When schools and communities collaborate, everyone wins
On Thursday, April 6, we invite all parents and community members who care about education to join us. We are hosting an informational meeting about our new District Advisory Committee (DAC), a group of parents, educators, and community members dedicated to enhancing local schools. Attending the meeting doesn't mean you've committed to joining the DAC, so come on down at 6 p.m. to the Kelseyville High School Student Center to learn more. Free dinner and childcare will be provided.
It's been proven over and over that students do better when they have a whole community supporting them. Just like the old saying goes, “It takes a village to raise a child.” It starts with family, and it gets better as more people join in, from teachers to coaches, advisors, counselors, and more.
Parents and family caregivers play the most important role, of course, which is why it's vital that families and teachers work together to support their students' educations. Students are much more likely to succeed academically when learning is a shared goal of schools and families rather than a source of contention. If it becomes an us-versus-them dynamic, the students lose.
More parent involvement improves the learning experience for everyone. Studies show that schools and districts with more parent involvement tend to have higher attendance rates and lower rates of suspensions and dropouts. And as you'd expect, when parents play an active role in their kids' education, teachers gain a better understanding of their students' needs.
When parents and teachers collaborate, parents can reinforce school lessons at home, which helps students learn the material—plus it lets students know how important learning is. This allows teachers to be more effective in the classroom.
Parents know their children best and when they work closely with educators, education improves. At Kelseyville Unified School District (KVUSD), we don't just support students in becoming life-long learners, we practice what we preach. We want to keep learning and improving, too, and feedback from parents and community members allows us to do that.
If you're interested in becoming more engaged in local schools, here are some of the ways KVUSD invites parents and community members to get involved.
School-based groups: PTO and ELAC
We invite parents to join their school's parent-teacher organization. PTOs are active at our elementary and middle schools, planning wonderful events like dances, book fairs, and holiday parties. Our PTOs also raise funds and volunteer to keep many programs running. School would look a lot different—and be a lot less fun—without the dedication of our PTOs.
Parents can also join their school site council or English language advisory committee. The school site council meets regularly to help school administrators review data, work on safety plans, and map out student achievement. English language advisory committees give parents a regular opportunity to voice their opinions about how their school can support English learners. All this input is used to formulate and continually improve our Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP).
District-Based groups: DELAC, NAAC, DAC
In addition to school-based opportunities to engage, we also love to receive input into how we set priorities at the district. We hold town hall meetings to gather ideas during the LCAP process. We also have some groups that meet regularly for ongoing engagement.
The District English Language Advisory Committee is made up of representatives from each school site, giving parents of English learners a say on district-level policies. The Native American Advisory Council brings together parents, school representatives, and local tribes to talk about how we can support Native American students with talking circles, clubs, assemblies, and other activities.
Starting this spring, we're adding the District Advisory Committee to the mix. Parents, business owners, teachers, school staff, and other community members will meet quarterly to review data, solve problems, and plan for the future. Ideally, DAC members will serve for two years.
Each year will be broken into quarterly meetings. During the first quarter, the DAC will review the previous year's data and set goals. The second quarter meeting will be used to gather insights from the data we've collected. During the third quarter, we'll solicit parent input and plan for the next LCAP. Then, during the fourth quarter, the DAC will measure the year's progress against its goals before going into planning mode again.
If you care about education and want to share your vision with the district, we'd love to see you on April 6 for our first DAC meeting. If you are more interested in school-level issues, consider joining your school site council or PTO. Regardless of how you engage, actively participating in your child's education is a wonderful way to support your child's success.