Author: Steffen

On our gallery day we had Principal Eid and Ms. Willis come to the Stayer Center to check out the progress of our work. Having both the administrative perspective of Principal Eid and the teacher perspective of Ms. Willis allowed for a full discussion of situation. We had a ton of information to share with them from all of our work including user interviews, a journey map, and immersion experiences. Our feedback from current students on our graffiti wall done by Pat and student surveys done by YoungJae and Guillermo gave us a lot of different perspectives on the current environment in Clay, while some of our user and expert interviews provided us with parent, principal or school board views that provided an outside look at Clay.

Some of the key takeaways I had following gallery day were:

• The distinction between focusing on the parent or student user experience is key. If we focus on designing for the one user that impacts the issue the most that will be our best bet.
• Improving the view of Clay as a school aesthetically can make a major difference in the view of Clay overall. One thing that Principal Eid mentioned is the difference between how walking into Adams high school and Clay high school is in terms of aesthetics. With the skill of Clay arts students, aesthetic improvements to Clay should be very doable.
• Finding ways to interact with local colleges is an area for opportunity. Currently the only interaction seems to be when college counselors come to Clay to give a talk on their school, but we see going to the college campuses as an experience that may make Clay more attractive. Ms. Willis really liked the idea of possibly going to a college library to do research for an English project as an opportunity to visit a college.
• There is a discrepancy between how administrators and students want administrators to be viewed. Mr. Smith is the disciplinary administrator and many students noted that they disliked Mr. Smith. Principal Eid said that that was a good thing because it meant that Mr. Smith was doing his job.

The first workaround is an extension cord sitting on top of a table. This table is used as a place where people can place food that is intended to be shared with the whole office. At times a crockpot or coffee maker is on this table so the extension cord was put on top of the table so that the short cords of a crockpot or coffee maker could easily be plugged in.

The second workaround is ziplock bags being used as a way to store small papers. Larger folders would not be ideal to store small sheets of paper in so the ziplock bags provide a much better way to store the papers.

The final workaround is books being used to support the middle of a couch. The couch sinks badly in the middle so it needed some extra support so that it would still be usable. These books are strong enough that they can support the couch and make the middle of the couch the right height to be used.

 

Steffen Timmer went to O’Rourke’s Public House for trivia night and was faced with a decision about what beer to get.

Date: 3/6/2017

Type: Analogous Immersion

Location: O’Rourke’s Public House

Team participants: Only team member immersed, but had non-team members facing the same decision with me.

User Characteristics: Notre Dame business student

Male

Likes to save money

Generally enjoys darker beers

Immersion:

At O’Rourke’s for trivia night and was faced with a nightly special of a $4 beer with 4 beer options to choose from

• Guinness
  • Past Experience with Guinness
  • Irish Dry Stout
• Smithwicks
  • Irish red ale-style beer
  • Never had before
• Harps
  • Euro Pale Lager
  • Never had before
• Magners
  • Irish Cider
  • Had once and enjoyed it

The Decision

Price was not an issue in this situation so the four beers were on a level playing field in that instance, much like how public schools all compete at about the same price level. I really like darker beers but a nice cider to relax with also sounded promising. The waitress on this night did not provide me with an opinion, which disappointed me. In the end I chose to go with Guiness because I had the most previous experience with it and knew it would be a reliable option to have.

Top 3 Learnings:

1. When making a decision, familiarity is a major player. With respect to choosing a high school, a person is much more likely to choose a school if they have heard good things about it in the past or knew someone who went there. Choice of school is a decision a person makes for four years generally and a person would not want to have much risk with the school they are choosing.
2. Name recognition is big. Guinness has the most recognizable name out of the four beers mentioned above and that name recognition is key to it being chosen. If Clay is the first name that comes to mind when people think of South Bend public schools it can gain an advantage.
3. The description says a lot about a brand. Clay has school is branded as a performing arts school and that turns a lot of people off. In this beer choice I faced I saw that Smithwicks was an ale-style beer and because I am not a big fan of IPAs when I saw ale-style I decided not to go with that option.

Key Insight – (1) Sometimes there is not much depth in a decision. If a person is familiar with an option and does not have much information or recommendations on the other options than they will go with the familiar choice. (2) Both uniqueness and quality is key in this decision. If the option can differentiate itself and do so at a high level than it will set itself apart. (3) Appearance helps. Guiness is always served in a nice glass and that plays a roll in people enjoying the product. If Clay looks like a good school then people will see it as one.

