Giving students meaningful opportunities to share their perspectives is a key part of building a positive, inclusive culture in the Jamesville-DeWitt Central School District. It’s one way the district is working toward its strategic plan priority area of Enhanced Student and Family Experience. Through student leadership forums and surveys, administrators are ensuring student voices are heard, valued, and reflected in decision-making.
One of the newest initiatives is the Superintendent’s Student Cabinet, which launched in December. The cabinet aims to represent a wide range of voices and perspectives at J-D High School. Students meet with Superintendent Darcy Woodcock to share feedback, discuss ideas, and provide input on decisions that impact their school experience, policies, and the future of the district.
“I think the Superintendent’s Student Cabinet is an extremely helpful way for students to directly exchange feedback and ideas with Dr. Woodcock,” said J-D High School student and cabinet member Nozila Alibekova. “In the long run, this cabinet can strengthen the relationship between students and the superintendent.”
“I’ve utilized student cabinets in previous districts with very successful outcomes. It’s important to me that students feel seen and heard,” said Superintendent Woodcock. “We’re just starting out, but I’m already so impressed by our students. I’m looking forward to working with them and seeing what we can accomplish together.”
At the middle school level, student voice is also a priority through the Student–Principal Alliance, which also started meeting this school year. The group includes representatives from each grade who meet regularly with Middle School Principal Andy Eldridge. During meetings, students bring forward concerns and ideas shared by their peers, engage in meaningful discussions, review school data, and collaborate on ways to strengthen the school community. Alliance members are also given specific tasks, allowing them to take an active role in creating positive change.
“The committee works hard every month to make the students feel heard and share different ideas from each grade level,” shared J-D Middle School student and alliance member Lucy White. “This means so much to me because I feel that the staff are not seeing what really happens in a student’s day and some issues that the students face. With the help of our principal we try our absolute hardest to solve issues here at the middle school.”
“Students have given feedback on grade level meeting topics, solutions to limit messes in hallways and have created a student guide book for being positive with guest teachers in our school,” shared Eldridge. “I am so impressed by the positive energy and suggestions Alliance members demonstrate at every meeting.”
The district’s commitment to student input is also reflected in data. Results from anonymous annual student surveys point to improvements in key areas like school climate, sense of belonging, and engagement. Each area has shown growth compared to last year, reflecting positive progress for the district’s strategic plan equity goal of improving favorable climate survey responses around relationships, belonging, engagement, and climate.
Jamesville Elementary School has been using this data to make real change. A few years ago, survey results showed some students were struggling to develop a sense of belonging at school. The school’s Character Education Committee explored ways to foster community in classrooms and across grade levels. This led to the creation of Buddy Classrooms and the now popular Winter Carnival which features team-building activities that encourage students to engage with one another in a fun and structured setting.
Jamesville-DeWitt also gathers feedback from families and staff. The 2025 School Climate Survey results are available here.