Parent partnership aims to help students achieve

The Athens Area School District is implementing a new initiative involving the district and parents. According to an article in the Morning Times, Partners in Education is a monthly program during which will welcome parents to the school for hour-long sessions on education-related topics such as reading and math, social and emotional learning, and available school resources. A district administrator or educator will present for a half-hour and then attendees are invited to ask questions or look at resources. The goal is that parents will be better able to help students with homework or other aspects of education, at home. To make it easier for parents to attend, child care is provided. The sessions will also be livestreamed and recorded so parents can watch them another time or attend remotely, either at home or at a watch party held at the school at a later date for those who don’t have sufficient internet at home.

“I think just in general, we’re always trying to involve our parents in our students’ learning. We feel very much that education is a partnering environment,” Principal Maryellen Rhodes said in the article. “For a student to be successful we have to have those positive relationships at home, too. We’re just trying to build those connections with our families, with our communities, and (we’re trying) to essentially build that partnership.”