What Was Learned from the Wisconsin Schools Project

Throughout the course of the past week, our group has been researching the Green Bay Area Public School District, finding statistics and data about different variables that are important to seeing how a school district runs. Variables such as cost of living in Green Bay, number of support staff at the schools, student populations, and student to teacher ratio were a few of variables that were chosen to be researched. After researching for hours, the data was collected and put into a spreadsheet, which was then averaged out onto a slide deck that our group will be presenting to the class.

Before starting the project, as small groups, we were asked to make a budget of what we think it would cost to run a school district. After being told to think of all of the administration, staff, faculty, and estimated costs for different things in a school, we slowly started to realize there is a lot more to running a school than one might think. I realized that I don’t often think about what it really takes to run a school.

Aside from the actual data, after reading up on some of the different schools, the district seems to have many resources for many different students and makes sure that those who are in need are taken care of. We talk about this idea of a safe place for students a lot in class. Sometimes students feel more comfortable and at home when they’re in a school environment. Making sure the students are as comfortable as they can be is crucial to their education and well-being. As a future educator, I think about this a lot. I want to make sure that my students always feel safe and well cared for. 

There are many moving parts and components for running a school, let alone a district. Having researched all of the different variables that are part of running a school, I have realized that it takes a lot of resources, both financial, time, and people, to run something as successful as education. I think that it is important that future educators know what all is involved with buildings they will be working in, and to understand that even though it doesn’t seem like it, there is a lot going on behind the scenes that isn’t even considered most of the time.