Parent Survey Feedback

Thank you so much to the 146 of you who completed our survey. In an effort to be transparent, we wanted to report back to you with the survey data. All of your feedback was shared with the teachers so hopefully some of the ideas and suggestions you offered have been implemented.

Ratings for distribution of supplies and technology: 80.8% Excellent, 13.7% Good, 2.7% Fair, 2.7% Poor

Ratings for cooperation and support from school: 78.8% Excellent, 17.1% Good, 2.1% Fair, 2.1% Poor

Ratings for communication efforts from school: 80.8% Excellent, 14.4% Good, 2.7% Fair, 2.1% Poor

Rate the amount of work: 64.4% Just the right amount, 32.2% Too much, 3.4% Not Enough

I went through all of the written feedback and have chosen the most pertinent that I felt like required a response/answer. If you still have questions or concerns after reading this, please call and talk to Mrs. Hollingsworth. Much of the written feedback was overwhelmingly positive.

The amount of work is too much, especially with multiple kids at home: This is a case by case issue that will require a phone call to the teacher. Please call your child’s teacher if you are overwhelmed and feel like the work load is too much.

That is too long for a kid to be in front of a computer/Need a reasonable time frame: Create a daily schedule and stick to it. Look at the work that is required and plan times for your child(ren) to work on each part. It should not all be done at one time.

My kid just isn’t interested/Struggling to get my kid to stay focused: We get this. Teachers struggle to get kids to stay focused at school, too. It is just the way it is with some kids. I wish there was a magic phrase or trick to get kids focused or interested but there isn’t.

The teachers, students, and parents needed training on the online platform before just rolling it out: You’re exactly right. However, we found out on a Saturday that our students wouldn’t be back to school so we had to do the best we could without any formal training. It has been a lot of “on the job” training for everyone involved.

The work is all just busywork: I certainly hope this has gotten better. If it hasn’t, please call and talk to Mrs. Hollingsworth.

If you don’t have a chromebook, you’re just out of luck. Stuff won’t work on a personal laptop/tablet: This is simply not true. We have many students who are using personal devices to access remote learning. Please call your child’s teacher if you’re having trouble accessing online instruction on a personal device.

K-1 had paper/pencil packets and then switched over to online and the transition was hard after we already got used to doing things one way: I apologize for this. If we had known how everything was going to go and how long we were going to be out of school, we would probably have started things online for K-1, too.

Please let us drop off materials/work. It’s cluttering up my house and causing more stress: I asked for permission from central office to have a work/material drop off but was told that we cannot do that right now for health/safety reasons.

Need to post online about events instead of just sending a phone call: Almost every time a phone call has gone out during the school closure, there has also been a post on the school website and often the text is copied and pasted onto Mrs. Hollingsworth’s personal Facebook and shared publicly.

Extras/specials (PE, art, music, etc.) shouldn’t be assigned. It’s too much: Those teachers are required to post activities and assignments because they are working from home and have to show that teaching is still taking place in their subject area. The activities they’re “assigning” should be more fun and less stressful than academic work and should only be done after everything else is completed.

Google meets should be recorded so kids can watch later/A whole week’s worth of assignments should be listed on Monday so the family can plan for the week: These are conversations to have with the teacher. Some parents have mentioned that they would prefer daily assignments because a week’s worth is too overwhelming; this is a personal preference issue.

Would like more student interaction (1 on 1/small group) with the teacher: Again, this needs to be a conversation with the teacher. Some parents feel like once or twice a week is too much and some parents have requested 3-5 times per week.

Personal phone calls are needed/Texts and other communications are impersonal: Please let the teacher know that you would like a phone call instead of a text or call the teacher personally.

Need more computer training when school starts back and funding for 1 to 1 student computers: You are exactly right and we’re already talking about those things.

Stressed about my child failing the grade: If you did not receive a retention letter before the school closure or have not had a conversation with Mrs. Hollingsworth about retention, your child will not be retained. If you did receive a retention letter before the school closure, it is very important that your child is consistently engaged in schoolwork now or there is a possibility of retention.

Worried about my kid being behind in the next grade: We are ALL worried about the kids being behind as they go into the next grade. We are already trying to brainstorm ways to figure out where the biggest academic gaps are for each student and fill in those holes as quickly as possible when school starts in the fall.

Doing this work is a waste of time since nobody is looking at it: Teachers are required to provide feedback regarding each student’s progress for the entire year. Even students who don’t have internet access should be receiving phone calls from the teacher so they can listen to the child read and/or discuss math. The work is only going to help the student be more prepared for the next grade level. Also, the definition of integrity is “doing the right thing even when no one is watching” and we try to help build character at Bethel.

We greatly appreciate everyone’s patience and support as we continue to navigate these uncharted waters and face changes daily. Please don’t hesitate to call and talk to us if you have questions or concerns.