Recent School Climate Work

  • Sullivan County School District, Blountville, Tennessee
    In 2003, as the result of several law suits, thirty-six elementary, middle, and high school principals were required by the Justice Department to work to improve school climate and reduce racially motivated bullying and harassment. Most principals were resistant because they did not accept the premise that they had problems with harassment in their schools. Sullivan County hired MSA to help them assess their school climate improvement efforts and move forward. Focus groups and student interviews have been conducted in all schools to gather first-hand accounts of students’ experiences, student and adult leaders have been trained to collect school climate data and lead improvement efforts and all schools are now in the process of collecting their third round of student and faculty surveys.

    In addition to improvements in school climate, findings from data collected in Sullivan County showed a positive correlation between school climate improvement and academic achievement.

    After four years of hard work, principals are motivated and encouraged by the results they have seen from participating in the SafeMeasures™ Process.


  • Maranacook Community School District, Readfield, Maine
    MSA has helped the four elementary schools, as well as the middle and high school in the Maranacook Community School District to collect school climate data. These schools are now analyzing their second year of data and continuing with action planning for school improvement. Faculty, students, administrators and the superintendent are engaged in the process and helping to think creatively about school improvement in a rural district.

  • APEX II, New Hampshire's Droput Prevention Program, Manchester, New Hampshire
    MSA has collaborated with the New Hampshire APEX Drop-out Prevention Program to help New Hampshire High Schools understand why students drop out and how they can encourage those students to remain in school. Two high schools volunteered to begin this work. Students and adults from Woodsville High School and Somersworth High School participated in a leadership summit led by MSA at New England College, then they administered school climate surveys, helped to analyze the data and present these results to their schools as well as other schools across New Hampshire at the APEX spring summit.

    These schools will continue to serve as models to others.This winter, Berlin High School and Raymond High School joined these efforts and more schools will join over the next few years.


MSA Summer Institutes
Send a team of teachers and administrators to a regional or online summer institute for our "Respectful Schools Basic Training." Click the link above for more information.