During the months of January and December, we invited parents of The École to answer a satisfaction survey. I would like to take the time today to thank all of you who responded. I must confess that personally, I tend to drag my heels when it comes to answering surveys. However, these semesterly satisfaction surveys are invaluable as they give us the opportunity to get formal feedback from you, to measure the progress we are making, and take note of the improvements we have yet to make. The objective is to make sure The École is continually bettering itself. If I had to sum up the responses in one sentence, I would say that overall the level of parent satisfaction is high. It makes us proud to know that you have confidence in our team and that you appreciate the work, dedication, and kindheartedness of the adults that accompany your children every day.
However, we need to look beyond the plaudits and hone in on the things that are not going so well, relatively speaking. I was pleased to read that many of your comments and suggestions centered on areas that are currently ‘in development.’ For example, our after-school program and holidays camps. A huge amount of work has already gone into them this year; they are an area of considerable importance for us. As I emphasized here, our after-school program must live up to the standards we have set for The École and it must complement our identity. We are continuing to streamline our processes and expand the number and quality of activities on offer, and we hope to have an even better after-school program to present to you in 2022-2023.
It was not a huge surprise to read that many of you struggle to find the information you are looking for about your child in their report cards. They are a work-in-progress. We started by overhauling the report cards in Maternelle—and the feedback from parents has been very positive; the next logical step is to finetune them at other grade levels and that is what we intend to do.
Questions about life after The École are also posed. What doors are open to our students? Where do they go for high school and university, and how do they fare? We know that we should communicate more with you on these topics. The partnership that we have signed with Léman is, I believe, a meaningful response for several families. By providing our students with direct access to one of New York’s most prestigious international schools and creating a program that will put them in the best possible conditions to succeed, we are reiterating our commitment to bilingualism and confirming our position as the reference point for French-English education in New York. More than ever, we want to open as many doors as possible for our students. Our team is working closely with Léman on a joint information session that will take place in April.
Finally, our Elementary & Middle School Building has already undergone extensive refurbishment and renovation and it is a gem of an educational setting in the heart of Gramercy. Unfortunately, the pandemic has prevented us from taking advantage of the neighborhood’s facilities, such as the Baruch College gym, as we did in the past. We hope that we will be able to resume use of the wonderful facilities that Gramercy has to offer soon because they are a perfect complement to our needs. On that subject. I feel it is important to highlight Philippe and Laurence’s unwavering determination to invest in our school buildings so that we can welcome our students in wonderful conditions.
There will be one more survey shared with you at the end of the year and I am looking forward to reading your responses already. Don’t forget that it will be an opportunity for you to express yourself freely on the subject of The École and to be sure that your voice is heard.