We’ve had a great start to the 2019-2020 school year. It seems like everyone transitioned back into the routine of school and high levels of learning are occurring on a daily basis. Now that we are back in full swing I wanted to encourage parents to find a way to partner with the school(s) and become actively involved in their children’s education.
Ongoing research shows that family engagement in schools really does matter. Students with strong parental involvement have a higher overall achievement in school. It starts by setting high educational standards and goals with your children and fostering the achievement of those goals. Students with involved parents or other caregivers earn higher grades and test scores as well. Caregivers can monitor academic scores through Infinite Campus to ensure their child is on track. This approach can reduce absenteeism as well as increasing homework completion. It’s important to regularly encourage learning with your children.
Students with strong parental support have a higher level of self-esteem in all aspects of life. They have better social skills and exhibit appropriate behavior in school. This also contributes to a lower probability that they will get into trouble outside of school. Last, students are less likely to drop out of high school when they have strong support at home. It is critical for every student at Woodward-Granger CSD to graduate high school!
Active involvement may restore parents’ confidence in their children’s education. It is important for teachers and parents to develop and foster a strong relationship and keep in touch with each other regarding student progress. We all want success for our children and it’s critical we work together in this endeavor. Further, active involvement allows an opportunity for parents to advocate for improvements in the school building and with local school boards to ensure schools have the resources they need to provide a world class education for every student.
Active involvement doesn’t necessarily mean being at the school either! The most significant type of involvement is what parents do at home. By monitoring, supporting and advocating, parents can be engaged in ways that ensure that their children have every opportunity for success. According to researcher John Hattie, parents can have a positive effect on student learning just by having high aspirations and expectations for their children.
Woodward-Granger CSD is building futures one student at a time and we want to partner with you in this challenging endeavor.
Dr. Matt Adams
Superintendent
