Get involved from the beginning

As school gets underway, September is the right month

for parents to be part of their child’s education

It’s September again, a time to remember that a positive attitude sets the stage for the entire school year.

I think we can all remember a time from childhood when the start of a new school year was greeted with both excitement and apprehension.  Now parents the same feelings, but for different reasons.

Help kids move smoothly from summer vacation into the classroom, with friends, new classmates, a new teacher, and for some, a new school.  School supply shopping is a fun family activity as excitement builds to begin another school year.

Parents are also encouraged to get to know their child’s teacher early in the school year.  Get involved in your Home and School.  Keep your kids motivated and support them throughout the school year.  The P.E.I. Home and School Federation is calling on all moms/dads/guardians to put education first. 

This fall the federation is organizing a series of leadership workshops for parents.  Topics will include strategies on how to organize a local home and school association, how to get more parents involved and how to partner with local community organizations.

Workshops will offer Home and School volunteers ideas and tools to help better organize themselves as local associations.  Presidents, treasurers, secretaries and all volunteers will find these sessions are beneficial.  Instructors Vicky Bryanton and Stephen Gould will be the facilitators.  Look for workshops in the following areas: Oct. 1 – at a school in western P.E.I. (location to be announced); Oct. 2 – Souris Elementary School; Oct. 3 – Spring Park Elementary School in Charlottetown.  Parents can register by calling 620-3186.

The federation recently received a Telus grant to support the development of a website Help My Child, to be launched this fall.  The site will be a go-to resource for parents and students on a wide variety of social and educational topics.

Island schools will be offered an opportunity to participate in the federation’s parent leadership grants.  These parent-led, school-partnered projects are examples of how school communities can come together to support education and learning.  A list of funded project examples is posted on the federation’s website.  It is a rich resource for parents, teachers and administrators.

The school calendar committee established by the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development to discuss changes for the school system has home and school representation.   This is to make sure that parents’ interests and ideas are supported in order to ensure that their values impact the decision making process.   Give the federation a call or email thoughts on the school calendar.

Home and School members will have an opportunity to talk about home and school associations’ function and ways to improve children’s education in P.E.I.’s system at the semi-annual provincial meeting scheduled for Oct. 29 at Bluefield High School in Hampshire, 5:45 – 8:30 p.m.

Members have asked for more round table discussions with a focus on current education topics, local Home and School organizations and resolutions that impact positive changes in the education system.  These will be discussed and members are encouraged to raise any other issues.

Phone the federation office and/or check out the federation’s website throughout the school year for information on activities and events.

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Prince Edward Island "Home and School and You" Report, September 4, 2013

Pam Montgomery, president of the P.E.I. Home and School Federation, lives in Summerside with her husband and two children.  Her column appears in The Guardian during the school year on the first Wednesday of the month.  She welcomes comments from readers and information for the column.  She can be reached through the federation office at peihsf@edu.pe.ca or 620-3186.