 

Steffen Timmer interviewed Jim, a Notre Dame professor who has sent two kids to Penn High School.

Date: 3/6/2017

Type: User Interview

Location: Mendoza 244

Team participants: Conducted interview alone

 

User Characteristics: Notre Dame Economics Professor

Male

Two children, one boy, one girl

Son just graduated from Penn High School, son went to Christ the King middle school which is near Clay High School

Daughter is a freshman at Penn High School

Live in Penn High School district

What is this person about – what drives him/her? Jim wanted to find the best school for his children. He wanted a school where they could succeed in academics and extracurricular activities.

What is this person’s biggest point of pain? Paying for a private school. He did not want to take on the added expense.

Memorable quotes from interview:

“I didn’t really consider Trinity and St. Joseph’s because I didn’t want the added expense if it was not necessary”

“I really like AP courses because I am heavily involved with AP testing”

Top 3 Learnings:

1. Parents will move to a school district in order to get their children into the public high school they want. Jim had planned ahead of time when moving to South Bend where to live based on what high school he wanted his children at.
2. AP courses and dual credit courses are attractive to parents. Both types of courses provide ways to attain college credit and save money for parents.
3. Son really enjoyed Penn and that was a big reason why they also had their daughter go to Penn.

Key Insight – (1) AP courses and dual credit courses can be marketed as better than IB courses. Jim did not know much about the IB courses, but knew about AP courses and also liked the fact that Penn offered dual credit courses through Indiana University and Ivy Tech. (2) Sports and size may play a role in creating opportunities at the high school. Kids want to compete to be the best, and with a size of 3600 students, Penn has a lot of money to offer various programs that can attract students.

 

Steffen Timmer interviewed Giancarlo, a Notre Dame junior who went to St. Joseph’s High School.

Date: 3/4/2017

Type: User Interview

Location: Giancarlo’s dorm room in Fisher Hall

Team participants: Conducted interview alone

 

User Characteristics: Junior Notre Dame student, Aerospace Engineering Major

Male

Soccer Player

Father is a professor at Notre Dame

Went to St Joseph’s Grade School in South Bend for grades 1-6

Went to Trinity school for grades 7 & 8

Went to St. Joseph’s High School for grades 9-12

What is this person about – what drives him/her? Giancarlo wants to succeed in all academic pursuits while having a good time. He wants a good overall high school experience.

What is this person’s biggest point of pain? Having friends and extracurricular opportunities at a school are key. Did not want to be in an environment that was not an enjoyable time.

Memorable quotes from interview:

“I had friends going to St. Joseph’s High School”

“St. Joseph’s is generally the better high school to go to”

 

Top 3 Learnings:

1. The only public school he considered was Adams because it was close to his house, had the IB program, and is known for placing kids in Ivy League schools.
2. Family plays a big role in the decision. His parents preferred him to go to Catholic school and he had an older sibling who went to St. Joseph’s.
3. Sports were a nice benefit at St. Joseph’s. While academics were the #1 reason for choosing St. Joseph’s High School, he played soccer and dove in high school and St. Joseph’s had strong teams and facilities for those sports.

Key Insight – (1) Clay does not have a good reputation for some locally. Giancarlo saw Clay as the 3^rd best out of the 4 local public schools and did not consider Clay at all. (2) The IB program is not an end all advantage for Adams. Giancarlo saw academics as a very important reason for choosing high school, but was satisfied with the AP program offered by St. Joseph’s.

Date of Observation: 2/28/2017

Location: Clay High School

Type: Immersion Experience

Event: Multicultural Celebration Assembly

Event Description: This was a teacher talent show that included numerous songs and poems. Many students also took part in the performances.

Attached I have two pictures from the intro of the show, followed by a number of videos of the performances during the show.

Takeaways:

Questionable Attendance- I tried to count the attendance at this event and estimated around 75-85 people were in the auditorium for this event. Compared to the size of the auditorium and the size of the school, this was not the best turnout for Clay. Principal Eid mentioned concerns about overloading the bus system, so that may have played a role in lower than normal attendance.

Talented Teachers- As you can see from watching some of the videos I have attached of teacher performances, there is a ton of talent from the teaching staff at Clay. When you are advertised as the Performing Arts magnet being able to show that your teachers have lots of skill you are able to convince prospective parents and students much more easily. You could tell that the parents and students in attendance were proud of the talent level shown off by the teachers.

