Alumni Data

HIGHLIGHTS & AFFIRMATIONS OF OUR PROGRAM 

Journey School conducted a recent (2023) Alumni Survey, where we reached out to alumni and families to gain information about student experiences after graduation. We were very pleased with the results and also gained some insight on how we can continue to improve. Below are some highlights:

Transition to High School 

The transition areas with the highest reported rates of ease were related to performance in project based learning activities and experience of stress/mental health challenges. 90% of respondents felt that they were well prepared for high school coursework. 

Skills and Mindsets

The vast majority of Journey Alumni who participated felt they engaged in the following more often than their peers: demonstrating empathy, resisting peer pressure, critical thinking, and advocating for environmental awareness.

Achievement 

Nearly all students had a GPA above a 3.0, with half of students holding a 4.0 GPA or higher. Two thirds of alumni respondents participated in AP/Honors/IB advanced coursework.

Reflections on Journey Experience

Open-ended responses were shared and alumni described how Journey “molded” them as a person and how it helped in “every facet” of life. Families discussed children who are happy, have high self-esteem, are their “authentic selves”, are kind and confident, and are life-long learners because of their Journey experience. They expressed gratitude for allowing children time to become who there are and “be children” before stressing academics. Several families were concerned their child would fall behind peers in traditional public schools, but noted this did not happen and they were glad they stayed the course.

Areas that we have improved over the years

Several alumni and alumni families who participated in the survey provided recommendations for the Journey program, arising from their experience and reflection of Journey from many years ago. It was exciting to read these and recognize that their input has already been incorporated into our programming and affirmed our direction towards school improvement. Examples include:

  • Increasing the number of Waldorf Trained Educators — Currently all of our Main Class Teachers are Waldorf trained or in the process of completing a training. 
  • Incorporating honor level academic tracks in middle school, leveled math opportunities, note-taking guidance, reading annotations, and in-depth research projects. — We are pleased to share that our current middle school features all of these recommendations and has grown tremendously over the course of the past 6-7 years. 

Areas for improvement from the alumni perspective 

Some alumni and alumni families shared reflections on ways Journey School could improve, which included updating facilities, preparing students for timed tests, more support for math, more support for students with dyslexia, the need to address bullying and anti-LGTBQ+ sentiments. These areas for suggested improvement are being analyzed further and action plans may be incorporated into future school improvement plans.

If you would like to read the full report, please click here.