About Flagpole. (Athens, Ga.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 9, 2011)
Parents in Schools CCSD Promotes and Facilitates Family Involvement T he Media Center at Alps Road Elementary School boasts high ceilings, large scenic windows and neatly placed books stacked up to waist height. At the front of the room, parents sit in undersize chairs made for children no older than 10. Dr. Philip Lanoue, the superin tendent of the Clarke County School District (CCSD), Clarke County Board of Education President Charles Worthy and parents rep resenting their children's schools at this monthly meeting of the Parent Advisory Board give familiar greetings, then quietly anticipate the first order of business. Worthy gives a report on tne Board of Education and Lanoue gives the superintendent's report. Parents ask questions and respond to district initiatives. Finally, special guest Tim Johnson, executive director of Whatever It Takes Athens, presents his organization's plans to work with the CCSD. The meeting starts on time and ends on schedule, with a total of 25 parents and school administrators in attendance. The Parent Advisory Board meet ing epitomizes what may be seen as a stereotype of "parent involvement" in schools. Many think of parent involve ment as attending PTA or PTO meet ings, bringing cookies to a bake sale or attending football games. But in today's world, many parents are single, work several jobs and spend time with their children in other ways. The CCSD leader ship recognizes the diversity of parent hood and the challenges faced by many parents in the county. In response, the district has implemented a variety of programs and strategies to increase parent involvement not only in Clarke County schools, but also in the lives of all children attending them. "In some homes, the parenting element may be missing, so I also think [parental involvement] means community involvement," explains school board member Ovita Thornton. Thornton believes that parent involvement goes beyond attendance at PTO meetings and permeates other aspects of children's lives. "We need to take every opportunity to reach parents and create new opportunities," she says, "because the world has changed." And that changed world presents chal lenges for parents. Many are single and work ing more than one job. Attending daytime meetings, or evening meetings overlapping night shifts at work, proves difficult for many parents when childcare cannot be found. Transportation costs and the difficulty of get ting time off from work can present barriers to parents playing active roles in their children's education. -So, what does "involvement" mean for the modern parent in Athens? According to Thornton, "People are too hung up on the old model of parent involve ment, PTO meetings and bake sales. It's much bigger than that." tudies show that when parents are involved with their children's educa tion, children have higher grades and test scores, better school attendance, lower rates of suspension, decreased use of drugs and alcohol and fewer instances of violent behavior. Through parent involvement initiatives, CCSD has found similar positive effects in the lives of students in the Athens community. By January of the 2009-2010 school year, CCSD had held approximately 144 disciplinary hear ings to suspend students for periods of 10 school days or more. By January of this school year, the number of hearings for such suspen sions had decreased to 78. According to Dr. Lanoue, "Kids are getting choices." Teacher training changes attitudes, and recently CCSD has focused on not only children's behavior, but also the behavior of teachers and parents in response to issues that may confront chil dren during the school day. CCSD has also seen an increase in the aca demic achievement of students throughout the district. The State of Georgia recognized the Clarke County School District as the 2009-2010 winner of the Title I Distinguished District Award for closing the achievement gap between economically disadvantaged and non-economically disadvantaged stu dents. Alt elementary and middle schools in the district made Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP), the state's measure of student achieve ment required by No Child Left Behind. Some individual schools have also seen better test scores, as well as better behavior from students. With so much achieved in such a short period of time, one must ask the question: What exactly is the district doing to increase parent involvement? "Four or five years ago, everything was different," explains Clara Londono, the fam ily engagement specialist at J.J. Harris Elementary School. "Now every school has a family engagement specialist." Family engagement specialists work exclu sively with parents who require access to community services related to their children's educations. "The district sees family engage ment as an important piece of a child's educa tion," Londono says, with three main goals: to get parents participating in school events, to give parents tools to promote education at home and to link community services to the people who need them the most. O ne of President Barack Obama's pri mary educational initiatives focuses on creating more programs like the Harlem Children's Zone (HCZ) in New York City. With its origins in a truancy prevention project founded in 1970, HCZ has grown into an organization that takes on neighborhoods one block at a time, connecting families to services that will increase positive outcomes for children in the community. "The founder of HCZ sought to change the 'thug culture' of Harlem into an education culture," explains Johnson of Whatever It Takes Athens, "and the key is to involve parents, community partners and the school district." Whatever It Takes Athens (WIT) plans to implement a similar program in Athens. The WIT organization includes six teams: an Early Childhood Education team; a Safety and Juvenile Justice team; a K-12 team; a Post-Secondary Career team; a Health and Wellness team; and a Family, Neighborhood and Community Engagement team. WIT will work not only v ’th the schoot district but also with parents, community groups and volun teers to help increase positive outcomes for students by connecting children and families with resources tailored to their specific needs. Johnson emphasizes that WIT'S parent orga nization, Family Connection/ Communities in Schools, has already undertaken several initiatives in Athens, such as teen pregnancy prevention and early childhood education projects, which have proven successful and served as model programs statewide. WIT is one of 21 organizations and institutions in the nation to have been awarded a federal planning grant under the Department of Education's Promise Neighborhoods initiative; further funding for implementation of qualify ing programs will be awarded later this year. WIT will add invaluable benefits to the family engagement programs already in place in the school district. At J.J. Harris, where 69 percent of the student population identifies as Latino, Londono has already implemented sev eral programs to increase parent involvement. Every month, the school offers a coffee event for parents with Principal Xernona Thomas, bi-weekly English lessons for Spanish-speaking parents, and Family and Children Together (FACT) nights, where parents can learn reading and math methods taught to their children and how to reinforce their education at home. In addition to school programming and parent education, family engagement special ists in CCSD offer computers for parents to access at any time in relation to their child's education and to help connect parents with community resources. "For example," says Londono, "a parent may say... 'my child needs glasses, but she doesn't have insurance. She's not completing assignments, and her head hurts. What do I do?'" Family engagement specialists like Londono point parents not only to med ical resources, but also to community programs that provide food, clothing and other basic services that parents may not otherwise know how to access. the beginning of the 2009-2010 school year, ACC elementary schools changed from apparent choice" policy to "neighborhood schools," meaning that children new attend schools in "zones" near their homes instead of enrolling in schools that may be on the other side of town. The change in policy may have increased parent involvement in schools. "Parents involve other par ents," notes Adam Kurtz, principal of Chase Street Elementary School. "There is a comfort level in seeing what people around you are doing. Initiatives grow more organically." Kurtz recognizes other benefits of neighborhood schools, such as the abil ity of faculty to visit homes easily and the ability of parents to attend school events with fewer problems finding transportation. "Informal, regular interactions help make the school more of a community hub and increase parent involvement." Parent involvement in Athens-Clark County extends far beyond attendance at traditional after-school events and test score results. Parent education initiatives, collaboration with community programs and other outreach by schools and the Athens community at large increase the ability of parents to play strong roles in the academic lives of their children. "Parents need incentives to come to meet ings," says Londono. "Many cannot afford gas to get to meetings or may need childcare services for their children in order to increase [their] involvement in school and community programs that benefit their children." Even though more could be done to increase parent involvement in education, Thornton, of the school board, believes that the district is headed on the right path. "We need to look at the tools that we do have and measure them to see whether or not they are effective. However, I feel really good about where we are right now. We have created ave nues to involve parents in a positive way and will continue to do so as we learn what works and what doesn't." Emma Hetherington For more information on how to get involved in Athens community schools, contact your neighborhood school or Whatever It Takes Athens at www.witathens.org. FEBRUARY 9,2011 • FLAGPOLE.COM 9
