Survey Explores Impact of Recent Campus Changes
April 30, 2019
Students answered questions about their academic environment, social life, and other school-related topics as part of a biennial survey on April 17.
The Challenge Success Survey is meant to help the administration evaluate the success of recently implemented programs on campus. Specifically, the organization advocates that the district help decrease student stress. Assistant Principal Laura Lee said, “Given that we have implemented so many drastic changes, including block schedule, Academy period, and the wellness center, this survey is going to be really valuable into whether those are effective or not effective.”
The block schedule was implemented in 2017 after the results of a previous survey prompted the district to reevaluate its 7-periods-a-day format. Senior Eden Yu said, “Interestingly, many of the people I know felt they had the same amount of homework and studying even with a block schedule, so I don’t know if it works.”
While some students were unhappy about spending 30 minutes of their academy period on the survey, senior Kat Xie stressed the importance of providing honest feedback. “Although it takes up time during Academy, I think it is very important for students to take this survey because it is a way for them to anonymously give feedback to the school,” she said.
“It was really important for the students to take the survey so that we have a good idea of the wellness of the students,” agreed Lee.
However, Xie said she knew of various students who just clicked through the survey because they did not care about the results, despite knowing that survey results actually affect the district’s decisions.
Sophomore Charlie Train originally did not want to take the survey because he thought it was a waste of time but did end up completing it. “Contrary to my belief before taking the test, I actually think they asked helpful, precise questions,” he said.
The results of the survey have yet to be published for the public. The school board will analyzing the results this summer and may use the data to inform further adjustments to district policies.
