Lee Pulaski, lpulaski@shawanoleader.com
Hillcrest Primary School officials set a goal this school year of increasing parental support by 10 percent, but it might be tough to achieve.
It is not a matter of effort; it’s simple mathematics. The latest survey done by the school last month shows an overall satisfaction rating of 95 percent out of 184 surveys, with 66 percent of respondents strongly agreeing that they’re satisfied.
“As you know, this goal was set ahead of time, and this is the first time we’ve had this goal, so we set up a figure we thought would be achievable,” Principal Troy Edwards said. “There’s always room to improve.”
The survey also showed 93 percent of the respondents agreeing the school was safe, 94 percent agreeing that staff and students form strong academic bonds, and 91 percent agreeing that the school staff welcomes parents and other visitors.
At least 90 percent of the respondents answered agreeing or strongly agreeing to all but four of the 16 questions. The lowest score (84 percent) was in response to a question whether children were excited about going to school, but only 6 percent disagreed or strongly disagreed. The remaining respondents were neutral.
The other three questions asked if communication between schools and families is respectful (89 percent), if students respect teachers (87 percent) and if student conduct rules are consistently enforced (86 percent).
Although parents were not asked specifically about playground supervision, several parents wrote comments about the number of staff members watching the children, Edwards said. There are two staff members in orange vests on the playground for all grades, and most times two teachers keep watch, as well, he said.
“The teachers that go out do not wear orange vests at this time,” Edwards said. “When (the parents) speak of only having two people out there for recess duty as they are looking and scanning, I don’t know if they’re seeing the teachers.”
Edwards plans to have additional vests available for the teachers in the future.