42 Surveys Turned In

Golden Community Center Preschool Programs 2019-20 Program Evaluation

*Your comments are valued to help us make a successful preschool program for children and families. Please use any space available.

COMMUNICATION    Staff welcomes parents and encourages a friendly relationship. 1 41

Staff responds to any questions and concerns in an appropriate and 2 40 timely manner.

I feel my child’s teachers built a positive relationship with my child 1 41 throughout the year.

Were you able to have a parent/teacher conference? Yes No If no why not?

Would you recommend our preschool program to others? Yes (40) Maybe (2) No

From what source did you get the most of the information about our school program and news?

Teachers What is a preferred way you would like for us to Emails communicate? Website Emails

PRESCHOOL PROGRAM    Our program philosophy is “Learning Through Play.” I understand 42 how this is age appropriate for preschoolers and I am satisfied with the philosophy.

I recognize positive changes in my child’s communication, social 42 growth due to the program curriculum.

Children are encouraged to explore their environment and make 42 choices in their daily activities.

PRESCHOOL ACTIVITIES    Activities are age appropriate and of good quality. 42

I am aware of classroom themes and feel the activities go with the 42 learning themes.

Was your child able to participate in the online learning?

Most of the time - 30 Sometimes - 8 It didn’t fit our needs - 4

What did you like/dislike about online learning? *Not a replacement for in person learning, but it was nice to have something for my child to look forward to. *Like: Teachers reading stories, webex meetings with circle time and a chance for the students to share, lesson plans for the week sent all at once (instead a new email everyday)Dislike: We don’t have a printer so some of the handout we couldn’t use. If online learning continues into the fall we might need to buy one. * My child loved seeing his friends and teachers. He enjoyed sharing. * It was great to see the teachers! Sometimes we got kicked out of the online groups. Zoom worked better. * My child just wasn’t interested in the online meetings/circle time. Teachers did excellent job, just wasn’t for Jaxon * We loved that lesson plans and resources were sent to us each week. The Zoom calls were a little too long for our son. We had him do 1 for 20 min./week. We were very impressed with the teachers and their ability to adapt to teaching online. *I really liked the structure as a parent to know I can do all of these activities to participate in their learning. My son really didn’t like the online meetings and it was a huge struggle to get him to do them and stay there. He loves his teacher and friends so this was really strange for us. He also stopped in willingness to do school work. He is an extrovert so I think being around people in person was encouraging for him to do the work. I am trying to think of ways to encourage him while being isolated. *I thought you guys handled it really well. You kept it short so the kids didn’t get too antsy, and unmuted kids one at a time so that it wasn’t chaos. Our only complaint is just that we (obviously) wish there was no pandemic so Danny could have been with his wonderful teachers in person!

*I think the amount of time was perfect for the age group to keep their attention most of the time and I like that Claire had some exposure to online learning going into next year. *My kid is still digital analphabet *I liked that it incorporated things they had already done in class, I liked it since it was something familiar. * It worked best when we were in a room without distractions (hard to find ) Everyone is sleeping in and staying up later, so we were sometimes running late to our 9:00 meeting (crazy, I know) It was hard to remember to mute other kids, but definitely helped when everyone was muted. *We don’t do any screen time at home so we weren’t sure about it at first, but it worked really well! Josie loved seeing her teachers and friends. The teachers did a great job with the online learning. *In the larger groups, it was challenging for my kiddo to feel heard and involved. It often seemed like 1-2 kids would get called on far more than others. *I liked that he was able to participate in a class-like setting and interact with his teachers. It also gave me ideas for activities and things for us to do/focus on. The books read by the teachers were awesome b/c we could watch them whenever we had a few free minutes. The only hard part of the virtual classes for us was scheduling it within our day so that we would be home and inside during the lesson. We were often rushing in from a walk to make it in time or waiting inside for it to start (which doesn't bode well for Ali and his brother! haha!). I think the teachers did an excellent job adapting. *Just not ideal for preschoolers *It was great having the virtual meetings and the kids could see each other and sing songs. I also loved the activities given and books recorded by the teachers. *It was hard for my child to stay completely engaged (due to age), but he liked seeing his teachers and the familiarity of the routine. *the online teaching was not for us. Tommy participated sometimes, but it was something that could not keep his attention. *It’s just not the social interaction that preschool is supposed to be, but you did the best you could. I appreciate it.

Do you believe that your child(ren) learned the necessary skills for kindergarten readiness (if applicable)? *I feel my child learned so many skills that will prepare him for success in the future. He learned academic skills as well as emotional and social which is amazing! *I loved the social emotional focus. I feel my child will be better able to handle kindergarten. *I don’t think that he is ready to go this year. Especially after watching and listening to the kids in his class on the online meetings. I think another year with you all will get him right where he needs to be. *Yes, I think he’s ready. * Yes, I believe Oliver will take another year in preschool because he is young and still needs to work on personal responsibility items like packing up belongings, etc. He also needs to work on emotional self confidence and confidence in playing with others. *I think so? But I don’t have a clear sense of what kindergarten readiness means. More direct feedback on this topic from the teachers would have been helpful. *Yes! I am so glad that Ali got another year of preschool at the GCC. He is so ready for kindergarten now. The improvements he made over the last 3 months of classroom learning were huge! *Yes, absolutely. Claire started reading Bob books this week. She is ready and incredibly proud of herself (as am I!). J *Yes, she was always talking about the new things she learned at school. *I loved how the teachers made group time engaging, but still focused on lots of skills like counting and letters. I feel my child is more than ready for kinder! *Yes, yes, yes! The teachers did a great job getting my kiddo ready!

