Students had the chance to share insights on the inner workings of the school with the Deputy Superintendent on Jan. 7. During the visit, Deputy Superintendent Aaden Stern sat in on a Instructional Leadership Team meeting, a Student Council meeting and visited classrooms with the goal of exploring how students learn best.

Stern said he enjoyed his visit to Bronx River greatly, saying “There is a clear sense of the positive school culture in the hallways, most notably as I got to see Principal Fucheck talking with students, laughing, asking about their families, and clearly aware of who they are as individuals.”

“I’ve been very interested lately in coherence, like how all the different things that a school is doing work together to create a unified experience for students and staff, and transparency, as in the extent to which the things that schools and school leaders say are important are understood by members of the school community” he said. “I’m always impressed by the strong systems and vision that the school has and am intrigued at the way students are now brought directly into some of these conversations.”

“I’m a big proponent of adults being transparent with students about how they are working to improve their teaching and support student learning,’’ he added. “I think it sends a powerful message that we’re all trying to get better and even though I’m a teacher, I know that I have to improve.”

“I don’t know this school enough to say ‘Do this’ or ‘do that’, so what I’m trying to do today is understand what their vision is. What are they working on? And really, my interest over the course of the day is to see what they say they’re working on, where is the evidence that it’s actually working?” He added that he’s here figuring out how he can “make recommendations to help that.”

Stern said that he has no exact recommendations yet, except that “the school should be listening to more student perspectives, which will help guide them in understanding what needs to be improved.”

Maria Moran, a ninth grader whose classroom was visited by Stern and Principal Gregory Fucheck, says “I just needed to prepare myself before he came over to me to ask questions, because I know usually they ask questions about ‘what are you doing today?’ and I just needed to prepare before being asked.”

She added, “I feel like the school itself is already doing well, with the exception of some students falling behind in lessons.” She hopes to make adjustments in order to benefit all students.

During the Instructional Leadership Team meeting with department chairs and administrators, students from each grade shared their reflections on instruction in their classes. “This activity did help me appreciate the teachers more, I got to watch the course of their work and effort they put into their lessons” said Myess Hammouri, a junior.

Students noted the structures and foundations holding up their work ethic. “I noticed the structure, time and orderly manner,’’ Emily Burgos, a ninth grader, said. “I never paid any mind to it beforehand until I sat back and observed their lessons.”

Jomayra Amparo, an 11th grader attending the team meeting, said “Stern had a very welcoming presence, so it wasn’t hard to be honest. I hope they take the advice given by students.”

Scarlette Manzanarez, student council president, spoke to Stern about concerns with student participation. “I felt safe, like I was taking on a leading role,’’ she said. “ I just felt like that proved how important the role I had as president really is. It felt like he would listen to me, and I’d be heard as a voice for the students.”

Stephanie Decicco, the representative for the Social Studies department, appreciated hearing feedback from the students. “As the department chair for social studies, I took notes on all the input from 9th through 12th grade so that I can lay that information to my department members and let them know how the students perceive their classes.”

She thinks it’s important to hear feedback from the students. “I would like to hear from a more diverse group of students in future conversations,’’ she said. “Hearing from all types of learners or students would be even better feedback for the teachers.”

“I think that the questions that students were asked to fill out on their survey were really reflective for the students but also for the teachers, because it made me specifically more cognizant of what the students find successful versus my definition of success” she says. “I think that student voice is important, student voice should be loud and the more opportunities the students have to impact their own learning the better.”

The instructional leadership team includes administrators, department chairs and students from each grade:
Staff who attended the Instructional Leadership Team meeting: Stephanie Decicco, Social Studies chair; Anna-Maria Jack, Science chair; Evelyn Mendez, English chair; Starr Giscombe, Assistant Principal; Rich Himed, Math chair; Deborah Porterfield, Special Education chair; Tene Kelly, assistant principal; Justin Chapura, English Language Learner chair; Gregory Fucheck, Principal
Students who attended the Instructional Leadership Team meeting: Jahayme Lamar, 12th grader; Cesar Jimenez, 12th grader; Myess Hammouri, 11th grader; Jomayra Amparo, 11th grader; Hawaou Kobeogo, 10th grader; Emily Burgos, 9th grader; Tahfizul Haque, 9th grader
Students who attended the Student Council meeting: Scarlette Manzanarez, 12th grader; Hashan Chowdhury, 12th grader; Abul Miah, 12th grader