From the Parent's Desk: Lauren Summers
Focus on FACE is proud to feature essays from our very own District parents and family members! This month, we feature Lauren Summers's thoughts on the importance of getting involved in her children's education and her neighborhood school.
Ms. Summers is also the founder and facilitator of the popular Facebook page Philly School News, which aims to change the negative narrative about the School District of Philadelphia by posting positive stories about our schools and sharing resources and information.
We want to hear from you, too! If you'd like to write an essay for us, please email sobrien2@philasd.org.
How will you be involved in your child’s education? Support at home will help your child succeed academically, but engagement in the classroom and school can benefit all students. Our public schools have needs and challenges, but as a committed parent it is becoming easier to offer your efforts for improvement. My son started Kindergarten in Fall of 2013. This was one of the lower points in the district's recent history: significantly less funding, insufficient supplies and teaching materials, fewer teachers, aides, and security guards. That year most schools didn’t have nurses, librarians, guidance counselors, or art classes. 25 schools closed at the end of the previous school year and students were shuffled around and folded into other schools. Urban schools, especially, were in starvation-mode from the lack of state and federal funding.
At the time, the only news about our public schools was about the high number of negative issues in our schools and at the administration level. The scant amount of information online about any of our public schools was hard to find and bleak in content. On the contrary, shiny booklets, working websites, and positive public relations stories were readily available about charter and private schools.
When my son was 4 my husband and I looked at private schools, applied for charter school lotteries, and considered a move out of Philadelphia. We "won" no lotteries. Private schools were either too far from home and work or definitely not the right fit for our family, and all cost too much money. And I loved my home, neighborhood, community, and city and did not want to move to New Jersey.
Then I saw a flyer for an Open House at my local public school. A bright, colorful flyer with all the information I could possibly need to learn more. All I knew until that point about the imposing building on the corner was that it was a terrible situation overall for the students in our public schools.
And then I went in.
Inside this building were bright walls and a bustling Main Office. There was drumming and dancing, and art projects, and basketball. There were classrooms full of Kindergarteners learning and playing. There were rows of middle schoolers reading Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. There were answers from the staff on questions about students' options for high school and the rates of acceptance into magnet programs. There was a principal in charge of the old but solid ship, and steering all 400 children inside to a positive day of learning. There was also a lot missing, including a library that stood half empty and covered in tarps, a school nurse only part-time at 3 days a week, a gym that also served as a cafeteria, and an empty asphalt schoolyard. But there was a strong and positive energy pulsing through the school, and I was ashamed at how unfairly I judged it without a visit.
Sending our son to public school has been a great decision for our family. He attended a high quality preschool and fell easily into Kindergarten with 28 classmates from all different backgrounds. Some had no preschool, some could read, some couldn't speak or understand English yet. He is challenged and though previously shy has found his voice as a leader and guide for students new to the US. We sometimes pick up the tab for other students’ field trips, and our family has all received lessons in empathy. We attend school with our neighbors and friends. My son has thrived and is a 3rd grader who writes essays about his life and heroes, has a diverse and wonderful group of friends, and has a true school pride.
I learned quickly that if you want to make something happen for your child's school you need to do it yourself. Principals, teachers and staff are treading water and putting out fires daily with lesser resources. There is a movement in the district and at the individual school level that is working to decrease the burden, but the trials still exist. If you can be the parent that rallies the others in a positive and effective way, your school can improve. If you demonstrate the acts of donating your time and energy into a clean up day or bake sale or supplies drive, others will follow you. You may need to be consistent and tireless, and maybe a little bit encouraging of those just as busy as you, but support for your school will grow. Efforts will range from a supply and uniform drive to a fundraiser for a new playground. Step up and see what you can make happen.
Having a principal who is willing to work with the parents and community in a productive way is key. To start any effort, ask your principal what you can offer to support the school. Find out from him or her what the students in the school need and start there, and not with your own notions of help.
Our schools have been fortresses for a long time, both to protect our students and staff from crime in Philadelphia and to hide the inequality from the public and each other. That is changing. Now schools in growing numbers are being supported by parents, neighbors, and local businesses. Volunteers are heading inside our schools and putting in elbow grease to improve the environment for a school’s entire community. All of our schools have a nurse and a guidance counselor once again as of this year. The response time from the District has improved and the amount of information and resources grows yearly. The social media presence and information available online is significantly greater than it was just 4 years ago. Friends Groups are serving a need, but we all should aim for a day when our schools are fully and fairly funded and these efforts cover the extras and not the necessities.
There are still major problems, and we still need more teacher aides and mentors. We need better translation services and more counselors per student. We need better after-school programming, and a better relationship with our recreation centers to offer our children something whole and of substance. We need our librarians back. One in every school. And that’s where parent engagement comes in: We can change this. First, get involved with your school and its needs, and then start advocating for all of our schools. It will be a natural progression and the bigger the voice, the better chance we will be heard.
Get your background checks if you want to work within our schools, help on field trips, and serve as a lunch monitor. Clearances will cost about $25 and information on how to obtain them is here. There are volunteer efforts you can do remotely that do not need clearances, too. Can you offer administrative help like graphic design, translation services, or grant writing? If you can’t work the bake sale table, can you coordinate online those bakers and sellers who can? Are you familiar with businesses in your neighborhood that would be interested in supporting your local public school and can serve as a liaison for fundraising? Can you engage your community and organize families of volunteers for a Saturday Schoolyard Clean Up? Step up, and see what happens.
For Philly School News, I’ve toured over 30 of our public schools and have followed enough of them to see that these efforts do make a difference. Be that parent who involves yourself today. Getting involved in your child's schooling and modeling it with action is the most effective way to demonstrate to them that education is important.
