“At
the end of the day, the most overwhelming key to a child’s success is the
positive involvement of parents.”
Jane
D. Hull
By
Tommie Saylor
Kennedy
High School Principal
The
biggest influence on student success are parents and/or guardians. In fact,
a student’s home life is so influential in the progress that it almost renders
the caliber of the teachers, administrators or school irrelevant.
Essentially,
if the people at home value education, place a high premium on grades and are
involved in the educational process, then the student, more times than not,
finds academic success.
Knowing
this, schools make numerous attempts to involve the parents and/or guardians in
the educational process. To this end, schools organize open houses,
parent/teacher conferences, try to encourage parents to serve on committees and
become involved in school events.
It
can be argued that the eminence of a school can be measured not by the number
of teachers with advanced degrees, graduation percentage nor by a diverse
curriculum, but by the number of parents that attend open houses,
parent/teacher conferences and PTA/booster meetings.
Because
a student’s parents and/or guardians are so paramount in a student’s academic
success, teachers need to make every effort to involve the home in the
educational process.
This
starts with communication, keeping up on your grading and posting the grades to
the online student management system. Make calls or send notes home when a
student begins to falter. Send emails home highlighting what is taking place in
class, homework or projects. Perhaps even invite parents into the classroom to
become part of the learning process.
Essentially,
the more teachers can involve and inform parents, and spark interest in the
learning process, the more they will become involved. This will lead to the
greater the importance of education will become in the household.
When
all of that happens, students will perform.
Knowing
the research, we can either whine about the level of parental involvement or we
can create an atmosphere that draws parents into the educational process.
The
teacher has the choice.
Helping
students to find their greatness. Making Kennedy the school of choice.
Excellence by design.
