ThoughtExchange
Education
in Washington
Whether you’re looking to gain trust as a new leader, build support for your next bond, or inform your facilities plans, ThoughtExchange is helping Washington education leaders gain unbiased, critical insights to improve decision-making and unify their school community, quickly. We’ve been working with Washington education leaders since 2012, and we’d love to work with you too!
Trusted by Education Leaders Across the Great State of Washington
A Platform to Make a Difference
See how Dr. Mark Anderson, Senior Advisor & Former Associate Superintendent at Spokane Public Schools uses ThoughtExchange to inform a variety of initiatives including bond & facilities planning, school climate & safety and boundary & grade configurations.
ThoughtExchange Can Help Support Your District's Success
Bonds & Levies
Build awareness of the needs being addressed through publicly-funded projects. Identify gaps in understanding to craft clear communications that keep your community informed about key issues. Provide equitable and inclusive feedback opportunities with your community to gauge alignment with district priorities.
Strategic Planning
Build a strategic plan that reflects the diverse perspectives and priorities of all members of your district community. A collaborative approach serves to develop champions across your district who understand what’s behind the planning process and support the related initiatives.
Facilities & Capital Planning
Develop support and ownership of your district’s long-term facilities plans. Communicate transparently so your community is aware of upcoming issues that need addressing. Provide inclusive opportunities for input, and align on the common values of the community to ensure the success of all students.
Planning & Allocating Budgets
Bring the voices of your students, staff, and parents into your decision-making processes by allowing your community to share responsibility for student growth, achievement, and the district’s educational goals. Demonstrate fiscal responsibility by uncovering community priorities and making data-driven decisions at every level.
Anti-Racism, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
Foster ownership of your district’s ADEI initiatives by including the diverse and underrepresented voices of your school community, in any language. Gather input across the district to gain greater understanding of ADEI, and analyze and inform policies and practices that support an equitable and inclusive environment.
School Safety & Belonging
Get beyond emotional reactions and talk about solutions. Facilitate productive community conversations on critical and polarizing topics and develop a better informed, broadly supported action plan to help your school community move forward on issues of safety and belonging.
Student Voice & Student Experience
Empower your students to share their voice by providing a safe and inclusive platform to discuss matters that impact them. Help students build agency in their education so they become valued, respected and active participants in their future and success.
Staff Culture & Engagement
Listening to your staff is essential to the health and morale of your district. Improve staff efficacy and student success by making staff feel valued and respected for their contribution and unique perspectives on topics like mental health/wellness, school culture, shortages, communication and recruitment.
New Superintendents & Leaders
Get to know your new district community by gathering feedback and insights quickly and from more people. Discover what’s working well, what needs improvement, and what else needs to be considered. Build trust and confidence in your leadership from day one.
What Other Leaders in Washington are Saying
“ThoughtExchange highlights the voices of our school community and drives the resources and programs we design for students and families.”
Arlene RodriguezDirector, English Learners, Program Development, and Instruction,
Ontario-Montclair Elementary School District
Ontario-Montclair Elementary School District
“ThoughtExchange is a valuable tool for us in elevating the voices of our educational community at large. As a Superintendent, one of the features I love the most is the Ratings system which helps boost the transparency of the district and helps us determine what is best for our students based on community input.”
Dr. Kelly May-VollmarSuperintendent,
Desert Sands Unified School District
Desert Sands Unified School District
“I constantly sing the praises of ThoughtExchange to my colleagues. You truly don't know the benefits until you jump in. Once you experience how it reduces your processes, timing, and workload—you'll never go back. It's never a question of, do we continue ThoughtExchange next year? It's, how are we going to use it differently, and how can we innovate from there?”
Dr. Michael Gomez, Ed.D.Former District Coordinator, Assessment, Accountability, & New Teacher Induction,
Saddleback Valley Unified School District
Saddleback Valley Unified School District
“We use adults to vet curriculum and resources, but we miss the student perspective in all of it. And we’ve got to do better. Building student agency, allowing students to have voice and ownership on what’s in front of them, is crucial, and ThoughtExchange allows that opportunity on such a grand scale.”