Community- Without having a larger attendance, it’s hard to tell what the whole school atmosphere is generally like, but from the group in attendance you could really feel a strong sense of community at Clay. From Principal Eid performing with the drumline, to students going wild when their fellow student was singing on stage, this community encouraged one another to be the best they could be. Students of various ethnicities filled the seats of the auditorium and were one as a student body.

 

Steffen Timmer interviewed James, a Notre Dame sophomore, who went to John Adams High School.

Date: 3/1/2017

Type: Interactive Interview

Location: James’s dorm room in Fisher Hall

Team participants: Conducted interview alone

 

User Characteristics: Sophomore Notre Dame student, PLS major

Male

Basketball Player

Father is a professor at Notre Dame

Went to St Joseph’s Grade School in South Bend for 7^th and 8^th grade

Started at Adams for Freshman year of high school

What is this person about – what drives him/her? James is driven to succeed academically as well as athletically, but places academics at the forefront of his decision.

What is this person’s biggest point of pain? Getting the best education could be the pain point. But also it is that his parent’s were the ones that made the high school decision for him. They chose Adams because of the IB program.

Memorable quotes from interview:

“Adams was like a liberal, private school.”

“Adams was like a school within a school with the magnet part.”

“Public schools aren’t great, IB carries Adams.”

 

Top 3 Learnings:

1. Other kids provide a lot of the information James has about other schools. If he hears from someone that he trusts that Adams is a good school then he follows that idea.
2. James would go to St Joseph’s High School if he redid his decision. He says the IB program did not really make a difference on his education compared to if he took AP classes.
3. James said his parents would want him to go to Trinity if they could redo the decision. James has two brothers currently at Trinity and apparently his parents love it there. It is a rigorous school that prepares kids academically. James described Trinity as strict and structured if kids need that. He said some of the kids there are kind of weird and it would not be his type of school.

Key Insight – (1) A prospective student gets a lot of his information about a school from other kids he knows. So making sure kids love their experience while at Clay is key. (2) Parents have a large say in the decision, as James’s parents were the sole decision maker in this situation.

 

I also did a card sort activity with James.

James rated academic rigor as his top reason for choosing a high school, with friends/culture and extracurricular activities tying for second. James rated AP courses as being the most important type of course when choosing a high school when given the option of CTE courses, AP courses, and Performing arts courses. If given the choice of IB courses James may have chosen that. I only had him rank the Clay courses though so we would know what Clay should target. Finally I had James rank 7 local South Bend area High Schools. Clay ranked 6th in James’s list, only ahead of Washington. Clearly there is a perception problem for Clay that we need to figure out how to fix. Finally attached is a video of James’s ranking what factor is most important to him in choosing a high school between location, academics, and safety.

Steffen Timmer interviewed Scott McKissick, the principal at Davenport Central High School to get his insights on how to run a high school with exceptional arts programs.

Date: 2/27/2017

Type: Expert Interview

Location: Phone Call

Team participants: Conducted interview alone

User Characteristics: Iowa High School Principal

Male

Principal of high school that deals with open enrollment and is known for great performing arts

What is this person about – what drives him/her? Driven to create the best environment possible for students to succeed.

What is this person’s biggest point of pain? Dealing with high schools in other districts that are better known for athletics or academics. For example, team that won state in basketball last year had three kids on team that lived in Davenport Central school district.

Memorable quote from interview: “Families go where kids think they can succeed.”

 

Top 3 Learnings:

1. Finding ways to compete on a larger scale than other schools is key. Kids are naturally competitive and if you create opportunities where they can compete nationally than kids will be drawn in. Davenport Central sends kids to Disney World and NYC for show choir, Lucas Oil Stadium for band nationals.
2. Tradition matters. If people went to a high school and enjoyed it, or people who you know enjoyed a high school, then that high school becomes more attractive.
3. Alumni events are key. Between raising money for the school and keeping public perception of the school high, bringing alumni back to the school as much as possible is necessary. Davenport Central hosts ½ dozen alumni events every year in order to keep relationships strong. $250,000 scholarship fund at school funded by alumni.

Key Insight –

(1) Clay can better capitalize on alumni networks to make enrollment from the local area higher.

(2) Competing at a higher level than other local high schools is necessary.

(3) New additions matter. Davenport Central is finishing up a $28 million addition to school, which includes a new auditorium and swimming pool. Kids are already transferring to Central because the swimming pool is supposed to be the biggest, fastest pool in Iowa.

(4) Principal McKissick said his school had very good academic results and attributed a lot of this to the idea that band/arts students are generally hard-working, motivated students. Perhaps Clay’s target group is this student who focuses on high academics and high arts achievement.