By Elizabeth Miller ’15, Entertainment Editor

Country Day has always been very happy with its academic standards and achievements. However, as Stephanie Luebbers, Head of the Upper School, explained to the student body at assembly a couple of weeks ago, “That’s not all [she] wants”: “Life is complicated, and this time period is really complicated,” Mrs. Luebbers said. There is more to be concerned with than simply the academics at school. For this reason, students in the high school along with the middle school and the fourth grade took wellness surveys in November. The Upper School survey, Independent School Health Check, has been taken by nearly 16,000 students across the country to evaluate the overall well-being of their students and programs. The survey was a way to find out not just how students do in school, but also how they’re really feeling. The administration “isn’t looking for a perfect school,” Mrs. Luebbers said. They want to find out what they can do to help make the school an even better place.
The school recently received the data and report that was compiled from this survey. As has been emphasized on many occasions, the information was completely anonymous. Everything was reported in percentages, so there is no way to trace back certain answers to specific students. High school students will be learning more and more about the results of the survey over the following months, Mrs. Luebbers said. She is “certain that [Country Day] is a really healthy place,” and the results of the survey show that, overall, she is right.
The following is an account of the survey results that Mrs. Luebbers gave to the student body at an assembly two weeks ago:
One of the biggest concerns that many schools have when taking a survey like this is that their students will just outright lie. Only a couple of students indicated at the end of the survey that they hadn’t been at all honest on the survey. About two thirds of students said that they were completely honest on the survey, and the other third were almost completely honest. These numbers match the national norms for high school students taking this survey.
A large part of being a high school student is learning how to “run a balance” between all of the different aspects of our life: academics, social lives, sports, the arts, and extracurricular activities. “[Country Day] is a very rigorous and busy place,” Mrs. Luebbers said. Students are challenged mentally and physically. This is part of the reason for the survey. “We do not want to push you over the edge,” Mrs. Luebbers said. The survey is helping the administration figure out where this “edge” is, so that they know where our limits are.
A large percent of the student body feels that the academics are hard, and another group feels that they are extreme. Some students feel that the school work is just too difficult for them. All of the work has, perhaps, led to far less sleep than is necessary for a teenager. Studies show that eight to nine hours are necessary to make better relationships, have less stress, and take fewer risks. In the Upper School, a small number have less than five hours of sleep, and a few more have more than seven. The majority of the students fall somewhere in between. Studies say that lack of sleep is a serious issue, and students can get more sleep if they have better time management. However, the amount of homework at Country Day is consistent with the national norm, except at the extremes. The vast majority of students at Country Day multitask while working.
Sources of motivation show a lot about a school. Mrs. Luebbers said a great school can motivate its students to work for the sake of working. The survey results indicated that many students are extrinsically motivated, so rather than being inspired to work internally, they are motivated by grades, colleges, parents, and teachers. It would be far better for students to do well because they want to, rather than because they feel compelled to by external forces. Mrs. Luebbers said that she would like more students to be more intrinsically motivated more of the time.
Academic honesty is very important at Country Day. It is a school based on honor, yet a small group have nonetheless cheated on a test or quiz. Many students say they need more training in citing their sources. A large number use Sparknotes or Cliffnotes, perhaps appropriately. The students who cheat completely overestimate how many other people cheat, Mrs. Luebbers said. They often attempt to excuse their actions with the idea that “everyone is doing it”. However, they are by far in the minority at CCDS.
Although Country Day is a very healthy school, Mrs. Luebbers said, students in high school take risks in the areas of drinking, drugs, and sex. Although the amount of risk-taking on school campus or at school-sanctioned events is very minimal, the number is far too high outside of school Mrs. Luebbers said. Many of these risks are linked together. Risk takers grossly overestimate the number of other people who also take risks, Mrs. Luebbers said, because we often link our understanding of group behavior with what our own associates are doing.
Drinking is the risk of choice for students at Country Day, and the level of binge drinking done by Country Day students is slightly higher than national average. Drug use is below national averages. Most Country Day students wait two to three years longer than the average student to start drinking. At the time of the survey a small group of students said they were in a relationship. Almost the exact same amount said they had had sex. A group of these people had unprotected sex. A large group of the people who reported having had sex also reported having done so under the influence of alcohol.
The vast majority of Upper School students at Country Day feel comfortable and safe at school. Most said they feel that they really belong where they are. Some were anxious or sad, but most felt that they could go talk to a friend or an adult. Most students were happy with their friendships.
There were five questions on the survey that acted as marker questions for positive feelings. If one of these questions is answered in a certain way, it implies that the taker of the survey is more positive. Almost half of Country Day Upper School students answered all five of these questions in the way that implies their positivity. Mrs. Luebbers felt that this was an extraordinary number of students who are in a very positive environment.
Although this survey is “just a start”, “there is good work to be done” with the information that has been acquired, Mrs. Luebbers said. They plan to use the information to decide what topics need to be discussed, whether in assemblies with special speakers, along with open ended conversations in advising sessions. Administrators feel a lot of hope that the results will help Country Day become an even better place.