Some write poems, some write essays. I learn a lot, and the journals are something parents can look at over time and share with their children. Still, teachers are realistic, knowing that by high school some students cannot depend upon strong family support. With such students, one high school teacher does not emphasize parent involvement as a necessity but, instead, seeks to help the student find his or her identity. The Forum teachers welcome the presence of community services in the schools, and some endorsed the idea of school facilities being open early and late into the evening, serving families as well as students.
Many teachers infuse their classrooms with community and business resources.
Rather than just providing monetary support, they want this involvement to be a real partnership that focuses on helping students link their studies with future occupations. Businesspeople and educators should sit down at the table together, she advised, and talk about why Johnny's 40-hour work week prevents him from even staying awake in class, much less performing well academically. But it is quite clear to the Forum teachers that schools cannot address these changes alone. Heathwood Hall is a private K-12 school in Columbia, S.C., which joined the Coalition of Essential Schools in 1987 and is about to graduate its first senior class under a system of mastery, not Carnegie units. The principles of the Coalition worked for this independent school.