Family Trends from May 3rd Through May 10th

May 13, 2021
By: Adam Thede

Possip received almost 7,000 responses submitted by parents, family members, and caregivers this week. We read all of the praises and insights sent in throughout the week of May 3 through May 10. If your school uses Possip Pulse Checks™, you may have heard about trends from your specific school about trends in your community. It may also be helpful to know what topics other parents are discussing with their school across the country. Possip has schools in 26 states and we want to share our findings from all of our families. Here is a quick summary of family trends from May 3rd through May 10th in praise and insights.

Last week, 85% of families responded that they were happy with their child’s school, with the remaining saying they were mostly happy or not happy with their child’s school.

We saw a few positive trends from families across the country:

Shout-outs and praise for teachers and all they do for their students. Families shared praise for teachers still being effective instructors during this difficult time and appreciation for the support teachers gave students over the year. A few representative comments from actual families this week:

“As a parent, we do appreciate the effort made to keep the learning- teaching process going well. Your supply of teaching aids is great. Thank you so much for all the hard work & relentless commitment”

“My child’s teachers go above and beyond to keep him engaged in class, while juggling needs from other students. He is learning and retaining a lot of information. I can see his academic growth.”

“My daughter comes home everyday saying how she had a great day and how much fun she had! I appreciate how the teachers have gone above and beyond during such crazy times.”

Praises from families that improvements in carline or drop-off and pick-up procedures for schools that have reopened.

“So appreciative of how quick and efficient you all are with drop off and pick up, while working hard to keep the kids safe.”

Here are the most frequently discussed feedback for schools across the country:

8% of all Possip recommendations to schools revolved around COVID safety measures and school safety protocols. Families are sharing feedback about quarantine procedures, questions about vaccination requirements, comments about masks, and communication about COVID cases. Here are a few representative quotes from families on this topic:

“”When will vaccinated parents be allowed to visit the school? As a parent of a kindergartner who has never seen the inside of the school, this would be nice :)”

“Too many quarantines and slips of no proper student tracking. Student sitting close to a positive case who was pulled from class was never told to quarantine.”

“I’d like to see the mask go.”

“Please send a note home with children that have been selected for COVID testing advising the parents the child was tested – even if there was a negative result.

5% of all Possip recommendations to schools this week related to curriculum feedback. Families shared feedback and ideas for ways to make the school curriculum more effective. We heard specific feedback about projects being assigned close to testing that leads to student burnout, requests to decrease screen time and laptop use, and feedback about specific classroom curriculum. Here are a few representative quotes from families on this topic:

“More essay instruction in english

“Too many big projects in between testing and closing out the year. Kids are already burnt out. Make the projects smaller or give regular work”

“Continued usage of YouTube videos in replacement of true teaching…”

4% of all Possip recommendations to schools this week related to information requests and questions about next school year. Families want to hear updates on what the plan is for next year in terms of reopening, COVID procedures, and grade level transition processes. Here are a few representative quotes from families on this topic:

“I would like to hear from teachers as to how they think the all-remote option is working, what can be improved, and what is planned for next year. “

“For those students who will be getting new teachers next year it would be nice to have a sort of get-together with them so the students and parents could know a little of what to expect for next year.”
“I would love more information about transitioning from 6th grade to high school. I wish there was more information for parents.”