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| Row 1: Bob Krutsick (NNPS Key Contact), Lorraine Cavitt, Jennifer Schauble, and Karen Cedrone. Row 2: Dr. David Karen, Alice Koresko, Nancy Cilli, Rose Clemente, Mitch Edmunds (Former Principal), Jo Cressor, Missi Besz, and Judith Scancella. |
Family and community partnerships play an integral role at Roberts Elementary School. Indeed, in a recent search for a new principal, every candidate was asked for their views and goals on the topic.
The school's Action Team for Partnerships (ATP) meets bimonthly, and its committees meet more often to plan and conduct specific activities. It recruits new members from recommendations of the school's Parent Teacher Club (PTC), faculty, and staff. Each new member is trained by an ATP member who has had training with NNPS at Johns Hopkins University. The ATP includes representatives from the PTC, the Upper Merion Area School District's central administration, and two school board members (one parent and one community member).
Roberts's ATP publicizes its One-Year Action Plans and scheduled activities in several ways. A teacher representative presents it at a regular faculty meeting. The PTC representative presents information to the school's parents. The ATP presented a summary of the One-Year Action Plan activities at a district-wide school board meeting. These meetings are videotaped and shown on the district's School Access Channel, also known as the Viking Channel, which is available for viewing by cable subscribers in the school community. The school newsletter also reports ATP's activities.
Authors' Night, one of the most popular events, drew nearly all 280 students at the school and at least one member from every family. Students wrote and illustrated their own books and read them aloud. A parent donated the blank hardcover books used by the student authors. The event at the end of the year gave all teachers an opportunity to gauge students' progress, and helped the teachers, principal, and ATP set academic goals for the next school year.
Another evening ATP-run event, Family Math Night, also drew large numbers. There, students and their families participated in games and activities to increase their interest and performance in math. ATP members encouraged teachers to select or develop activities and prepare materials. The PTC and ATP worked together to serve as hosts, provide refreshments, and arrange for childcare. Publishers of math materials sent representatives to provide sample materials and to offer some games for purchase. Many families played the educational games at home on a regular basis.
These evening events, along with the popular Open House, created a parking problem at the school. This was solved with a novel school-community partnership to use the parking lot of a nearby auto-paint firm. The ATP arranged to have a school bus shuttle families between the lot and the school.
The ATP also works to help students learn valuable lessons outside the classroom. It forged a partnership with the local Valley Forge Optimist Club to establish a service learning group—The Alpha Club. Student members of the club raised funds for charitable causes including child cancer research, a farm supplies and training program for families in Third World Countries, a school in a rural African village, UNICEF, and other special projects such as contributions for tsunami victims. The club also implemented a recycling program at the school. The partnerships in school and out support students' academic and non academic learning and development.