Alabama PTA

  
Parent Involvement

The goal of all PTA activities is to involve parents and family in children's education. A key Object of the PTA is... "to bring into closer relation the home and school, that parents and teachers may cooperate intelligently in the education of children and youth."

Parent Involvement

Usually it is not lack of interest that keeps parents from becoming involved in their children's education. Often there are barriers in the way. It is the responsibility of the PTA to spot these barriers and to work to lower them. Some barriers are: lack of time, feeling like they have nothing to contribute, lack of child care, and accessing transportation, etc. Many parents would like to play a more active role in their children's education, but they do not know how-therefore a commitment to develop a parent involvement program is essential.

PTA leadership should develop a strong program for parent and family involvement to fulfill the following Objectives:

OBJECTIVES

• To improve parent/family involvement.
• To create a school climate that is open, helpful, and friendly.
• To help all families establish home environments to support learning and provide ideas and programs for parents on how to help the child succeed in school.
• To design more effective forms of communication to reach parents. Get every family involved; not simply those most easily reached.
• To increase the percentage of parents who visit the school and to work with the business community to enlist support and encourage parental involvement.
• Pay special attention to parents who work outside the home, divorced parents, and culturally diverse families. Develop flexible meeting times and volunteer hours, etc.
• To recruit and train parent leaders to be involved in decision making, governance, and advocacy.
• To assist schools and families in collaborating with community organizations and businesses to encourage their help in effectively educating children to become productive community members.