WASC Team Interviews Students

During the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) assessment of Campolindo classrooms on March 14, some students were pulled out for one-on-one interviews with the visiting committee.

Approximately twenty students were issued slips inviting them to lunch with the WASC team in order to answer questions.  The students met March 15, and were excused from periods 5, 6 and 7.

“They asked us what our favorite part or our favorite things about Campo were,” explained sophomore Melissa Wright. “And also, what we don’t like about Campo.” Wright found the experience pleasant, including the free pizza.

The WASC team later used the information gathered from students in their report. “They really wanted to understand from a student’s perspective what Campo was like,” said Associate Principal Karen Findlay. “They just wanted to know what students thought, what students thought about the culture of the school, about the instruction, their classrooms.”

“It wasn’t stressful at all. They were all really nice and just wanted to know our honest opinions,” said senior Kate Metcalf. “They wanted to help us, and it wasn’t like they were trying to get anyone in trouble. It was just, they wanted to see what life was like here.”

The selected students said they felt they could speak freely in front of the WASC team, which likely provided the team with better information to evaluate the school.

“It was a very casual conversation,” Findlay said.

The students were asked about specific topics, such as block scheduling, but also had a lot of freedom in their responses. “Everyone seemed pretty comfortable. It was pretty much just open discussion,” Metcalf said. “We were just chatting, and they were asking casual questions, and we were answering casually too,” she added.

Some students, though, didn’t care to share their opinions when it came to the negative things about the school. “Some people didn’t really talk a lot, because they probably didn’t want to say anything,” Wright explained. “They were definitely comfortable talking about the good things. They wouldn’t have shared anything bad if they didn’t feel comfortable,” she said. “I think the bad things that they did share, they were comfortable with them.”

Most participating students said that the WASC questioning was not an interrogation, but allowed students to share their honest thoughts. “It wasn’t stressful and for us, it was kind of like talking about what we wanted to,” said Wright.