Parent Involvement

Teaching at a lower income school there really isn’t much parent involvement. We had an open house last month and set a record with I think 10-15 parents showing up. This really shocked me. A lot of interacting with parents includes calling home and addressing discipline issues. Sometimes the phone numbers we have for parents don’t even exist. But just because parents aren’t actively involved in the school doesn’t mean they don’t care. Most of them have things going on in their lives that I can’t imagine they would have time to come up to the school and talk. Some parents are working multiple jobs. This goes for my students as well. Sometimes they have to stay home or work instead of coming to school. My mentor and I send home good letters to parents occasionally to let them know how good of a job their student is doing in our class. It really brightens their day along with the student because usually when a teacher contacts home it is negative. There was a parent group during in-service who provided lunch for our 9th and 10th grade wing! The staff was shocked that this was happening and was so appreciative. So even if there is not a full blown PTA or parents volunteering to help out, I think we make do. Teaching at a lower income school makes the comments like “you’re going to be a good teacher” and “thanks for helping me” so much more valuable to me.