Teamwork drives new elementary program
Cave Spring Elementary School parents and teachers work together in Academic Parent Teacher Teams to strengthen the school.
A new program at Cave Spring Elementary is turning every classroom into a team made up of parents, teachers and students.
The Academic Parent Teacher Teams program was started last year in 10 Title I schools by the Georgia Department of Education. This year, another 10 schools were chosen and Cave Spring Elementary was one of them.
Under the program, each teacher leads group meetings with parents in their classroom to supplement the traditional parent-teacher conferences. The parents are led in an activity that mirrors what their children are doing and are given activity ideas they can do at home with their child.
Data from the class is shared, including grades and scores, but instead of using names, each child is given a number that only the parent knows. This allows the parents to see how their child is doing compared to other children in class and to more easily see what areas their children might need help with.
“The idea is that the entire classroom is a team,” said teacher John Kapustay. “It helps the parents feel more involved.”
Three group meetings are held each year, and the one-on-one parent conference is held as well, he said.
“The parents set a goal for their student and in 60 days, the next meeting is held and in between the individual conference is held,” explained Kapustay. “Our first group meetings were held this month and the parents loved it.”
Parent Joey Simpson has three children at Cave Spring, a pre-K student, a kindergartner and a third-grader. He said he wishes this program had been in place from the start.
“You know, sending your first child to school is always a hard thing,” he said. “It is definitely a learning experience. I think this program is great for parents, especially with some of the new Common Core math being taught.”
The teacher explained to the parents where to find resources that would help them help their children, he said.
“My son would come to me with homework, and while I know how I was taught to do math, it is taught differently now,” said Simpson. “Seeing how it was taught in the classroom and knowing where to find resources really helped me with knowing how to approach it at home.”
Being able to work with other parents is also especially helpful, he said.
“We can bounce ideas off each other,” he said. “Also, you know you aren’t alone in this, it lets you know others are struggling with the same things.”
Another parent, Kim Davis, said she feels “empowered.”
“This is fascinating to me, because it really gets the parents involved in a whole new way,” she said. “It is much better than just getting my child’s grades at the end and wondering why they have this grade or that grade.”
Davis said she has enjoyed working with her son, who is in fourth grade, on the reading assignment his teacher gave the parents.
“I’ve seen the improvement in his reading aloud,” she said. “We pick something to read each night, a passage from whatever you want. He’s been able to focus and it really improves his confidence. It is like five minutes, four days in a row. That is nothing timewise, but it makes a huge difference.”
Kitty Beaird, another teacher at Cave Spring, said she enjoys the extra time with parents that the program gives.
“It’s a real eye-opener,” said Beaird. “It is also fun to see which parents are, just like the students, maybe more shy or the talkers.”
Beaird said she is not only happy about Cave Spring being chosen to be an APTT school this year, she is also looking forward to being a training school for Floyd County next year. Cave Spring staff will act as coaches for another Floyd County School so the program will eventually end up being implemented across the system.
Parent Monica Willingham said she hopes Coosa Middle is chosen next.
“My child will be going there next year,” she said. “Maybe we can train them so it can continue. I think this program opens up so many avenues for our teachers and students and community.”