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Evaluate the Hoover School Board - posted 05/16/08

The HSCIN has obtained the evaluation instrument that our Hoover School Board utilized in its most recent self-evaluation.  We invite you to participate in the community's evaluation of our School Board using the same instrument.  This evaluation will remain open through May 30, 2008.

Click here to evaluate the Hoover School Board

We appreciate the Hoover School Board taking the time to perform the self-evaluation and hope that our community's evaluation will offer valuable input as well. 

We will provide the results to the Hoover School Board.

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Hoover School Board Self-Evaluation - posted 05/14/08

Click here to view the presentation given to the Board of Education on Thursday, May 8, by the Alabama Association of School Boards.

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New Survey - Help Us Out, Please - posted 05/13/08

The HSCIN is looking to better provide our school community with the information you want and need to better engage in your child's education.  Always seeking to improve the information that we offer, we would appreciate a few moments of your time to let us know what information is useful to you.

Click here to take the survey

This survey will remain online through Friday, May 23.

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Vitality Survey Results - posted 05/12/08

Thank you to the 670+ respondents who took the time to complete our latest survey.  Thanks to Mrs. Laura Hall, Director of Research and Insights for Southern Progress Corporation, who authored and analyzed this survey for the HSCIN.  Through Mrs. Hall's efforts, we are better able to understand what your survey responses tell us.

Click here to view the full results of this survey.

Click here to view the open-ended responses.

Overall, when asked to rate the importance of the following attributes for maintaining vitality in our schools, respondents gave the following rankings:

1 -Each Hoover school offers a similar quality of education
2 -Hoover students attend schools close to their homes
3 -Each Hoover school has similar student/teacher ratios
4 -Each Hoover school has equitable school facilities
5 -Hoover students attend school with their neighbors
6 -Each Hoover school has a neighborhood identity
7 -Each Hoover school offers similar extracurricular programs
8 -Each Hoover school has similar levels of economic and racial diversity
9 -Each Hoover school is large enough to field strong sports teams
10 -Each Hoover school preserves traditions such as team names and colors

The rankings differed a bit based on the level of schooling, e.g., elementary, middle, and high school.

One interesting bit of information that arose from these responses is the difference among our high school zones as to how to solve perceived overcrowding. 

Of the families in the Berry Middle School zone who believed that some of Hoover's schools were at or near capacity, 39.8% believed the best solution was to rezone students to buildings already owned by the school system, as opposed to 16.8% and 12.0% of families in the Bumpus and Simmons Middle School zones, respectively.

Of the families who believed that some of Hoover's schools were at or near capacity, the percentage of respondents who believed that building new schools was the preferred solution was 45.1% for families zoned to Berry, 52.1% for families zoned to Bumpus, and 57.7% for families zoned to Simmons.  [The above information can be found on page 21 of the survey results.]

The results get more interesting on page 22, when the results are compared based on respondents' high school zones.  Of the families in a particular school zone who believe that schools are at or near capacity, 41.1% of  the Spain Park High zone respondents believe that rezoning is the answer, versus 15.5% of the Hoover High zone respondents.

When asked what trade-offs families were willing to make if buildings were going to be built (page 30 of the survey results), the trade-off most acceptable was to increase property taxes.  There were differences among high school zones there, too, but the differences were minimal.

We have given these results to Superintendent Andy Craig and Board President Donna Frazier.

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Blue Ribbon Lighthouse Schools - posted 05/12/08

National Blue Ribbon Selection Committee Visits Spain Park - May 7, The Birmingham News

"Blue Ribbon Lighthouse Schools serve as a beacon for exemplary achievements and contributions to ensure successful educational experiences for all children by shining a positive light on America's best schools and programs that work."

Click here for a list of Blue Ribbon winners from 2004 through 2007.

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Your Questions Answered

The HSCIN is now offering a service we call "Your Questions Answered".  If you have a question about Hoover City Schools that you just can't seem to get answered through traditional channels (always check with your child's teacher and school first!), submit your question to us at HSCIN@HSCIN.org.  We will attempt to get a proper response from the appropriate responsible area and will post your question with the answer.  We borrow this idea from a similar group in Texas, the Gunter Education Forum.

Remember, always ask the appropriate authority first.  We will be unable to answer school-specific questions.  Rather this will be an opportunity to get more information about the larger District of Hoover City Schools.

We've created a new page, Your Questions Answered, to post your questions and responses. 

Here's our first response to our first question!

Middle School Advanced Classes/Enrichment - posted 05/04/08

The question: 

What is the plan for addressing the needs of the gifted students in our middle schools?  We seem to have a good plan for elementary school, with the Enrichment program, and for high school, with lots of opportunities to take advanced classes.  However, in the middle schools, all I've seen available is 'Advanced Math'.  That is great but math is just one subject and there are plenty of other ways a student may be gifted.  I don't think we are serving this group as well as we could be.  It seems like we are just letting them coast for 3 years.  What do other great school systems do with their gifted middle school students?   

I've asked this question several times to different faculty members.  The teachers all tell me they think there is a void there too, but no one seems to know what to do next.

The answer can be found by clicking here.  It is long and we have put it into a PDF for ease in posting.

Please let us know if you have further questions.  We thank Hoover City Schools for assisting us in researching this question.

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Discussion of the Third High School, 2000-2008 - posted 05/01/08

Click here to read an historical perspective of what Hoover's past and present leaders have said about the need to address Hoover's future high school population growth.

Sources include The Birmingham News, City Council minutes, and Board of Education minutes.

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HSCIN Looking for New Board Member - posted 05/03/08

HSCIN Board member Earl Cooper resigned from the HSCIN Board of Directors effective May 1, 2008.  Earl will begin serving a 5-year term on the Hoover City School Board of Education on June 1, 2008, as a result of his being appointed by the Education Committee of the City Council in April 2008. 

As such, the HSCIN is now seeking a Board member.  To learn more about the workings of the HSCIN, please visit our Board of Directors page where all Minutes of meetings are kept. The HSCIN's goals are posted here. 

Over the past two years, the main work of the HSCIN has been through this web site, keeping our Hoover community informed about issues affecting our public schools.  We hope to move more toward the actual work of engaging families in their children's education in the near future through conducting workshops, town hall meetings, and other informative sessions to help our Hoover families engage in the actual education of their child.

If you are interested in helping our Hoover community become more engaged in our children's education, please contact Trisha Crain or Jackie Hamilton at HSCIN@HSCIN.org.  We hope to fill this position by June 15, 2008.

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A+ Newsletter April 30, 2008 - posted 05/04/08

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Class Size Reports 2007-2008 School Year - posted 04/25/08

The Alabama State Department of Education requires school systems to file reports of class sizes within their schools.  Click the link below to view the class size reports by school and by teacher:

Bluff Park Elementary
Deer Valley Elementary
Green Valley Elementary
Greystone Elementary
Gwin Elementary
Riverchase Elementary
Rocky Ridge Elementary
Shades Mountain Elementary
South Shades Crest Elementary
Trace Crossings Elementary

Berry Middle
Bumpus Middle
Simmons Middle

Hoover High Freshman Campus
Hoover High Senior Campus
Spain Park High

The HSCIN will publish reports regarding student/teacher ratios in core classes at all levels, elementary through high school.

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How to Better Engage with Your Child's School and Education - posted 01/26/08

As part of the HSCIN's goal to engage our families in our children's education, we have opened a new page of resources specifically designed to help you engage with your child's school, whether you be the family member of an elementary, middle, or high school student.  All ideas for enhancing this page are appreciated.  Send your suggestions to HSCIN@HSCIN.org. 

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