October 21, 2008
Summary of meeting attended by PURE Reform:
About 10 public school parents attended the Parent Engagement (PE) meeting held at the library at Phillips K-5 Elementary School. PE meetings will be held on the first, second and third Tuesdays of every month (see schedule at http://www.pps.k12.pa.us/14311072515345507/blank/browse.asp?a=383&BMDRN=2000&BCOB=0&c=57543).
Each month will feature a different topic with each of the three meetings being held at different times and different school buildings to allow for greater access. This month’s meetings are featuring an introduction to the importance of parent engagement, citing studies that show when parents are engaged at the school level, their children tend to perform better academically. Emphasis was put on the fact that “parent” could mean any engaged adult in the students life (grandparents, aunts and uncles, cousins, older siblings, etc.).
Three different types of PE were identified:
I. At Home
i. Reading to student
ii. Monitoring homework
iii. Providing good nutrition
iv. Encouraging appropriate bedtimes
II. At School
i. Volunteer any time that you can (even 1 hour/month) at your child’s school. (each school has a Volunteer Coordinator that can provide information regarding volunteer opportunities).
ii. 1% of each school’s budget is designated for encouraging PE.
III. At the District Level
i. Excellence for All Steering Committee-1-4 parents are selected from the members of the school’s PSCC to attend monthly meetings. These parents are expected to then disseminate the information obtained from these meetings to the rest of their school’s parents. (Title One money can be used to set up mailing)
ii. PE Tuesdays-parents are expected to attend these meetings and then return to their home schools to encourage volunteerism by relaying information obtained from PE meetings.
iii. Strategic Planning Committee*
iv. District wide male involvement*
v. District wide grandparents initiative*
*Items iii. through v. were not discussed in detail The remainder of the meeting was dedicated to two guest speakers, including:
I. Three Rivers Connect (3RC) Chris Sweeney-Mr. Sweeney introduced the efforts of 3RC to compile a comprehensive list of programs (after school, tutoring) that are available for parents and students (www.swpaaafterschool.org)
II. Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank (GPCFB), Cynthia Moore-described the work of GPCFB and the need for greater outreach so that people in need of these services will participate.
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