Surveys Find Great Satisfaction With NCS

In 2012, as part of its strategic planning process, NCS proclaimed its dedication to supporting the power of young women. Five short years later, this mission has inspired profound excitement and pride throughout the school and among its graduates, according to surveys taken this winter and spring.
 
Ninety percent of NCS students, nearly as many alumnae, and 93 percent of faculty and staff say the school is successfully pursuing its mission. About the same proportion of students, parents, alumnae, faculty, and staff say they are proud to be associated with NCS.
 
Alumnae, meanwhile, offer a very satisfying assessment of how their school prepared them for adulthood. Nearly 90 percent of alumnae say NCS helped them become the people they are today, 85 percent say the school prepared them well for their selected area of university study, and 97 percent say NCS faculty made a difference in their lives. Alumnae also rate NCS's academic programs highly, giving each department—English, social sciences, physical education, religious studies, world languages, science, visual arts, mathematics, music, and theater—a score of no less than 4.0 on a 1-to-5 scale.
 
These accounts came through surveys commissioned to inform a new NCS strategic plan. The response rate provides a very high level of confidence that the results accurately represent the views of those connected to the school. The findings not only offer useful insights to the NCS Governing Board and administration as they engage in planning, but they also amount to a snapshot of strengths and opportunities and a baseline against which future progress may be measured.
 
Faculty and staff have already engaged with some of the survey findings: reviewing the amount and utility of homework, for example, and assessing and setting the proper balance between academics, arts, athletics, and community service.
 
On Wednesday, Associate Head of School/Head of the Upper School Denise Brown-Allen gave the Parents Association an overview of the survey results. She also showed how cross-tabulation of answers yielded new insights—showing, for example, that involvement in certain activities was associated with higher satisfaction ratings by students and alumnae alike.
 
Dr. Brown-Allen focused on several areas: alumnae reporting that an NCS education set them up for current and future success; the strong correlation between participation in extracurricular activities and satisfaction with school life; responses that discussed the balance of program; and the detrimental impact of too little sleep and distracting activity (watching TV, listening music, checking email or social media) while doing homework.
 
Overall, 78 percent of parents and students rate their satisfaction with NCS as high or very high, while 81 percent of alumnae do the same.
 
The survey found that both the propensity to engage in distracting activity while doing homework and the tendency to sleep less than six hours a night were strongly associated with lower student satisfaction.
 
Higher satisfaction scores, meanwhile, were associated with better preparedness scores on some key life skills: organizing one's time, test-taking strategies, and self-confidence.
 
The survey also highlighted an interesting and strong connection between "enthusiastic engagement" in any extracurricular—arts, athletics, clubs, and/or community service—and higher student responses to many questions, including overall satisfaction. And involvement with one extracurricular tends to prompt participation in at least one other, especially clubs and arts.
 
Alumnae give high marks to the College Guidance experience: Nearly 90 percent say the college they chose while at NCS is the one they eventually graduated from, and 85 percent stayed with their chosen major. (Both numbers are significantly above the average for independent schools.) Nearly 80 percent say they were a good fit to their chosen college, both socially and intellectually.
 
Other highlights from the findings:
  • Current students are most satisfied with class size, their homeroom, a sense of community among students, and attention to their individual needs. Alumnae praise the latter three school-life elements, too, alongside leadership opportunities and services in the Washington National Cathedral.
  • Students, alumnae, and parents agree that NCS particularly develops critical thinking skills, intellectual curiosity, and working independently.
  • Fully 94 percent of students report that they have made at least one close friend at NCS. Alumnae say just the same, but even more striking: 87 percent say they still have at least one close friend from NCS.
  • Eighty percent of alumnae say both that NCS instilled a love of learning and that they were well supported in reaching their full academic potential.
  • Seventy percent of parents participated as a volunteer at NCS during the preceding year.
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    • Associate Head of School Denise Brown-Allen tells parents about the survey findings at an Oct. 18 Parents Association meeting.

    • Associate Head of School Denise Brown-Allen answers a question about the school's surveys.