We believe this to be an important but insufficient goal. Many parents of minority, low socioeconomic, or underachieving students remain mistrustful of school or lack the confidence to discuss their child's problems with educators. Taking the school to the families, Building Bridges is a commitment by our school staff to bridge the gap between home and school. Our focus is to develop a comfortable parent-staff relationship by providing parents with techniques and materials to use with their children to improve student motivation and achievement. An advisory committee of parents, staff and community representatives was established during our first year.
Members represent our project at community meetings, churches and organizations.
The staff is creating a presence in targeted neighborhoods, listening to parental needs, and coordinating with other community agencies. Luggage for Learning and Adult Computer Classes. The Adult Computer Classes, evenings in the school's mini-lab, are offered free to community residents. Two staff volunteers teach to eight adults a 6-lesson unit covering computer basics, Windows 95, word processing, and the Internet. For Luggage for Learning, volunteer staff members made approximately 500 preschool through grade 5 math and language arts activities designed for parent and child interaction.