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Results of Parent Survey Regarding School Communication Practices

Greetings Parents and/or Guardians,

During the 2016-17 school year we asked parents to complete a brief online survey which would provide us feedback regarding our current methods of communicating with you and keeping you informed. The reason for seeking this feedback was to gain an understanding of what you believe to be current strong communication practices implemented by the District and which areas you feel are in need of improvement. I would like to thank those of you that participated in the survey. We ended up with a total of 63 parent responses.

The survey asked the following 8 questions (with the responses included):

1.How often do you typically receive information from your child's school or from the district (Augusta Area School District) during an average year via email, phone, notes, etc?

o   68% indicated they receive information more than 15 times a year
o   6% indicated they receive information 11-15 times a year
o   21% indicated they receive information 6-10 times a year
o   5% indicated they receive information less than 5 times year

2    2. What are the top methods you use to obtain information from your child's school or the district?
o   Email (71%)
o   Website (56%)
o   Notes from Teacher (52%)
o   Phone Call (50%)
o   Elementary School Newsletter (49%)
o   Skyward (43%)
o   District Newsletter (39%)
o   District’s Facebook Page (38%)
o   Visiting the School (35%)
o   The Beaver Buzz (32%)

3. How often do you visit the school district's website for information relating to school activities, events, and academic information?

o   33% indicated they visited the District’s website at least once a week
o   18% indicated they visited the District’s website 2-3 times/month
o   24% indicated they visited the District’s website at least once a month
o   17% indicated they visited the District’s website at least 1-3 times/semester
o   8% indicated they never visit the District’s website

4. How often do you find the information you need on the website? It is easy to find what you need on the website? What is your overall impression of the website?
·         Information available on the website.
o   21% indicated it was great
o   48% indicated it was good
o   29% indicated it could be improved

·         Information found easily on the website.
o   17% indicated it was great
o   49% indicated it was good
o   30% indicated it could be improved
·         Overall impression of the website.
o   24% indicated it was great
o   54% indicated it was good
o   22% indicated it could be improved

5   5. What type of communication do you most prefer from your child's school and/or teacher?
o   Email (74%)
o   Notes/letters home (42%)
o   Phone call (39%)
o   Meeting (21%)
o   Skyward (14%)

6. Regarding information you receive from your child's school of the district events and activities (programs and/of field trips, etc.)

·         Information from the school was given in a timely fashion:
o   52% indicated absolutely
o   35% indicated sometimes
o   13% indicated not always
·         Information from the school that was provided was adequate:
o   59% indicated absolutely
o   38% indicated sometimes
o   3% indicated not always
·         The information was easy to understand:
o   67% indicated absolutely
o   29% indicated sometimes
o   4% indicated not always
·         I had questions after reading the information:
o   11% indicated absolutely
o   37% indicated sometimes
o   25% indicated not always
o   21% indicated never
o   6% indicated NA

7. If you had to select two areas for the District to focus on in order to improve communication efforts with parents and community members what would you recommend?
·         Maintain the District’s website (77%)
·         Continue to use Social Media to inform parents/community (32%)
·         Implement a monthly newsletter at the MS/HS (28%)
·         Increase use of Skyward Messenger (28%)
·         Promote the use of the District App (20%)

8   8. When you visit your child's school what was your overall impression of the campus climate (ws the staff friendly, informative, polite, helpful, etc.)?
·         Friendly
o   65% indicated always
o   27% indicated for the most part
o   8% indicated not usually
·         Informative
o   49% indicated always
o   46% indicated for the most part
o   5% indicated not usually
·         Polite
o   65% indicated always
o   27% indicated for the most part
o   8% indicated not usually
·         Helpful
o   62% indicated always
o   30% indicated for the most part
o   8% indicated not usually
·         Professional
o   63% indicated always
o   29% indicated for the most part
o   7% indicated not usually
o   1% indicated never

The feedback provided has helped guide us in our decision making so that we can work to improve some of the areas that were identified as needing improvement. While this is an on-going process and something we will continue to focus our efforts on I wanted to inform you of the some changes/updates that have occurred or will be occurring as a result of your assistance and feedback. Some of the changes/updates include:
Ø  A monthly MS/HS newsletter that will be sent out to parents and published on the District’s website
Ø  A monthly review of the District’s website to ensure that information is updated and accurate
Ø  Staff training on the use of Skyward Messenger so that it can be more widely used as a means of communication
Ø  Increased publication of events and student activities via the District’s Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram Accounts
Ø  A future survey asking parents what information they would like to see available on the District’s website
Ø  A continued focus on improving parents and community members experience and overall impression of the campus climate when in the school buildings or while communicating with District staff

Please know that our goal is to continually improve our communication practices and methods with you as parents so that our approach is as collaborative as possible while helping all of our students be as successful as possible during their time in our schools. We recognize that we always have room for growth so please feel free to contact myself or any other staff member with suggestions for improvement. We will again be asking for your feedback during this current school year to gauge how the improvements we have made are working as well as ideas and suggestions for ways to improve in other communicative processes. Thank you again for your willingness and time in providing our school district with information that will be used to make our schools an even better place for kids.

Sincerely,

Ryan C. Nelson

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