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Urchak Family Survey
Urchak Family
Overall Experience
Overall Satisfaction
Satisfied
What has been most important for your student's success this year?
He has progressed acadmically and his confidencence appears to be getting better. He really has done well in Math and Science.
What aspects of the school have contributed most to your student's growth?
Exposure to other kids has helped him grow socially and has been a boon for him. Academically, the check-in and teacher help has been great for providing feed back if our homeschool efforts are working or not.
Areas where student felt most supported
Academic Instruction
Classical Curriculum
Teacher Communication
Spiritual Formation
Community Culture
Parent Support
Other
Beginning of Year
What do you wish you had known at the beginning of the year?
We feel that being new to homeschool we did not really know what to expect but the on-boarding process seems to have gotten us to where we need to be.
Areas that were clear from the start
Academic Expectations
Home Learning
Teacher Communication
Curriculum Structure
Behavior Expectations
School Culture
What was unclear or confusing at the start?
Not answered
At-Home Learning
How prepared did you feel to support at-home learning?
Areas where you felt most prepared
Lesson Plans
Teaching Content
Assessing Work
Teacher Communication
Areas where you felt less prepared
Being new to homeschooling, I did not understand at these lower grades it is not a letter grade but a 'satisfactory/not satisfactory'. We are so used to the constant 'feedback' of tests in the usual schooling situation that it felt hard to know if our child was grasping concepts or not (not having the safety-net of someone telling you your child is doing well). Admittedly it is something I still struggle with.
The student-teacher meetings did help with that and helped to explain expectations more clearly.
The student-teacher meetings did help with that and helped to explain expectations more clearly.
Support
What support from the school has been most helpful?
Curriculum planning, ability to directly talk to school representatives and teachers without having to wait for periodic check-ins, help with the state reporting (Home Life Academy).
What additional support would be helpful?
More feedback on student progress, maybe more resources on what homeschooling would look like for those whose only educational experience has been with public/private school.
Curriculum
Which curriculum areas have been strongest?
Singapore Math - the conceptual stuff is challenging but the mechanics are good. Science (we liked the 'focused on one subject for awhile' such as contenients or space methodology)
Which areas have been most challenging?
Literacy Essentials - the volume of words seems overwhelming as well as the volume of phonemes. We worry about him being responsible for spelling larger, complex words when he cannot always spell the 3-to-4 letter words correctly. We also worry with the workload and complexity, it is harder for him to get wins under his belt and this can lead to him not feeling confident in his ability, which leads to him dreading the subject or "checking-out".
How well does the workload balance with family life?
Looking Ahead
What should we continue to strengthen?
We appreciate the expertise and communication. We hope the community-building and opportunity to gather for things like presentations continues. The parent workshops (such as Literacy Essentials) are great and appreciated. Mentor gatherings (such as Mentors of Hope) are also great.
What's one area we could improve?
Clear expectations for holidays (such as MLK Jr day and other federal holidays) - they are listed as 'off' but curriculum is on the lesson plan. Clear expectations around dates and cadence for spelling lists assessments.
Clear expectations around whom would deal with certain concerns or subject matters (such as reaching out to Mentors of Hope vs reaching out to Jen or school officials)
Maybe using a messenger app that allows replying to threads within a group - the current one is a wall-of-text and it is difficult to keep up at times with new developments.
Clear expectations around whom would deal with certain concerns or subject matters (such as reaching out to Mentors of Hope vs reaching out to Jen or school officials)
Maybe using a messenger app that allows replying to threads within a group - the current one is a wall-of-text and it is difficult to keep up at times with new developments.
Additional comments
We whole-heartedly appreciate everything Saints does and are happy to be able to have a hand in our son's class experience. We are excited to be able to continue this homeschooling journey with Saints Academy.