The Santa Maria Joint Union High School District started this school year with renewed efforts to bring parents into the education process.
Through programs such as AERIES, which gives weekly student updates via email or smart phone in Spanish or English; increasing the number of certified school guidance counselors who deal with graduation and helping students get the information they need to plan and attend college; parent education programs; and cultural competency training, School District Superintendent Mark Richardson said the ultimate goal is to improve student achievement.
“When [parents] are part of that process, students achieve better,” Richardson said. “I just had my senior student’s progress report emailed to me [via AERIES], and, you know, we’re going to have a conversation tonight.”
Richardson mentioned that there is a knowledge gap for parents who are English learners that didn’t grow up in American schools. He added that 25 percent of the district’s students are English learners, and there are also a percentage of students who were reclassified in elementary school or junior high from English learner to fluent. It’s key to student success to try to bridge that gap, which is essentially a lack of knowledge about how the American school system works.
He said tools such as AERIES could empower parents, and it enables them to become a more active part of their student’s education. The district is also getting ready to introduce a new program called Let’s Talk, which would put parents with questions in touch with whomever can best answer them via the district’s website. Questions would be answered within a specified time period, can be asked in Spanish or English, answered in Spanish or English, and will give the district a good idea of where it needs to improve outreach.
“All those things that we take for granted are things our parents need to know about,” Richardson said.
The district’s desire to involve parents in their child’s education is nothing new for the district administration or its school board, however a couple of years of turmoil between parents, teachers, and the district is highlighting the recent efforts.
Since the 2012-2013 school year, some parents have been outspoken in their desire to see student achievement go up, as well as their desire to be included in district and school decision-making processes. While Richardson said the recent boost in parent outreach isn’t a direct result of those issues, the controversy certainly brought into focus the need and desire for that outreach.
“I don’t think anyone who’s involved in education can argue that it’s not important to get our parents involved in a meaningful way,” Richardson said.
This article appears in Oct 2-9, 2014.