, Madison Public Schools recognizes that our ability to gather feedback and input from families, students, staff, and community members is more important than ever."

How? With a tool called ThoughtExchange, that collects and reviews feedback, as Cooke said "responses to this exchange will assist us in moving a building project forward."

How ThoughtExchange works

First, click here.

In this exchange, people are asked one survey question and then one-open ended question to solicit your comments. Folks can add as many thoughts as they'd like in response to this open-ended question. Cooke added however, that, "Knowing that you are able to add multiple thoughts, please note that it is helpful to limit each thought to one idea."

Once answered, respondents are then invited to move on to the next step to see their thoughts and the thoughts of others, and can assign stars to each thought — from 1-5 — depending on how strongly one agrees or disagrees with the idea.

Quick tips to keep in mind when using ThoughtExchange:

• This exchange is confidential. Your thoughts will be shared with other participants, but not your identity.
• You will see and rate thoughts that others have shared. (5 stars = strongly agree, 1 star = strongly disagree.)
• You do not need to rate every thought, though it's recommended that you rate at least 20.

People are encouraged to return to the exchange multiple times throughout the period it is open to add new thoughts and/or to continue ranking the thoughts of others.

The exchange opens Friday and closes July 30 at 5 p.m.

Cooke asks folks to "Please take a few moments to share your thoughts on what you believe is important for Madison Public School to consider in developing this building project."

Click here to join the Exchange

If you have any questions, please contact Liz Binger from LEARN at lbinger@learn.k12.ct.us or (860) 861-1231.