Last night was my third Back to School Night, and every year I am amazed at how many parents do not show up. I understand that parents are busy with jobs, kids, and a million other things, but out of 100 students, I only had 8 parents come out last night. These of course were the same 8 parents I met at business night before school started.
This year is the first year our school is forming a community involvement committee and I am really hoping it helps connect the two. Last year, we also attempted to have two literacy nights for our students with several activities planned and not one person showed up...and we even had food! I think it is very important for students to understand that their education doesn't only take place in our building during school hours. Hopefully, we can improve the communication and get more parents out to support school events this year.
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4 comments:
I teach elementary school and many years I have much the same response. This year I had 17 of 20 parents come to Orientation (Friday before school) and half on Back to School night. That is an amazing turnout. I hope I can really use their enthusiasm this year. Many parents asked to volunteer and I am scrambling to coe up with ways for them to help me. Not used to this!
Last post about 17 of 20 parents coming was posted by me, Heather Day
I too have found this same pattern with all parent events such as open house, back 2 school night and parent conference night. I have found that I only see many of my parents once a year at the annual IEP meeting. This is a shame. I ahd only 2 of 14 students come to back to school night. I wish the parents who did not come would realize the time that I gave up for them. I and my students would have enjoyed showing them our classroom and some of the things we have been working on.
D. Knight
Over the years, I have experienced a lack of parent participation as well. It can be very frustrating, especially when notes and telephone messages are used for meeting reminders. I am having our first Parent Committee meeting this coming Wednesday, and all of the parents are invited to discuss their expectations, suggestions, and then participate in a make-and-take. Last year, out of 18 students, sometimes two parents would show up. Usually, many people show up for the first session, and then the numbers decrease as the year continues. If some parents would just realize that they are their child's first teacher. Some parents ask to volunteer in the classroom. They can help make file folder games, work with their child on specific tasks, read to a group, etc. The faithful parents usually remain faithful, and the other parents, well, you just have to keep trying to get them to become more involved in their child's learning. Pam Gresham
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