As parents leaped into New Haven’s ambitious school change campaign, Tesha Todman offered suggestions: Dock students’ grades if their parents don’t show up to report card night. And make the parents learn to use computers.
“There needs to be some kind of consequences” for parents who don’t get involved, she argued. “They make it too easy for parents not to come out.”
Todman (at left in photo) the suggestion as she joined about 100 other parents at Wilbur Cross High School Thursday night. Two parents from each city school were summoned there by the schools superintendent to revive the Citywide Parent Teacher Organization, which fizzled in the mid-1990s.
Also Thursday, officials announced that two parents, Mary Rosario and Erik Clemons (LEAP‘s executive director), have been named to the committee that’s overseeing the mayor’s school reform drive.
Taken together, the two developments marked another front in New Haven’s fast-developing, nationally-watched reform campaign: Involving, and setting high expectations for, parents.
In opening remarks at Thursday night’s gathering, Mayor John DeStefano said parents are a key part of the reform initiative, which aims to cut the dropout rate in half, close the achievement gap and ensure every student can graduate from college. The reform drive centers on high expectations for students, teachers and staff.
DeStefano set the bar high for the parents, too.
On the heels of presidential kudos for New Haven’s school reform drive, DeStefano called for action, not just “words and ambitions.” Instead of thanking parents for coming, he put them right to work.
As they bit into plates of roasted potatoes and baked ziti, parents were enlisted to help with two tasks: getting out the word about report card night on Nov. 18 and 19, and helping launch SchoolNet, an Internet tool that will let parents track their kids’ grades and test scores.
School system officials, who have battled with independent parent leaders in the past, decided who was invited and what the agenda was for Thursday night’s event. The district set the attendance to two parents per school. Those parents were either the PTO heads, or active parents selected by each school, according to school construction chief Sue Weisselberg. Some staff who work with parental involvement attended, too.
DeStefano urged the parents to consider themselves as “a group of leaders” and form a network with other parents. Schools Superintendent Reggie Mayo said he hopes the group will mobilize to lobby in Hartford against school system budget cuts, for example.
At the door, parents were offered bright red bumper stickers and pins touting the school reform drive’s new motto: “It Takes A City! School Change Begins With Me.”
Parents heard a brief rundown of SchoolNet, a website the district plans to launch at a few select schools around Nov. 18. Parents will be able to log on and see individualized info for their child. That includes disciplinary info and results of district-wide tests and statewide tests. If the pilot goes well, the system will be expanded to other schools.
The aim is to give parents another way to be plugged into their children’s schools, even if they can’t attend PTO meetings or miss report card night.
“How can parents best use SchoolNet?”
That was the first question up for discussion as parents broke down into working groups at cafeteria tables in the school’s main lobby.
Todman joined five other mothers (including Rosario and Daisy Gonzalez, left to right in photo) at one table, which had been dressed up with a white table cloth. Todman has a son at the John Martinez School. She suggested that parents attend mandatory computer sessions to learn how to use the system.
Otherwise, only a few parents — those already plugged into their kids’ lives and also to the Internet — will use it, she said.
She spoke with a Caribbean lilt that revealed her origin, the British Virgin Islands. Back home, she told the group, parent involvement accounts for 40 percent of a student’s grade. That provides a strong incentive for them to attend.
She suggested a similar program in New Haven.
A woman named Marilyn, a mother at Co-op High School, objected. What about the kids who aren’t so lucky to have involved parents? What about students in the care of DCF (the Department of Children and Families)? she asked.
Still, Todman wasn’t alone in her line of thought. When the topic turned to report card night, some parents had similar suggestions.
Parent attendance tends to be high in grades K to 4, but then peters off afterward.
“You’ve got to get radical,” urged Rose Kierce, a Hillhouse High School mom. A child should not be allowed to come back to school until the parent picks up the report card, she suggested.
Garth Harries, the assistant superintendent who came to New Haven in June to oversee the reforms, said the district will absolutely hold all students to the same expectations — but it’s not fair to punish a kid if their parents don’t show up.
Other parents teemed with more moderate suggestions: Allow parents to make an appointment with the teacher if they can’t attend report card night — a practice that reportedly is working well at Worthington Hooker. Lure parents to school with student talent shows or by offering free coats, as Principal Kim Johnsky has done with success at Fair Haven K‑8.
A phone call from another parent may prompt a parent to show up, others suggested. One dad asked if teachers could help parents target those calls to the parents who most need the nudge.
By the end of the two-hour meeting, parents were comparing best practices and had compiled a list of suggestions that will be emailed to the group.
“This is the start of a conversation,” said Harries as the event wrapped up. No district in the country has figured out how to get parents engaged with schools, he said.
“I’d love to have Obama calling us out for our ability to get our parents involved in their children’s educations,” Harries said.
Some previous stories about New Haven’s school reform drive:
• Where Do Bad Teachers Go?
• Mayo Extends Olive Branch
• School Board Makes Mom Cry
• Next Term Will Determine Mayor’s Legacy
• Reading Target Set: 90% By February
• Teacher Pact Applauded; Will $$ Follow?
• Mayor “Not Scared” By $100M
• Useful Applause: Duncan, AFT Praise City
• Reformer Moves Inside
• After Teacher Vote, Mayo Seeks “Grand Slam”
• Will Teacher Contract Bring D.C. Reward?
• What About The Parents?
• Teachers, City Reach Tentative Pact
• Philanthropists Join School Reform Drive
• Wanted: Great Teachers
• “Class of 2026” Gets Started
• Principal Keeps School On The Move
• With National Push, Reform Talks Advance
• Nice New School! Now Do Your Homework
• Mayo Unveils Discipline Plan
• Mayor Launches “School Change” Campaign
• Reform Drive Snags “New Teacher” Team
• Can He Work School Reform Magic?
• Some Parental Non-Involvement Is OK, Too
• Mayor: Close Failing Schools
• Union Chief: Don’t Blame The Teachers
• 3‑Tiered School Reform Comes Into Focus
• At NAACP, Mayo Outlines School Reform
• Post Created To Bring In School Reform
• Board of Ed Assembles Legal Team