South Bend School administrators say parental involvement is key to students success. But what's the trick? And what are South Bend School leaders doing to get parents more involved? We asked those questions Thursday night at the Century Center. That's where the South Bend Community School Corporation held a fair for their Magnet Schools.
Scott Siler and his family live in the Penn School district, a district that received all A's from the State. But his son goes to Perley Fine Arts Academy in South Bend, a district that has seven failing schools. Siler said the F's aren't an accurate measurement. "It doesn't even come close to telling the whole story. I think when you get into the schools and see the good things they're doing that will tell you a lot more than what a letter grade will tell you," said Siler.
Superintendent Dr. Carole Schmidt agrees with Siler that the grading doesn't take into consideration the whole picture. But she also says more work needs to be done to get more parents involved. "How do we get parents to advocate for their children? Make it comfortable for them to come into the school, make it open and available for them to talk to their kids teacher. That's what we need to talk about with parent involvement and we're not there yet."
So how do you get there? Schmidt said there are initiatives in place to establish centers where parents can come to get involved. She wants to set up the walk in centers in schools and out of schools. It's a way to make the parents more comfortable with getting involved, which is the ultimate goal.
