Examples of Schools That Involve Parents

The following schools have involved parents in many different ways:

Westwood Elementary School in Santa Clara, California, is representative of many schools that send a packet of information home to parents every Wednesday. The packet contains students' progress reports, homework assignments, and work samples.
Horace Mann Elementary School in St. Paul, Minnesota, sends home brief weekly reports every Friday. The reports note the completion of all assignments, missing work, and teacher requests to speak with the parent about some particular issue. The teacher also makes individualized comments about each student's work during the week. Parents are asked to review the information and return it on Monday.
Daniel Webster School in Redwood City, California, has involved parents in goal-setting and decision-making processes as part of the Accelerated Schools Project developed by Henry Levin of Stanford University. The school showed significant gains in student achievement compared to other schools in the district during its fourth year of using the Accelerated Schools philosophy. Webster students increased California Test of Basic Skills math scores by 19 percentile points, and most classes increased language scores by at least 10 points. Key elements of the school are an accelerated curriculum using problem solving and thinking strategies; instructional practices that promote active learning and tutoring; and an organizational model that promotes broad participation of administrators, teachers, and parents (Swap, 1993).
Northrop High School in Ft. Wayne, Indiana, a school that serves both inner-city and rural students, has organized an extensive parent-involvement program. It is directed by a board that is broadly representative of the student body. The school offers programs to educate parents, including workshops and "On Your Turf" meetings, which are held in community facilities where parents feel comfortable (Rioux & Berla, 1993).
At Esko High School in Esko, Minnesota, parents helped students prepare an application for a $25,000 interest-free loan to establish a school-based enterprise--a new ice cream parlor. The students had decided on this business after conducting an extensive community survey. The loan was granted by the county economic development organization, and a major ice cream company donated a franchise. Parents, students, and other community members worked together to construct the ice cream parlor, which is called the "SCOOP." It is now the source of renewed local pride.