Survey: Majority Of Ridgewood Parents Satisfied With Child's Education

RIDGEWOOD, NJ — A majority of parents and guardians in Ridgewood Public Schools are satisfied with their child's education, though self-reported confidence levels in specific instructional programs are not quite as high, according to a recent survey.

"There is room for us to do better," Ridgewood Superintendent Leonard Fitts said, in presenting the results of a Parent/Guardian survey sent out June 2022.

Overall sentiment from the survey, which tracked satisfaction with student academics and wellbeing; and school climate, facilities and communication, suggested that parents had a positive view of the school system.

However, as school board member Saurabh Dani pointed out, when the survey drilled down on specific academic programs, i.e. English Language Arts, Math, Science, Social Studies and others, fewer parents strongly agreed and more parents just agreed that the programs were satisfactory.

More broadly, 41% of parents strongly agreed with the statement: "I am satisfied with the overall quality of my child's education." Still, a combined 82% of parents at least agreed with the assertion, while 90% said they would recommend their child's school to other parents.

"It appears that we have a very rigorous educational program, and we will continue to add rigor to it," Fitts said. "We want to make sure that our kids get the finest and best education that we can provide for them."

It is also worth noting that, largely speaking, parents seem to have a more positive view of the school district since the last time this survey was administered, near the end of the 2016-2017 school year. But that comes with the caveat that fewer people participated — 26% of email recipients, compared with a previous 40%.

Board member Sheila Brogan remarked that perhaps the board should reconsider when surveys of this kind are sent out so as to get more responses.

"Our children are continuing to succeed and do well in school," Fitts said. "Our staff is doing an excellent job of providing high-quality instruction for all of our children."