So when the Grandview School District set out to bridge the gap between elementary schools and families, it turned to the Incentives for School Excellence program for help. Expansion plans are in the works. Assistant Superintendent Barbara Tate says PEP reinforces an important building block in student success. Parents are the No. 1 resource for achieving that goal. As the PEP program builds bridges between home and school, good things start to happen.
Students miss fewer days of school, and their scores on standardized tests improve.
The overarching goal is for all third-graders to be proficient in reading and math. Pam Lott is the coordinator of the PEP program. To encourage parents to take an interest in the school, she and her crew start by taking an interest in the home. In August she goes with teachers to visit every new family in the district and every family with a child entering first grade. The home visits are more than courtesy calls.