What was the best thing you or your child enjoyed about GCC Preschool? *The teachers and her friends * I enjoyed the experience at Golden recreation center and I liked the teachers very much. I thought everybody was welcoming and very helpful. Tommy enjoyed going to school and really did not like it when he had to miss it. *“Dramatic play, I liked everything” I loved the relationships she built, the enthusiasm for learning that grew, the kind and nurturing teachers (all the teachers, the subs, music, etc.). *Community feel *The teachers, they made my child feel loved and heard. *Playing with friends, interacting with teachers *Everything! When I picked up my child from school, she was always so happy to talk about her day! * Socializing, playing, helping *The community, the great teachers and staff, how much you guys love our kids! *We love the community aspect of your program, the teachers are amazing and truly care about the kids, the learning through play, amazing leadership and and everyone works together to provide the best experience for the kids and families. *The parent involvement. I loved getting the weekly lessons so I knew what was going on. I also think the small school let’s it feel like we are this tight knit special family. *Danny felt so loved and supported there. You all were a God-send to us after a difficult move, and you made all the difference to Danny in terms of his adjustment to our new town and his ability to make really good friendships. The best thing about his experience was definitely the teachers and staff. Danny draws a lot of comfort from authority figures that he can trust, and he trusted you all implicitly and felt really comfortable and safe with you. Thank you! *Great relation with pears, good * He liked drawing his name, playing outside and playing with his friends. * He loved building relationships with peers and teachers. He was excited to see his friends that made him feel loved and honored. *Meeting new friends *The special holiday activities and playing with her friends. *I don't know if I can limit it to one thing. I guess it would be the emphasis on social-emotional development, as that was especially important for our son. I loved that the teachers would give me candid feedback about how he was doing with drop-off and his behavior throughout the day. Those text messages with pics of him playing happily after those really tough drop-offs were everything to me. I doubt kinder, more empathetic, and compassionate teachers exist anywhere else - the Red Room teachers this year were an all star squad! *teachers *Playing make believe with his friend *The great connections he made with his teachers and friends. The teachers are amazing and couldn’t ask for a better environment for my child to be in. *Such a warm, inviting place. My child loved coming to play everyday. *He started to write and was excited about counting. *We made so many new friendships. What an amazing community! *The entire staff did such a great job making my child feel special. They always called her by name and had a smile for her.

Suggestions for improving our program: *I would love to see more room for the kids to run around outside, specifically a grassy area. I know this is probably impossible but it has been one of the things that I have always thought was missing. *I really can’t think of any. *In the case that we have online learning in the fall, I would suggest 15 -20 min. Zoom calls. Other than that, we couldn’t be happier with GCC and would 100% recommend it to other families. *If we get to come back to school, I would love to include at home suggestions in the lesson plans like you have been for the online learning so that I can work with him on the non school days with similar themed books, coloring, letters. I know I could do this on my own but I love that I can be confident with the materials you all are providing. *None. We really have no complaints whatsoever. It was just awesome and we love you guys and are so grateful that we got to be a part of your community! *Avoid nap time, he got really bored. * Nothing, I think the teachers and staff do a great job. * Unfortunately, the green room just feels small. There isn’t much you can do about that, but getting them into different environments throughout the day helps I think. *Higher quality materials for arts and crafts projects *The only thing I can think of would be more outdoor and nature-oriented walking field trips. *Green Room needs less kids, it’s pretty tight in there *Kindergarten readiness class should really just be for kids going into kindergarten *More ideas for at home activities in the lesson plans *A bigger playground would be awesome *More walking field trips *The cooking activities were fun and it would be great to have more of those. *None, maybe have a bathroom in Green Room?

Do you have any additional comments about our program? *Thank you so much for reigniting the spark for learning in my child. You do a great job! *I have had two children attend the GCC Program. It is an amazing program. Both my children loved the teachers and playing with their peers. I was amazed at the learning they both displayed over the years. They would come home with knowledge about the math they learned, retold me stories from the books they were read, sang songs and even expressed their feelings in a more coherent way and were able to explain how others might feel too. I cannot emphasize the degree to which the teachers, director, and program supervisor genuinely love and nurture the children. *Great environment for kids to approach kindergarten. Great communication with teachers. * I like that Spanish is incorporated into the learning. *Would you consider keeping the same teachers with their returning students next year? In the event that we have to do online learning again, I was thinking it might be difficult for new students and teachers to connect when there is no relationship to begin with, and certainly hard to get to know each other through online learning for half an hour twice a week. It’s all such a crazy situation right now. We had a great first year of preschool! Thanks so much to everyone at GCC! *We are so very thankful to have been a part of the GCC family for the past 3 years. We are so sad to be moving on, and wish our younger son could have the GCC experience. We can only hope that his preschool experience in our new town will be similar to what Ali had at the GCC. I felt so comfortable and confident in his care and learning dropping him off each day, and I would give your program the highest recommendation to any friend in Golden. Thank you so much for a wonderful 3 years. <3 *Ben was placed in this class because we moved in late. I was not told he would be too young for this class or that there would be 29 kids in his class. He enjoyed his time and loved his teachers but I think it was overwhelming and I don’t think it was an appropriate placement for a shy, quiet 3 year old. *You guys are the best and we will miss GCC preschool! * Virtual surveys, way easier just to click on a link and take a survey. *After two years, I’m still uncertain of the best way to contact the teachers during the day, like calling out sick. Email Connie, Julie and/or the gccredroom email, or texting one of the teachers, calling the classroom. *The GCC Preschool is a huge part of our community. We loved the feeling of family and the play based philosophy. Our kids got to be kids! *You can tell the staff really care about the children. I felt so comfortable dropping my child off for preschool, knowing she would be safe and having fun learning through play.

Sincerely, Preschool Staff 