I’ve often shared how fortunate I’ve felt all my life that I grew up in Niles.
Good schools, safe neighborhoods, friendly people, where everybody seemed to know everybody else. I’ve maintained close friendships with a few people to this day. Thanks to Facebook, I’m also “friends” with many others from back in the day.
I made most of my friends in school. I joke with my family that I liked school so much as a kid, I never really left.
Deep down, I looked forward to going back to school every fall, mainly to see some friends that I had missed all summer. School was a social place as much as it was a learning place. In fact, the social skills I learned in school have served me well my whole career.
At our recent parent-teacher conferences, we surveyed our parents about our schools. We’ve done these same fall surveys for six years now.
I’m pleased that we’ve improved in almost all areas over the years. Our parents have confidence in teachers and principals; they feel more positive about students treating each other better; and, they get good communication from our teachers and principals. However, one area showed just a slight drop from six years ago.
In 2011, 57 percent of our parents “strongly agreed” that their students can make friends at school. In 2016, that number went down to 51 percent. Nearly all the others checked “agree,” so most children can make friends.
We’re not exactly alarmed at the slight drop. However, I have asked teachers to talk to the students, and get their impressions.
I see students talking and laughing in the lunchrooms, through the hallways, on playgrounds and at games, so I know they are gaining social skills with friends.
Our hope is that the compulsion to text, tweet and look at screens isn’t detracting from human interaction. We will pay attention to the social skills that kids must learn. We most definitely need graduates who know how to get along with others.

John Jarpe is the superintendent of Brandywine Community Schools. He can be reached at (269) 684- 7150.