Importance of parent involvement stressed at Annual School Board Meeting
The Family Friendly Schools Program delivers a research-based, tested program that provides specific strategies to engage family, students, and the community in our schools.
Teachers, administrators, and students struggling with achieving success are ignoring the contributions of another partner – parents. That was the message of Dr. Steven M. Constantino, a former high school principal and district office administrator who happened upon a formula for helping students succeed.
 Dr. Constantino was guest speaker at the annual School Board Members Dinner. This year school board members and administrators from throughout San Benito County gathered at Ridgemark Golf and Country Club for the annual meeting.
The high school Dr. Constantino took over was an underachieving mess. He knew he had limited resources so he sought to tap into an under-used resource – parents. Parents are perceived as effective partners in education at the elementary level, so why should it be different at the secondary level?
His motto is clear: Improve Student Achievement by Engaging…Every Child…Every Teacher…Every Family…Every Day. His methods are clear as well. Change the school culture so that parents are welcomed partners. Dr. Constantino took his underachieving school to new heights as it became the school everyone wanted to go to in the area. Time magazine recognized it as a “Top American High School”.
Today, Dr. Constantino travels the country with the message of effective parent involvement in schools that build partnerships between parents and teachers in the education of every student. It all starts with a shift in the belief system – culture – at the school. Parents are perceived by teachers and administrators as educational partners, not as enemies, he said. The Family Friendly Schools Program delivers a research-based, tested program that provides specific strategies to engage family, students, and the community.
Family Friendly Schools, founded by Dr. Constantino, proposes that parents and educators start with a five-point evaluation of the school.
• What is the school’s attitude towards parents?
• Does the school give families information about the students and the curriculum?
• Can parents easily meet with the principal or visit classrooms?
• Does the school have an active parent group?
• Does the school openly discuss tough issues?
 From this evaluation, the agenda moves into changing the culture to a more family friendly environment and the resulting achievement of all students.
More information on Dr. Constantino’s Family Friendly Schools is available at www.familyfriendlyschools.com or by calling 1-800-890-7794.
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