References, Parent, and Student Reviews

References

Parental Feedback

"My wife and I just completed our 18th and last conference of the past two days, and it was with Ms. Cruz, who teaches our daughter --- in 9th grade World History class. I just wanted to say that her presentation was superlative and a worthwhile model for others in the future. Ms. Cruz was thoroughly prepared with a very brief slideshow overview of the curriculum, focusing on content and skills development, and continued with a slide personalized to ---'s progress in which she had asked the students to describe 6 areas where they think they have strengths and weaknesses. As she shared ---'s comments with us, she then supplemented and amplified ---'s points with her own commentary. She took questions and kept within 9 minutes. In all, it gets an A+ from us.

I would suggest you ask Ms. Cruz to model one of her presentations for you and your colleagues. While I would say that most of our other conferences were also very informative and on target, and always (thankfully) congenial, this one was most worthy of emulation."

9th Grade Parent (2021-2022)

"I just wanted to send you a special thank you for a great year, particularly for my daughter --.

Your class and your teaching style was incredibly motivating and inspiring for her, and I believe took her learning to a new level this year. You really made history relevant for her, and that is a true gift!

So I just wanted to reach out and let you know how much your teaching is appreciated!!!"

11th Grade Parent (2020-2021)

Student Feedback

"I just wanted to see how your school year has been going and tell you that I think your social and political movements really prepared me for my Introduction to Inclusive Schooling class. I'm an inclusive elementary and special education major, the class is essentially about the history that caused the systemic prejudices in the education system."

Former Student and Current Undergraduate in Syracuse (2022-2023)

"Student autonomy can be really important because it allows students to be vocal in the class, but the teacher should also make sure that the classroom doesn't get too chaotic. Our history class is a really great example of this balance because, I think I speak for the entire class when I say, we all have a great amount of respect for Ms. Cruz as well as her teaching style. I also believe that her mutual respect in us, her students, is what makes the classroom so functional and balanced."

11th Grade Student Response to the Importance of Student Autonomy (2020-2021)