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All parents welcome
District 27 schools and parents
create unique learning opportunities
for students
Part
1
[DEC.
5, 2000]
There
once was a time when principals and teachers had to call parents in to the
school to discuss a child’s disciplinary or academic shortfall. But these
days, parents of Lincoln District 27 elementary students frequently visit their
child’s school to help teachers and administrators enhance the educational
process.
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All
schools within District 27 are engaging parents as full partners with teachers
in helping students meet academic and character goals. School Community Councils
(SCC) are the engines that drive these partnerships. They have grown out of a
District 27 Board of Education plan to improve student achievement. Site-based
decision making was a key part of the plan. The SCC puts the administration,
teachers and parents around the same table, in a structure that encourages them
to make decisions on behalf of their own students and children.
Members
of the School Community Councils meet twice a month and are guided by a training
manual that helps them to establish four goals and expectations for each school.
Two of the goals are academic, dealing with studying, reading, communication and
the like. The other two goals revolve around character issues like respect and
responsibility. These goals cover the area where the responsibilities of the
school and the home overlap.
Washington-Monroe
Elementary School Community Council has adopted the goals of studying, reading,
respect and responsibility. After defining each goal, the Washington-Monroe SCC
developed a set of "expectations" for parents, teachers and students
for each goal. A School Community Compact that is distributed to all parents
summarizes the goals and expectations. It then becomes the joint responsibility
of teachers, parents and the students themselves to ensure that studying and
reading skills are enhanced, students are accepting more responsibility for
their personal success, and students show more respect to adults and peers.
[to top of second column in this
article]
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[Principal Rebecca Cecil displays a copy of the goals and
expectations outlined by the Washington-Monroe SCC]
Washington-Monroe
Principal Rebecca Cecil says, "The parents buy into these
expectations when they are part of the decision-making process, and when
they see other parents involved in the decision making."
Involving
parents is the key to success for the SCC. Mrs. Cecil says that she is
seeing more parents come to Washington-Monroe Elementary School during
the day, not just to have lunch with their children, but to help with
special activities at the school and in the classroom. Some parents are
even taking time off from work to share their careers or special hobbies
with the students. Parents have a better understanding of their role in
their child’s education because the School Community Compact spells
out their responsibilities clearly.
(To
be continued)
[Marty
Ahrends]
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