Many years ago, a group of us sat down and came up with Ten Things To Make Our Schools Better. Here's what we came up with.
TEN THINGS YOU CAN DO TO MAKE OUR SCHOOLS BETTER
1. REGISTER TO VOTE and get out for school elections to voice your opinions. These elections directly affect how our school is run.
2. GET INVOLVED- help hire Faculty by joining Hiring Committees (contact Roberta Zampolin
; join the PTA and help out in school events if your schedule allows.3. READ PAPERS SENT HOME- your child is directly affected by day-to-day decisions of teachers and staff. Request information from Site Based Management Teams and Curriculum Councils
4. OFFER YOUR OWN EXPERIENCE AND KNOWLEDGE to your child's teacher; something as simple as sharing your family's culture or hosting a class visit to your workplace raises your child's sef-esteem and enriches their entire class.
5. FORM A "BUDDY SYSTEM" with other parents in your child's class-a cluster of 3 or 4 families who talk to each other means that you, as a parent, don't have to attend every meeting to know what's going on.
6. COMMUNICATE WITH YOUR CHILD'S TEACHER as often as possible; during morning program after drop off, at pickup time, by phone from work or by a written note- there's no substitute for person-to-person contact.
7. ENCOURAGE YOUR CHILD'S TEACHER to try new things and be supportive in any way you can.
8. READ TO/ WITH YOUR CHILD- even one story or news article at bedtime every night gives them the chance to become better readers.
9. EDUCATE YOURSELF ABOUT EDUCATION- if time allows, try and read articles about schools and education. Find out what the New Compact for Learning is all about and how you can help improve your child's education. NYACK PIE has a large library on a wide range of issues-both books and videos.
10. LISTEN TO YOUR CHILDREN- only they can give you a perspective about what it "feels like" to be in our school system. Trust their judgment.
