Caption: Parents gather in the secondary science room to hear from the homeroom teacher and subject teachers of the middle school seventh grade class. [by Isabella Jikal]
by Catarina Hara
“Open House,” the annual event that PACA hosts at the beginning of the school year, happened on August 8 with the main purpose for teachers and parents to bond together. Parents and students had a great time while eating churrasco and talking to teachers. All of the parents have opportunities to visit classrooms and have special meetings with teachers, to talk about what new things their kids are going to learn.
Kevin Flurry, the director of Advancement at PACA, has been helping to organize this event, along with Mrs. Shelley LeRoux. Flurry explains why making strong connections with the parents of the students at PACA is so important to the school.
“The primary objective of this event is to build relationships with parents,” said Flurry, “parents with teachers and parents with one another.”
The schedule included several options for parents depending on which level of school their children attend. For secondary students, they could visit high school subject areas where their teachers would be available or they could attend a middle school meeting where all the teachers presented themselves to the parents. Parents of elementary students met their teachers in their homerooms.
The schedule included several options for parents depending on which level of school their children attend. For secondary students, they could visit high school subject areas where their teachers would be available or they could attend a middle school meeting where all the teachers presented themselves to the parents. Parents of elementary students met their teachers in their homerooms.
“Mrs. Shelly organizes it,” said Flurry, “the people who made it happen were the maintenance and the cleaning people.”
In the process of parents meeting with teachers, PACA also provided activities for young children to stay occupied. High school students were assigned to watch them playing around in the inflatables and parents could choose to stay in that area with them or attend other meetings. Some people brought their own picnic blankets to sit on the grass eating churrasco.
But this open house event had two additional meetings for specific groups of high school parents. The first meeting was for the parents of twelfth grade students. Mrs. Mindy Swisher had a meeting with these parents to talk about getting ready to graduate.
The second meeting was for the 9th grade parents. The person who coordinated this meeting was also Mrs. Swisher. The purpose of this meeting is to explain to the parents how high school works, as this is their first year at this level.
During her talk with the parents, she explained the high school honors program that is available to all students starting in ninth grade. During this explanation, Swisher noted a distinct interest in the topic.
“Indeed, they were more surprised about how honors worked. Some 9th grade parents seemed pretty impressed with honors,” said Mrs. Swisher.
After the meetings the food was being served. An enormous line was formed at the pastel serving area. Pastels are a popular Brazilian food, and several people were happy leaving from the line with their food.
According to Flurry, this is a well attended event by both students and their families. That’s why it’s so special for teachers and students here at PACA. It is an annual event that will remain popular in years to come.
