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Students tell Jamestown board they want hands-on learning, flexible scheduling and inclusion
Summary
A district student summit reported to the Jamestown board emphasized hands-on, career-connected learning, flexible pacing and stronger inclusion for neurodivergent students; students also expressed skepticism about AI-generated instruction and endorsed more student voice in scheduling decisions.
Students who took part in a Jamestown Public Schools student summit told board members on June 1 that they value human connection in learning, want more hands-on and career-connected opportunities and seek greater voice in scheduling decisions.
Mr. Gaylor, who led the summit work, said the district held middle- and high-school focus groups plus a daylong summit facilitated by KnowledgeWorks. "Our kids understand what meaningful and relevant learning looks like because they do get to experience that," he told the board.
Gaylor summarized recurring student themes: a desire for more hands-on learning and flexible pacing, stronger peer support systems, increased opportunities for extracurricular participation and more inclusive supports for neurodivergent students. He said students repeatedly raised the value of human connection and said they could tell when teachers relied on AI-generated content. "They said we can tell when teachers use AI to generate content," Gaylor reported.
Practical ideas that surfaced included flexible schedules, open lunch and more chances for student-led projects. Gaylor cautioned that each idea involves trade-offs (for example, schedule changes could shorten the school day or change extracurricular timing) and recommended the board and district continue the conversation in the strategic-plan process.
Board members said they welcomed the student voice, noting that student input should inform upcoming strategic-plan discussions and any consideration of schedule-model changes. Gaylor suggested the state engagement survey’s belonging measure could be used as an ongoing metric to track progress.
The board did not vote on policy changes arising from the summit at the meeting; it noted the strategic-plan committee would meet June 4 to consider related priorities.
