Parent Tips

An Assignment for Parents: Students Will Perform Better with Your Help!!

A 2002 report from the Southwest Educational Development Laboratory, which collected research from 51 studies, found that “students with involved parents, no matter what their income or background, were more likely to graduate, earn higher grades, and attend school regularly. The report also found that students’ behavior and social skills improved with increased parental involvement.

The bottom line, parental involvement is essential to student achievement!

We would like you to be as involved as possible during your student’s 2007-2008 school year. Some ways we would like you to help include the following:

• We will make sure that each student’s assignment planner is accurately filled out. Please make sure that your student completes the homework each evening, then sign the notebook indicating you have seen it. The assignment planner is one way we can communicate how and what your child is doing!
• Your child will have sixty to eighty minutes worth of homework nightly. Please provide your child a designated place to complete this homework and check over the homework. This lets your child know that we are working together to ensure his/her success!!
• Every night your child should review math facts independently for ten minutes, read for ten minutes, and review any notes taken during the day for ten minutes. These are things that should become routine and will sharpen your child’s skills.
• Communication folders will come home every Thursday. Inside the folder will be a letter about life in middle school. The letter will keep you informed about projects, tests, and activities that are going on at school. Please read the letter. There will also be a sheet for you to sign that you have seen your child’s papers. If you have any questions about a particular paper, return it in the Thursday folder with a note. Thursday folders should be returned on Friday. Each week your child will receive a conduct grade based on his/her performance during the week. This is a great way for us to communicate areas of concern. If you have any questions about the conduct grade, please let us know.
• Help your child stay organized. We have a color system in grades four through eight to make identifying materials easier. Red is for Math. Green is for English. Blue is for Social Studies and yellow is for science.
• If your child is ill or misses school for any reason, please make arrangements to pick up your student’s missed work so he/she does not fall behind.
• It is very helpful if you keep us informed about any medical conditions or problems your student is experiencing. This lets us work more effectively with your student.
• Any textbook or library book that is lost or damaged must be replaced.
• Lastly, please pay your activity fee as quickly as possible. There are many cultural outings we would like to take advantage of during this school year.

As teachers, we would like to work closely with you. You are always welcome in the classroom. We would love to hear any ideas that you have for the year, and we want you to be as involved as your time permits. We are excited about the school year and look forward to working with you and your child.


Parent Responsibilities:

• Sign the assignment notebook every night.
• Monitor the completion of homework and check homework.
• Review papers in the weekly folder and sign weekly folder.
• Replace any damaged or lost book.
• Communicate any concerns directly to the teacher.
• Always make arrangements to pick up homework when student is ill.
Pay activity fee at earliest possible convenience.
• Be an active participant in the 2007-2008 school year.