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Deerfield students and principal describe 'buddy classes' after survey flags comfort-seeking as an area for improvement
Summary
Deerfield Elementary presented survey results showing favorable overall climate but a 36% rate of less-than-favorable comfort in asking adults for help; school officials described reinstituted buddy classes and other steps and reported modest improvement on a follow-up survey.
Deerfield Elementary Principal Jim Morata told the Oak Creek-Franklin Joint School District board on April 14 that the school has reinstituted structured "buddy classes" and other community-building steps after a parent engagement survey found one recurring weakness: how comfortable students feel asking adults for help.
Morata said the district parent engagement survey recorded favorability scores of 74 for school climate and 73 for school fit but that one question — how comfortable a child is asking for help from school adults — produced 36% less-than-favorable responses. "Everything that we do should be driven by our purpose and why we're telling us why we're at, exist as a school," Morata said as he introduced the presentation. He said the school focused actions on connections between students and staff, professional learning on "connections over compliance," and classroom community routines.
Students from fourth and fifth grades described activities used in buddy classes. Hazel, a student, said, "I enjoyed helping my buddy because I felt like I connected to them and loved helping them." Other students described projects ranging from an "alphabet soup" activity to decorating socks for World Down Syndrome Day and joint research projects for Black History Month. The school pairs kindergarten with third grade, first with fourth, and second with fifth for monthly planned activities that include shared learning and leadership opportunities.
Morata told the board Deerfield administered an abbreviated winter survey to measure whether changes were working and reported a more-than-6-percentage-point improvement on the help-seeking question. He said the school will continue to cycle parent feedback, run student focus groups to hear students' perspectives, and review survey comments to identify further actions. "We're not done," Morata said, noting ongoing work to strengthen relationships that enable learning.
A board member praised the students' presentation and encouraged them to continue their work. The school asked families to complete future surveys so staff can forward positive comments to individual teachers and track changes over time.
Deerfield's presentation was part of the board's April 14 meeting agenda and was followed by a public comment period and other business.
