New Jersey School Climate Improvement Survey
The New Jersey School Climate Improvement (NJ SCI) Survey was developed through a collaboration between Rutgers University and the New Jersey Department of Education (NJDOE). The NJ SCI Survey is a comprehensive instrument designed to help schools identify school climate strengths and needs, and use these data to create strategic plans to improve conditions for teaching and learning.
The NJ SCI Survey addresses the following major topic areas:
Student Sense of Belonging (students only)
Leadership Support (staff only)
Organizational Resources and Supports (staff only)
Collegial Support (staff only)
Family Support and Engagement (Staff & Parents/Caregivers)
Academic Culture and Classroom Practices (all stakeholders)
Supportive Staff-Student Relationships (all stakeholders)
Supports for Student Social and Emotional Learning (all stakeholders)
Behavioral Expectations (all stakeholders)
Negative Student Interpersonal Behaviors (all stakeholders)
Prosocial Student Interpersonal Behaviors (all stakeholders)
Student Voice and Involvement (all stakeholders)
Sense of Physical Safety (all stakeholders)
To see the survey questions, as well as the data security policy, please click on the links below.
For more information on the NJ SCI Survey, please visit https://njschoolclimate.org. If you have questions about the instrument itself and how this information will be utilized in Hillsborough, please contact Dr. Joseph Trybulski, Principal of Hillsborough Middle School at jtrybulski@htps.us.
February 18, 2025
Dear Parent/Caregiver(s),
Our school will be participating in survey data collection using the New Jersey School Climate Improvement (NJ SCI) Survey, which was developed, and is administered, by Rutgers University in order to help schools obtain multiple perspectives on aspects of school climate. Collecting data is important for understanding strengths and needs in our school and how it feels to be a member of the school community. The data will be used to make improvements to the school. This survey is anonymous and voluntary. A letter with instructions on how to take the parent and caregivers survey will be sent soon. Your voice is important to us and we hope you will participate.
School and district staff will be able to view responses from the survey on a password-protected online platform. Individual responses on the survey are combined for reporting purposes by group. For example, your answers on the survey will be combined with those of other parents. No one will have access to individual respondent’s answers.
Administration of the student survey will take place from 03/3/2025 - 03/14/2025. Preview the items on the student survey(s) here: Students Grades 3-5 Survey; Students Grades 6-12 Survey. This is a chance for us to learn about your child’s opinions about the school, but your child does not have to participate in the survey.
If you have any questions or would prefer that your child does not participate in the survey, please contact my office by February 28, 2025 or fill out this brief form. If you do not respond, it will be deemed that you approve for your child to participate in the survey if your child chooses to participate.
Sincerely,
Joseph Trybulski, Ed.D., Principal