Row 1: Lorraine Cavitt, Rose Clemente, Karen Cedrone and Kelly Fox. Row 2: Anne Bohen, Robert Krutsick, Karen Kulp, Dr. Steve Levine, Marie Kauffman, Maggie Caverly, Shannon Lotz, Donna Page and Helen Snyder. Principal Sharon Kuznick (not shown).
Meeting the challenge to involve more families
Roberts Elementary, an NNPS award winning school in 2005, is working to meet the challenge of involving and connecting to more families through technology. The school’s website, http://www.umasd.org/roberts/site/default.asp, is one source of information for the school, families, and community. It includes the school calendar and special events. All teachers and staff have web pages with pictures and contact information. They share information on class schedules, policies, homework, projects, useful websites for students and parents, and upcoming activities.
Rob TV (Roberts Elementary School TV) adds streaming video to the website, featuring such events as the third grade wax museum, first grade weather reports, second grade musical, and fourth grade “Opie Winfrey Show.” Students and staff are reporters for Rob TV and the school librarian is the director and editor. The programs not only reach families, but also provide school information to the broader community. As one parent reported, “Rob TV is a great tool to see the special things your children are doing in school. It is especially nice for working parents who may not be able to attend an event during the school day. They can tune in to Rob TV and see the performance on the web. We can also send links to grandparents.”
Reach results for student success in school:
Reading is an important school improvement goal in most schools, including Roberts Elementary. The ATP focused on increasing students’ reading for pleasure. The team knew that to become better readers, students need to spend more time reading. A Reading Incentive Committee was formed and met in the summer to write a year-long plan for the school’s theme, Pirates of the Cari-Reading. Children were encouraged to keep a Reading Log, designed by the Upper Merion Township Library. For each book read, students earned a gold pirate’s coin to throw into a treasure chest. At the end of the year, students were invited to dress as pirates for a final celebration.
Families supported the reading goal in several ways. For example, Roberts Family Reading Night included reading games, computer lab reading programs, websites to visit, a presentation by the school’s partners at the Upper Merion Township Library, and a presentation by teachers at different grade levels on BDA (Before, During, and After) reading strategies for parents to work with their children. BDA ideas included how to read aloud and effective questioning techniques. Homework passes, double reading log points, a book swap, and door prizes were offered as incentives for students and families to attend. Each session was targeted to a specific age group, but all sessions stressed that children love to be read to, even after they have mastered decoding skills. Parents left the workshop armed with ideas to provide support to strengthen reading skills, increase reading time, and share the joys of reading.
See Roberts Elementary School’s prior Partnership School Award in 2005, and examples of activities in Promising Partnership Practices on the website, www.partnershipschools.org, in the section Success Stories. Visit the school athttp://www.umasd.org/roberts/site/default.asp,