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The Parent Teacher
Partnership is Evolving
By Rhonda Schaar, GMS Principal
We are pleased to announce the GMS Parent Teacher Partnership Group has
chosen to continue the valuable work of opening the lines of
communication, ensuring equity and increased involvement with parents
and teachers that began three years ago. The meetings have
focused on Greenville Middle School but hope to expand the
conversations and improvements to all grades if possible. On
March 7th the core group met and reviewed the topics and sessions from
the last three years and developed a plan of action to reach out to the
elementary and high school.
The Parent Teacher Partnership is an initiative to increase
communication with parents and teachers beyond the typical PTA or
Booster Club experience. Greenville City Schools was
awarded a Staff Personnel Development Grant from the Ohio Department of
Education in 2013. An opportunity offered as a part of this grant
included sending a team to be trained in the work of Dr. Barbara Boone
on improving the relationships between parents and teachers.
Research shows these positive relationships lead to improved student
growth and achievement.
(https://u.osu.edu/familyschoolpartnerships/community/) Teachers Zach
Roll and Chad Curtis (who also has children in GCS) with parent Tammy
Abell were trained to facilitate the Parent Teacher Partnership
collaboration.
Throughout 2015-2017, the group met in six sessions. The topics
covered included; respect and communication, equity and
decision-making, competence, parenting and learning at home, advocacy,
commitment and volunteering. There were a variety of parents
representing the diverse population of the school as well as multiple
teachers from grades 5-8 participating in the discussions and
activities. As the group focused on the different topics they
applied their learning into actions. Parents stated their
concerns about parent teacher conferences, a need to increase
communication using 21st Century tools and poor experiences as visitors
to the school. These were addressed by the school and
improvements were made in each area that has impacted GMS in a positive
way. Additional conversations have continued outside the confines
of the formal meeting as PTP members shared and engaged other staff and
community members on the topics started within the PTP.
At the meeting on March 7th the participants included some who were at
all six sessions as well as some new faces. Regardless of the
number of meetings attended, all agreed the opportunities provided by
this organized body need to continue and be open to those interested in
grades K-12. It was decided to continue as an independent entity
as the initial State Personnel Development Grant has ended. To
ensure the integrity of the work over the last few years the PTP has
decided to create conditions of participation before requesting
additional members to join. This is the foundation of a “model
for an opportunity for honest and open, two-way communication towards
school improvement and family well-being”
(https://u.osu.edu/familyschoolpartnerships/ptp/ ) as envisioned by Dr.
Barbara Boone and the Ohio Department of Education CETE Results
Management team to ensure parents and teachers are working together to
meet the unique needs of each school and district.
Greenville Middle School’s Parent Teacher Partnership is evolving as a
group of invested parents and teachers (with a couple administrators
thrown in) to improve the learning environment for the children of
Greenville City Schools.
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