February 2, 2017
by Dr. Bill Hudson, Head of School
I asked a certain fifth grader what she liked best about MPA. Without missing a beat, she said, “The Head of School.” (I think she’s angling for an iPhone.) When I asked my daughter Ari again, she had a hard time deciding between her “caring teachers, the interesting classes she is taking, and her kind and curious classmates.”
With the exception of the Head of School comment, her responses are very similar to what I hear from parents, other students, and alumni every day. What I have come to know about MPA anecdotally, data has now reconfirmed. You may remember taking a survey before Winter Break administered by the Independent Schools Association of the Central States (ISACS), our accreditation association. We received the results this month and they are outstanding. I’d like to share some of the data and a few of my observations. Know that you will hear more over the next 12 months as the data shapes and informs the self-study report we will write for re-accreditation.
Quality
Overall, our community is exceptionally pleased with the school. In fact, MPA surpassed the benchmark of our peer schools on almost every indicator of what ISACS considers excellence and quality. For instance, 93 percent of parents, 89 percent of students, and 96 percent of alumni rated the quality of an MPA education as either excellent or very good. All four constituent group responses exceeded the ISACS benchmark for our peer schools. Particularly affirming is the response of our alumni parents. With the perspective of distance and the experience of their children in college, they overwhelming consider the quality of an MPA education as excellent or very good (97 percent), also exceeding the ISACS benchmark.
Excellence
When asked what they value most about the school, parents indicated an emphasis on values and character education, an innovative approach to education, support for academic achievement, and a caring environment. Parents strongly agreed that the school’s mission is achieved. The school’s academic program received very high ratings and parents are very pleased with the academic departments. Seven of eight program areas (academic disciplines such as English, science, arts, etc.) were even higher than the ISACS benchmark among our peer schools.
Value
When asked to compare MPA to our peer schools, 78 percent of parents consider the quality to be much, or somewhat, higher than the benchmark. Relative to the cost, 74 percent of parents consider MPA to be an excellent or very good value.
Loyalty
Our parents are also exceedingly loyal. Eighty-four percent of parents indicate they are likely to recommend MPA to a friend, neighbor, or colleague. Eighty-nine percent say they will continue to support the school financially and 54 percent say they are inclined to increase their support.
Students
Students are very complimentary of their teachers and one another. Eighty-three percent of students say their teachers are excellent or very good, exceeding the ISACS benchmark. They believe the school supports their academic achievement, provides equal opportunity for both boys and girls, and is committed to moral education and character development. Again, all above the benchmark for our peer schools.
Return On Investment
The first priority of the school’s current strategic plan is to “prepare students to live, learn, and thrive in today’s 21st century global society.” According to our alumni, MPA does that very well. Ninety-six percent of our young alumni think MPA did an excellent or very good job preparing them for success in college. When asked about preparation for life, 83 percent believe MPA did an outstanding job. A clear majority of older alumni (83 percent) consider their MPA education as an excellent/very good foundation for success in work.
There are hundreds of pages of additional results. We are able to analyze results by division and longitudinally. There is a great deal of work to be done as we comb through the data for insights into both strengths and areas for growth. As that work unfolds, I will continue to share it with you.
The survey results clearly affirm the MPA mission and support our refreshed brand. They also confirm what we know in our hearts. In the words of a Middle School student, “The strengths are that MPA teaches kids to dream big and do your best in your school work so much that I can’t even think of what I didn’t know! I love MPA.”
Editor’s note: The Wordle above represents the words most frequently used to describe MPA’s strengths in the narrative portion of the survey.
