Cape school district expands parent liaison program

Tina Wright knows the difficulties Franklin Elementary School parents face.

As parent liaison, she offers a sympathetic ear and suggestions on issues as varied as getting a reluctant student to school and family financial struggles. She refers financially troubled families to various agencies or organizations for help in paying rent and medical bills. She gets calls from parents about homework.

"They talk to her sometimes before they even talk to me," said principal Rhonda Dunham.

Parents feel comfortable talking to Wright. "She doesn't judge," Dunham said of Wright, who is also full-time administrative assistant to the principal.

School officials said the goal is to increase parental involvement and ensure successful students.

Franklin School is starting its third year of a parent liaison program. It's been so successful that the program has been expanded to two other schools in the Cape Girardeau School District: Jefferson Elementary School and Central Middle School.

By the start of the next school year, the district plans to have a parent liaison in every school, superintendent Dr. David Scala said.

The success of the program at Franklin Elementary School has underscored the importance of reaching out to parents, school officials said.

"It seems like a great help in getting parents involved in the school," Scala said.

Federal funding covers the cost of the three part-time positions this year. Expansion likely would depend on securing federal funding, officials said.

The parent liaisons at Franklin and Jefferson schools devote about 20 hours a week to addressing concerns and needs of families and the schools. At both schools, the liaisons are parents with children in the schools they serve.

At Franklin, Wright already has helped one family whose son was new to the school and didn't want to attend.

"I called the resource officer and he brought the kids to school," she said.

The program is also a way for parents to get a quick response to concerns. "Sometimes the principal isn't available or teachers are in class," Wright said.

She advises parents to participate in activities with their children. The school has DVDs, board games and parental advice books that families can borrow.

Franklin holds a job fair for families each fall. "We know this is the time that businesses will start hiring people for the Christmas season," Dunham said.

The school holds movie nights during the school year. Some 150 to 170 parents and children typically attend to see family movies, Dunham said.

"We purchase a yearlong license so we can show new DVD releases," Dunham said. "We charge a dollar per person and 25 cents for snacks."

The efforts have paid off with increased parental involvement in the school, officials said.

Jefferson's parent liaison program will be similar to Franklin's. The parent liaison at Jefferson Elementary School will visit homes when necessary to get parents to sign needed school forms such as immunization records, principal Mark Cook said.

The liaison will coordinate various family-oriented activities such as book fairs. She also will encourage Jefferson School parents to volunteer at the school at least three hours during the academic year.

Cook is sold on the concept. "It is all about strengthening relationships between home and school," he said

Middle school principal Frank Ellis said the focus this first year is on working with at-risk students and their families.

The liaison at the middle school, Natika Rowles, works about 10 hours a week, fitting it in around her full-time job as director of the Boys and Girls Club of Cape Girardeau.

The liaison will visit families at home where necessary. "The parent liaison is not a threatening person to go out and talk with parents," Ellis said. In some cases, parents of at-risk students have had bad experiences themselves at school.

"What we are trying to do is establish a relationship for them to get past that," he said.

mbliss@semissourian.com

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