Chapter 9: Involving Parents and Communities

This is a book that lays out middle school philosophy point by point and chapter by chapter. The beginning part of the chapter gives all the reasons why parents should be involved in their children’s school work. Better grades and self esteem for the students are just two of the many reasons. A big way to improve communication between the triangle of parents, students, and the teacher is to have student led conferences. The second half of the chapter talks about the link between the school and the community. Two main ways that the school and community can interact is through community service and setting students up for jobs after high school.

I know some schools have mandatory community service requirements in order for students to graduate. My high school didn’t have that and when I was in high school I remember hearing about it and being glad that our school didn’t have that. In retrospect I was already doing community service because of NHS so I think that would’ve been a good opportunity for students not involved in clubs like that. I watched a movie in a special education class that showed how the school sets up disabled students with a job to learn so they have employment when they leave high school. It would be interesting if the school did that for all students.