The results are in, and Shipley’s constituents say they are pleased with everything that a Shipley education has to offer. “You should be proud,” says Kevin Graham of Lookout Management, Inc., who has conducted similar surveys at 100 other independent schools and has worked with Shipley for the past 15 years.

Parent Satisfaction

Shipley’s overall parent satisfaction rate (4.4 on a 5.0 scale) is well over a standard deviation above the benchmark for other schools and above where we were four years ago.

Quality Communication

An impressive 95% of communications items ranked extraordinarily high among measured schools (the average is in the range of 63%). We believe that communication is critical to maintaining the sense of community at Shipley and helping parents to play more effective roles in their children’s education.

Beyond Academics

Shipley achieved new high scores among measured schools for success in preparing students for each of: compassion for others; coping with peer pressure; making ethical decisions; self-advocacy skills; and social skills.

Alumni Focus

“Our study of the Shipley alumni experience confirms that the focus on balance and on belonging pays off and serves well to prepare graduates for life after Shipley,” says Graham.

About the Survey Process

For the past 15 years, Shipley has conducted constituent surveys with Kevin Graham of Lookout Management, who conducts surveys at more than 100 independent schools. The real value of the survey process and results is in taking the feedback and developing plans to continue to improve. Many of the recent changes at Shipley (the new turf fields on the Upper Campus, the parking garage, increased interdisciplinary course offerings, etc.) came about as a result of feedback from previous surveys.

This content was originally published in the Fall 2015 Shipley Magazine. Read more from this issue at http://blogs.shipleyschool.org/category/shipleymagazine/fall-2015/.