Dear PS107 Families,
Principal Joanna's update last night included information about the DESSA screener (Devereaux Student Strengths Assessment) that teachers are required to perform for each student in their classroom. The DESSA is a 40 question social-emotional screener designed to help identify students who need further support in developing relationship skills, self-awareness, responsible decision-making, and optimistic thinking. While we understand that this may be helpful for certain schools, it is our opinion that our school community excels in this very area and that this process may not be as important a tool at our school. We believe that social-emotional well-being is at the forefront of the PS107 experience, and that our teachers/counselors gather more information through their daily interactions than they could gather through a questionnaire.
This 40 question survey is required to be completed outside of classroom time and takes away from important planning time that our teachers need. Putting unnecessary strain on our teachers' already busy schedules. We would like to encourage families to opt-out of this screener unless you feel strongly that it would benefit your child.
If you have concerns about your child's social-emotional well-being, you may find the screener to be helpful. If not, you can opt-out of the DESSA by filling out this form before Friday November 25th at 5 PM. If you would like your student's teacher to complete the DESSA screening tool for your student you do not need to do anything. No classroom time will be used for this assessment and it has no effect on a student's grades or report card.
https://forms.gle/
Sincerely,
Parent Members of the School Leadership Team
Jill Davitt
Caitlin Gallagher
Laurie Tamis
Tali Horowitz
Cynthia Thaler
Davina Benaderet