Back-to-School Night Basics
4. The homework and discipline policies
The homework policy should include information on when homework is due, how it is evaluated and how often, how much is assigned each night and on weekends, and how much it counts towards the final grade.
5. How to contact the teacher
Find out how to contact the teacher and what form of communication she prefers: email, voice mail or notes. Many teachers now use Web sites or weekly classroom newsletters to stay in touch with parents. If the teacher plans to send home a printed newsletter with your child, you'll want to know how often and if you should expect to receive it on a particular day of the week, so you'll know to remind your child.
Jeff Wright, 2006 Kentucky Teacher of the Year and a high school science teacher, urges parents to be proactive when it comes to contacting teachers. "When you look at the fact that high school teachers have around 150 students, it really does help when parents call me," he says. "Just having a parent call and say 'What's his behavior like? What's his grade like? Is he doing better for you?' really helps a teacher."
Questions to Ask at Your Back-to-School Night
Denis Cruz, 2006 California Teacher of the Year, suggests asking these questions:
- What is the policy on late work and make-up work? How does it affect the student's grade?
- How do absences affect the grade?
- How do I teach my son or daughter to gain independence in middle school?
- How can I check on my son's or daughter's progress in school? Do you give weekly progress reports?
- How do I know what the homework is? Is there an online homework calendar?
- Should I call or email the teacher?
- Are there field trips?
- How can I check on detentions or behavior issues?
- Is there anything you'd like me to do?
- May I volunteer in the classroom?
Back-to-School Night vs. Parent Orientation Night
Many schools hold back-to-school night several weeks to a month after school starts. Other schools have a parent-orientation session, either before school starts or sometime during the first week of school. Advantages of parent orientation nights:
- Teachers and administrators communicate everything they need to early on, heading off any misunderstandings.
- Children are more likely to be allowed to attend with their parents. Teachers will use the opportunity to meet the children and give them a preview of the classroom, easing them into the school year a bit.
- The PTA or the PTO can get parents involved from day one.
Advantages of back-to-school nights in late September:
- Parents can see student work in the classroom
- Teachers will be familiar with their students
- The usual juggling of students that occurs during the first weeks of school, as teachers balance classroom counts, has settled down, and parents know for sure what teacher their child has.
Jeff Wright, a 2006 Kentucky Teacher of the Year, has both parent orientations and back-to-school nights at his high school. "We have an open house at the very beginning of fall," he says. "Later, we have a back-to-school night and every class - freshman, sophomore, junior, senior - will have different sessions on different nights. We do that because a lot of times people just can't make it on one night. It does help in that one night you deliver all the information, give the parents and students time to let that sink in, and then a couple of weeks later they come back and say, OK, here's all the questions we have."
