Forming an Opportunity Belief

Forming an Opportunity Belief

    Due to the increased building and development, there is a greater need for more space for students in public schools. Kids are forced to take the bus to schools further away that have more space, since the school they are zoned for is over populated, and new commercial buildings are taking up the free land. I think that kids should be able to go to school in the neighborhoods the live in to cultivate the neighborhood family culture. The unmet need is space for students (upcoming and current) in schools. The people that have the need, are the students themselves. The need arose fro, new developments and buildings in a growing city. As of now, more people are taking advantage of the private schools, magnet schools, out of district school choice and home schooling availability. At this point, I can tell that this opportunity exists as there are portable classroom being put up outside of the schools for overflow classes. Newly built schools should be built to accommodate the growth of the community. 

Prototypical Customer #1: Middle aged Florida woman with a child.

When you were enrolling or your child in school, did school administration ever inform you about the schools population or student-teacher ratio?

    I don’t believe we were informed of population , we were informed when we asked about teacher to student ratio , however that is determined by the state legislature and not the schools or the county. We we also not given the status of any plans for more housing developments in the works or in future plans 

Did you know that approximately 31% of all school facilities in America have portable classrooms?

    I was unaware of the percentage of portables. 

Did you know that the majority of the temporary portable classrooms will never transition into real classrooms?

    As for the students never transitioned out of them, I assumed that since the portables never left the school yard that the portables were there to stay .

Have you/your child ever had a class in a portable classroom?

    Yes my child has been in a portable. And in my state during inclement weather it is dangerous for the children to go outside to get to the portables and other arrangements needed to be made. When I was in school, there were no temporary classrooms.

Have any new schools been built in your area in the last 5 years?

    Yes, a few new school have been built in Bradenton and already I see portables on campus. 

Have you ever considered going to or putting your child in a private, magnet or home school?

    Yes I had thought of magnet programs but considered the reason we bought a home in the area was to live, work and play in the place we own our home and pay taxes.

Reflection: In this interview, I was able to receive information from someone who went through school with no portable classrooms and had to put their child in a school that was overpopulated. In Bradenton, it is surprising that the development is still growing and portables are already put up in the newer schools. I believe that this example shows how this is still an opportunity in todays society.

Prototypical Customer #2: College freshman from North Carolina.

When you were enrolling or your child in school, did school administration ever inform you about the schools population or student-teacher ratio?

    No, I was not informed of the student-teacher ratio. However, my mom may have been, and I was really never looking at multiple school options growing up.

Did you know that approximately 31% of all school facilities in America have portable classrooms?

    No, I was not aware of that statistic. But, I am not surprised considering my middle and high schools had portable classrooms.

Did you know that the majority of the temporary portable classrooms will never transition into real classrooms?

    Yes, I figured that was the case as many of them are used for schools that are over capacity. 

Have you/your child ever had a class in a portable classroom?

    Yes, I had many classrooms in portables throughout middle and high school. 

Have any new schools been built in your area in the last 5 years?

    Yes, new Elementary, middle, and high schools have been created in my county over the last 5 years.

Have you ever considered going to or putting your child in a private, magnet or home school?

    No, this was never a real consideration for me or my family. I have stayed in public schools my entire life.

Reflection: I learned that this opportunity is prevalent in other states as well. It is interesting to see the different school culture in different areas of America. What is surprising about this interview is the amount of schools that were built in the past 5 years. It seems like the community is trying to alleviate the crowded schools, as this freshman experienced portables in his high school time.

Prototypical Customer #3: High school senior from Florida.

When you were enrolling or your child in school, did school administration ever inform you about the schools population or student-teacher ratio?

    Yes, I was fully informed of the demographics of my school and the student-teacher ratio.

Did you know that approximately 31% of all school facilities in America have portable classrooms?

   No, I did not know that. 

Did you know that the majority of the temporary portable classrooms will never transition into real classrooms?

   No, I did not know this because there has always been promise of a new building underway. 

Have you/your child ever had a class in a portable classroom?

   Yes, I have had several classes in a portable classroom throughout high school. 

Have any new schools been built in your area in the last 5 years?

   No, there have not been any new schools built in my area of Weston, Florida in the last 5 years. 

Have you ever considered going to or putting your child in a private, magnet or home school?

   No, I have not because the public school system in my area has adequate facilities and offers a very good education.

Reflection: By this interview, I can tell that the people in the area are well aware of their large population and low space ratio. Although, their school is informing their families of their population and keeping up with delivering quality education, keeping the students in their public school. This school in particular had portables, but the student was unaware of how many there were in America. I think that after this interview, it would be helpful to look at schools that are loosing students due to the inclement amount of space. 

Summary:

    I believe that most of original opportunity is still there. Some areas of America are not struggling as much with new developments overcrowding school student space, but I feel like it is still a problem worth looking at in specific areas. If you find these specific locations of cities with higher growth it may be easier to find a solution for them instead of focusing on everyone. My opportunity is more accurate now that I have second hand information from the customers I have interviewed. They have provided me evidence that there is an opportunity and it needs to be fixed to help their future generation. Entrepreneurs should definitely adapt their ideas if the customer feedback does not align with their opportunity. You want to take the opportunity if one arises, even if you have to tweak your original idea.