Parents:
Thank you to all who participated in our parent survey last spring. We had 298 people complete the survey. You may open the attached PDF file to review the results. The open ended questions and comment fields are not open for public review due to issues of confidentiality. These comments are summarized below using a text analysis feature. Text analysis calculates the number of times a certain word appears in a paragraph and then calculates and presents which words are the most common. For the purpose of this summary, you will see the top 5 words found in each of the questions and a brief summary of the comments recorded.
Our administrative team has carefully reviewed the results of this survey. Your input was considered as the Consolidated School Improvement Plan (CSIP) was developed for this year. The action plan in the CSIP includes the following targeted areas:
- New teacher mentoring program
- Improved communication between the classroom teacher and parents
- Improved operational effectiveness (traffic flow for example)
- Focus on creating a safe school environment (allergy attention and field trips as examples)
- Data driven instruction
- School wide positive behavior plan
If you want to view the entire CSIP document, go to the DES webpage. Click the "Parent Resources" tab and then click on "Parent Education".
Thanks again for your participation. Please don't hesitate to contact our administrators, one of your school council representatives or members of the PTO leadership team if you have any questions.
Open Comments Section Results:
Question #2 Climate/Culture
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Top 5 Words: | Parents | School | Administration | Concerns | Child |
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Many parents felt the climate of the school was very welcoming and friendly. Comments included praising the PTO for doing a great job helping to create a feeling of inclusiveness and school spirit. A few parents felt the school was too big. Several parents asked for better responsiveness on the part of administration in addressing or following up with concerns. |
Question #3 Learning Environment
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Top 5 Words: | Grade | Children | Students | Challenged | School |
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Many parents praised their child's teachers and felt that the learning environment was great. Several commented that it was difficult to complete this question because they had more than one child and their experiences were different with different teachers. One common theme was the need for more consistent communication from the teachers to parents. Some parents voiced a concern about the large class sizes and the diverse needs of students which may lead to some children not being challenged. |
Question #4 How do you prefer to get information?
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Top 5 Words: | Teacher | Parent | School | Tiger | Communication |
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Parents asked for more consistency in regard to updating teacher websites and many noted the importance of having teachers send regular updates to parents. Parents seem to like Tiger Talk but a few asked the content to be shorter and to have the most important information listed first. |
Question #8 Why didn't you parcticipate in the Tour de Dunwoody?
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Top 3 Words: | Ride a Bike | Children | Participate |
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Scheduling conflict was the most frequent response. Some parents were not comfortable with younger children riding bikes and others did not feel their child liked biking. |
Question #11: Why didn't you attend Parent University?
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Only 16 people responded to this question. Most stated that the topic was not of interest or the date/time did not work. One parent asked to have a session that asked for parent feedback on school topics. |
Question #12 Suggestions for future programs
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Top 5 Words: | Events | Dinner | Parents | Programs | Grades |
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Many parents were satisfied with our current programs. Some suggested that we have more grade level programs to help with overcrowding/parking. The Fall Dinner needs to be better organized in terms of distribution of food. Some suggestions for future programs include: Science night, track club, mind games, dinner for black history month, bingo, having a dance, Odyssey of the Mind, movie night for older kids. A few parents suggested cutting back on programs to decrease family schedule overload. |
Question #14 Why does your child come to school by car?
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Top 5 Words: | School | Starts | Child | Drive | Bus Pick |
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Overwhelming parents don't use the bus because it comes too early. Some parents voiced concerns about bus safety. A few parents just like spending the time in the morning with their child. |
Question #16 Why does your child go home by car?
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Top 5 Words: | Bus | Child | Pick | School | Program |
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Many parents stated that afternoon activities required picking up at school. Some voiced concerns about bus safety. A few felt it wasn't safe to walk home. Several state that their child attends the after school program. |
Question #18 Level of satisfaction with the overnight field trips
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Top 5 Words: | Overnight | Child | Field Trip | Experience | Necessary |
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Most felt the field trips were a wonderful experience. One parent commented that it was the "greatest experience of the year". Some felt that overnight trips should be reserved for 5 th graders to make it special. Several parents felt the cost was too high. A few felt the trip should tie in better with the curriculum. |
Question #19 Why didn't your child go on the overnight field trip?
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Top 4 Words: | Overnight | Cost | Needs | Student |
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Many of these parents felt it was not age appropriate to do an overnight field trip. Several felt the cost was too high. A few parents had a child with special needs or medical concerns. |
Question #22 At what grade do you think it is appropriate to go on an overnight field trip?
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Top 5 Words: | Overnight | Graders | Kids | Age | Appropriate |
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Some parents felt it should be reserved for 5th graders. A few felt it was not appropriate for elementary school and others felt it was for all 3 grades. Some voiced concerns about the number of chaperones. |
Question #23 What do you like most about DES?
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Top 5 Words: | Teachers | School | Facility | Staff | Parent Involvement |
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Most parents commented on the cleanliness and beauty of the new facility. Several parents were pleased with the diverse community and felt that parent involvement was good. Many parents commented about the "wonderful staff and incredible teachers". |
Question #24 What should be improved at DES?
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Top 5 Words: | Teachers | School | Parent | Communication | Needs |
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The most common theme in this category was improved communication between teachers, parents and administration. There were also many comments about having better parking or improving the traffic. Some asked that the environment in the cafeteria be improved. Many parents felt that academics could be more challenging. |
