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Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Getting people involved
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I covered the Atlanta Public Schools board meeting Monday night and was surprised by how many community people showed up.
Several people from Grant Park spoke to the board about ways to improve their local middle school. They talked about the lessons they’d like students to learn. They talked about building a community and neighborhood environment.
Their comments made me think about how unpredictable community involvement can be. Within the same district you could find one elementary school PTA with over 100 members, while another elementary school may have none.
Teachers, principals and other school leaders have said how difficult it can be to get people involved. Gwinnett Superintendent J. Alvin Wilbanks said his system will start a program called Be There to encourage parents to get more involved in their kids’ studies.
Of course some parents can be too involved in their local schools. But it seems like having too many volunteers is better than having none.
What do your schools do to get parents and community members involved? Is there something you wish they would do to boost involvement?
