According to the website of the National Parent Teachers Association, the PTA exists "to bring into closer relation the home and school, that parents and teachers may cooperate intelligently in the education of children and youth." Having selected a cooperative nursery school for our daughters' early childhood education, I imagined that it would be an easy transition from preschool to elementary school in terms of maintaining my involvement as a parent in the life of the school. At the beginning of my daughter's year in kindergarten, I wondered how our local elementary PTA would help foster a sense of partnership between school and home. I imagined that the PTA might welcome us as new parents, provide us with an overview of the ways in which we could jump in and get involved, and coordinate efforts to solicit parent volunteers in the classroom. Moreover, I hoped that the PTA would help promote a sense of connectedness and community among the new kindergarten families. Yet here it is the middle of May and I have yet to attend a PTA sponsored event this year, nor their monthly membership meeting. So I find myself wondering: How has my lack of participation in the PTA affected my sense of connection to my daughter's elementary school?
What I have learned through this kindergarten year is that two small commitments have contributed enormously to my sense of connection to my daughter's elementary school: 1) volunteering in my daughter's classroom several times a month; and 2) spending at least one afternoon at week on the playground with my daughter, her classmates, their siblings, and the other kindergarten parents. My intention for volunteering in my Darling Daughter 1 (DD1)'s classroom was to contribute to the students' learning in some small way; the reward I have reaped is coming to know my daughter's classmates individually and personally. My commitment to spending Friday afternoons on the playground of my DD1's elementary school evolved organically. When I discovered that several of the other kindergarten moms bring snacks and drinks to the playground on Fridays, I joined in the festivities. Through my participation in this Friday afternoon ritual, I have gotten to know a fleet of children from across the four kindergarten classes at the school as well as a small army of younger siblings who will be going through elementary school with my younger daughter, too. In addition, it is on the playground that I have become acquainted with half a dozen or more other kindergarten parents. Every Friday afternoon, we swap stories about our children, their relationships with their siblings, and their adjustment and growth in kindergarten.
My husband has taken a different tack with his involvement in our daughter's school. He has volunteered to serve as a chaperone on several kindergarten field trips. Additionally, he has jumped in and gotten involved in the PTA this year as a volunteer for the school's "International Week & International Night." He has spent many hours calling, e-mailing and faxing foreign embassies in the effort to entice members of the embassy staffs to visit our school and to describe what school is like for children who live in different countries. And he has spent at least half a dozen evenings meeting with a small cadre of parents to plan and coordinate the activities that comprise this annual tradition.
As I reflect on the level of my husband's and my involvement over this kindergarten year at school, what is most clear to me is that our mutual involvement has engendered a sense of connection to my DD1's elementary school and has seeded a fledgling sense of community. My focus has been exclusively on the field of kindergarten, even as I can also see how there are many ways to engage in service to the school at the classroom, grade, and school-wide levels. I have learned that the role of the PTA is to enrich the whole school community, through the annual Book Drive, the after school Enrichment activity offerings, and the International Week events, etc. I look forward to the years to come when I will be better able to contribute to these traditions, and come into community with a broader range of parents and families. In closing, I ask my readers: What forms of school involvement have contributed most to your sense of connection and community at your children's schools? And for those of you who are educators, I ask: what forms of involvement in the classroom and the school do you encourage?
We've taken pretty much the same approach as you and Darryl. Tara volunteers in the classroom and hangs out after school while Eliza plays. We try to attend as many school functions (dances, breakfasts, science fairs, etc.). We have intended to, but been remiss in actually making it happen, get Eliza's friend's parents together for a group dinner to start building the out of school community.
ReplyDeleteI would be curious to know how central or peripheral the PTA itself has been in forging the sense of community and engagement you describe above? What is the role of the PTA at each of your kids' elementary schools -- how have they participated in the delivery of schooling, or in the fostering of community among parents? I'm curious, too, at your daughter's school, which you've indicated is more diverse, have you experienced there to be a separation of parents, either by culture or by class/socio-economics, and if so, how has the school worked to bring all parents/families into community?
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