Dr. Teresa A. Lance, Ed.D.Assistant Superintendent of Equity and Innovation,
Elgin Area School District 46, Illinois
Elgin Area School District 46, Illinois
“The ThoughtExchange, what it created for us, it gave voices to individuals typically we don’t hear from. People got a chance to put thoughts in, it was anonymous, and they were really comfortable with communicating that way.”
Dr. Devon HortonSuperintendent,
Evanston/Skokie School District 65
Evanston/Skokie School District 65
“ThoughtExchange was very helpful for us because what it could do is give us a through-path to find common ground. We launched a ThoughtExchange for our staff, our parents, and our students and in each one of those, we had about 75% participation and what was so helpful was finding that common ground.”
Dr. Robert McBrideSuperintendent,
Lockport Township High School District #205
Lockport Township High School District #205
“We gained valuable perspectives that didn’t get overshadowed by the over-represented responses, and in doing so changed our strategy with very little pushback from the community. I believe this is because they experience the feelings themselves by being in the Exchange. There just isn’t another platform that enables everyone to read and engage in other people’s thinking.”
Dr. Kevin McGowanSuperintendent,
Brighton Central School District
Brighton Central School District
“We didn’t put our heads in the sand. With ThoughtExchange, we were able to facilitate a true conversation with our community and get information to help make the best decisions possible.”
Dr. Casey KosiorekSuperintendent,
Hilton Central School District
Hilton Central School District
“I know that every time I go out to hire a superintendent in the future, I’ll be using ThoughtExchange to support the effort. It helps everyone feel like they are involved in selecting the new leader.”
Dr. Jeff MattesonDistrict Superintendent,
Tompkins-Seneca-Tioga Board of Cooperative Educational Services
Tompkins-Seneca-Tioga Board of Cooperative Educational Services
“I could see the level of value and respect students felt when we were asking for their input and then discussing their thoughts with them. We all talk about the power of student voice, and with the help of ThoughtExchange, we were able to be immersed in it!”
Wade StanfordSuperintendent,
Westwood Independent School District
Westwood Independent School District
“Because we used ThoughtExchange... our bond passed by a significant margin. I would say to districts out there considering a bond proposition to the voters, be prepared and know how to communicate. ThoughtExchange was an important tool for us to use in that process.”
Daniel GallagherSuperintendent,
Little Elm Independent School District
Little Elm Independent School District
“ThoughtExchange enabled me as a superintendent to establish and re-establish trust and show that I was listening - and to develop plans that helped our school district.”
Dr. George KazanasSuperintendent,
Midway Independent School District
Midway Independent School District
“It’s often not a shock when comments come out of ThoughtExchange. We know a lot of what people are thinking, but it certainly gives us some leverage to amplify some voices that may be a little quieter or may not feel like they have the opportunity to engage at the same level.”
Dr. Jeff SnellSuperintendent,
Vancouver Public Schools
Vancouver Public Schools
“ThoughtExchange allows us to not operate from a place of assuming what we think is important in the community, but from a place where the community is telling us what’s important to them. Then we use that to inform the decisions we make going forward.”
Catherine Carbone RogersChief Communications Officer,
Highline Public Schools
Highline Public Schools
“We had seen other tools that were survey oriented, but we were really wanting to know what our constituents were thinking and if there were some common thoughts that people had to help us make good decisions in moving forward with the district. ThoughtExchange’s ability to theme thoughts and get common interest was very helpful to us in our decision-making processes.”
Dr. Mark AndersonSenior Advisor & Former Associate Superintendent,
Spokane Public Schools
Spokane Public Schools
ThoughtExchange is Built for Leaders That Make Big Decisions
See how other leaders are revolutionizing decision-making.
Webinar
Is your district struggling to manage school safety, inflation, equity, and more? Tap into your community’s collective...
Guide
Struggling to pass a bond in your district? We’ve got the tools to help you succeed.
Ready to improve decision-making and unify your district?
Talk to one of our Washington Education experts about how ThoughtExchange can help you build trust with your community today.
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