The greatest impact on student success comes from the family in purposefully planned, at-home activities. This is true regardless of family, racial or cultural background or the parents' formal education.

The Bell County School District recognizes the importance of direct involvement by parents and families in the education of their children. Such involvement at home is especially true of the youth who have high absenteeism and are at-risk of not completing their high school education.

A decade or so ago school systems offered parents an opportunity to attend one or two parent conferences a year. Today, effective school districts, such as Bell County, actively engage families in their children's education, make family members aware of their important contributions, and encourage them to feel comfortable in working closely with schools.

The district recognizes the family as an essential part of a child's academic success. Families and schools have a shared interest to create improved opportunities for student achievement. For the "at-risk" children, creating an effective family-school-student partnership may well be the single most important factor contributing to student success.

The connection of school and parent requires home visits, phone calls, notes home and e-mail as a form of communication. Contact is not only made when something negative occurs, but when a positive event transpires in a child's school day. Each school has a website and parents can visit the site to learn of upcoming school events, grading periods, field trips, and opportunities to volunteer in the school or classroom.

Each school has an active Family Resource Youth Service Center ("FRYSC") and a parent liaison. If a parent has a question or need of help, either the FRYSC or liaison is a good starting point to determine the next course of action. Both the FRYSC and parent liaisons offer evening activities for family members. Contact your school for more details.

Research has shown that:

€ Parent and family involvement has a strong, positive relationship to student learning.

€ Schools and educators play a critical role in initiating, maintaining, and improving family-school-student partnerships.

€ When parents and schools agree on instructional goals, work together to support classroom learning and have a shared vision, academic achievement improves.

€ Parent involvement provides essential insights into special problems and needs of students, and reinforces the behavior at school and home.

€ When parents are involved, students achieve more, regardless of socioeconomic status, ethnic or racial background or the parents' educational level.

€ When parents are engaged in their children's education, those children tend to have higher grades and test scores, better attendance, and complete homework more consistently.

€ When programs are designed to involve parents, children who are farthest behind often make the greatest gains.

Pamela E. Greene is the Director of Pupil Personnel for the Bell County School District