Families Rate BrowningConnect

Family and student feedback will prove crucial as we continue to refine and improve BrowningConnect. During the spring we conducted two surveys of families and one of the students in our Middle and Upper Schools to find out how they were adapting to our online learning platform. 

Families from all grades participated in May’s survey of BrowningConnect for a total of 167 respondents (up from 31 when families were surveyed in the first week after Spring Break). Families in sixth and seventh grade had the highest participation in the latter survey. Families noted that they found the following elements of BrowningConnect the most effective:

• Lower School: live classes, Zoom meetings, and Zoom breakout rooms.

• Middle School: the organization/structure of the coursework, care of the teachers, live teaching, homerooms and advisory. 

• Upper School: the structure and schedule (including no classes on Wednesdays), small group and independent work, interaction with teachers, and the focus on specific subjects.

While families in lower grades felt that students weren’t spending enough time in BrowningConnect and required too much assistance with school work, by Grade 4 the majority thought the time spent by both student and adult was appropriate. 

When asked what they might change or what they would like to see built into BrowningConnect, families desired more live lessons, especially in Lower School, and more clubs and social activities, as well as more interactive sessions (particularly for physical education) and fewer lectures in Middle and Upper School. 

Although only about a quarter of Middle School boys and 15% of Upper School boys completed the student survey, they were generally positive about the schedule and technology used. Suggested improvements included more one-on-one time between faculty members and individual boys, more electives and more coordination between assignments so that too much work was not assigned in a short time period.