This winter, Possip presents a three-part series: School Safety and Beyond. In each session, we are unpacking parent concerns and explore the power of feedback as schools meet the needs of their students. Those needs range from basic, primal needs to the inspiring vision of children who know themselves, treat others well, and value their journey to fully realizing their potential.
Shani Dowell, Possip’s CEO and founder, hosted the first webinar and began by reviewing Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. Through Possip, families can communicate their most pressing questions, concerns, and ideas. We find that over 63% of feedback comments are about student needs other than academics. The breakdown of parent concerns within Maslow’s lens is laid out below.
In this first session of three, we explored the base of Maslow’s Hierarchy with Physiological needs and Safety & Security.
Session 1 Panelists:
Case Study: Uniforms and School Climate
The panelists discussed the interplay between basic needs and safety as it relates to school climate. As clothing is a basic need and school policies can dictate that expense for families, Isamar Lopez explained that their network of schools asked parents for their opinion on reintroducing school uniforms. Their families were split for and against. So, the administration looked carefully at the reasons people said they wanted uniforms, which boiled down to a safety issue for many children. They also drilled down into why parents did not support uniforms. Listen as she explains how Possip helped them categorize the data they were seeing and make an informed decision:
Meeting Needs to Feel Safe and Secure
As we discussed Possip’s data, Jennifer Kehl, Possip’s VP of Delivery, explained nuances of how we defined Safety and Security. Addressing these needs directly relate to school climate and how a child feels on campus. Watch as she discusses to top ten trends within that level of Maslow’s Hierarchy:
Strengthen School Climate With Parent Feedback
Then, Dr. Claudia Styles confirmed the power of family feedback in terms of programming and what can be offered to support families and students. She described mental health initiatives her district embraced in response to parent concerns about school climate. She also described the trainings they are offering this year for parents. Listen as she describes how they used parent input:
To watch a full recording of the webinar and access the resources and tools Possip provided attendees, join our Membership Portal! Use code FREEMEMBER to access the site for free when you register.
