Category: PTA General

Important Updates: Food Distribution and Child Care

Food Distribution

Changes to federal food program rules may affect food distribution. It’s important that families fill out the WCPSS free and reduced lunch application no matter where we are currently learning. Please note that last year’s qualifications expire 30 days after the first day of school and this form must be filled out annually. Details here: https://www.wcpss.net/meals

Child Care

With school now underway, many working parents are facing the added stress of finding a safe place for their children during the day that can also support their remote learning. The good news is that there is ample licensed child care available across the state, and there are a number of organizations helping families access it.

  • In partnership with Child Care Resources and Referral, the NC Department of Health and Human Services created a free hotline to connect families to licensed care for their school-age children. Families can call the hotline at 1-888-600-1685. DHHS also published a guide for parents on What to Know When Looking for School-Age Child Care.
  • The Families and Schools Together (FAST) Initiative is a community effort to help address the childcare needs facing our community during remote learning. There are providers currently offering childcare at below-market rates who have the capacity to enroll more children. Scholarships and subsidies are available on a case-by-case basis. Please visit www.wakefast.org for more information.

Please visit Digital Dragons – Douglas Teachers Read

Good morning Dragon families! In the coming days we will be sharing some read-alouds from staff. They will be reading books relative to diversity, equality, and civil rights. We invite your families to come together to listen to our staff members share these stories. We hope that these will provide an opportunity for education, conversation and comfort for our school community.

Love,

Your Douglas PTA

Supporting Student Success

teacher and two elementary school students

As part of the PTA’s plan to increase family engagement this year, we are participating in the National PTA School of Excellence program.  After receiving parent survey responses this fall, we have been provided with a “roadmap to excellence” to help us improve in areas where we are potentially falling short. With that in mind, we will be sharing a short item with you throughout the next few months that we hope you will find useful.  

This month’s topic is Supporting Student Success.

Empowering families to support their own and other children’s success in school is powerful. It is important for parents to be prepared to monitor their children’s progress and guide them as they advance through elementary, middle and high school graduation; postsecondary education; and into a career.

The National PTA has published grade-specific guides that parents can review to see what their students will be learning at each grade level. These provide “clear, consistent expectations for what students should be learning at each grade in order to be prepared for college and career.”

They are all available in English and Spanish at this link:  https://www.pta.org/home/family-resources/Parents-Guides-to-Student-Success

We hope you’ll be able to check them out and learn a little more about what your children are learning at Douglas!

Tips for Effective Parent-Teacher Communication

Image source: https://www.laprensa.hn/familiayhogar/933502-410/relaci%C3%B3n-de-padres-y-maestros-favorece-el-aprendizaje

As part of the PTA’s plan to increase family engagement this year, we are participating in the National PTA School of Excellence program.  After receiving parent survey responses this fall, we have been provided with a “roadmap to excellence” to help us improve in areas where we are potentially falling short.

With that in mind, we will be sharing a short item with you throughout the next few months that we hope you will find useful.  This month’s topic is “Communicating Effectively.”  

Here are just a few tips for effective communication between parents and teachers:

  • Be collaborative with the teacher. Begin your communication with a positive attitude and a willingness to be a partner with your child’s teacher. You both want the best for your child, and working together is the easiest way to achieve that.
  • Communicate, communicate, communicate. Don’t wait until there is a problem to email the teacher. Send emails, notes or even visit in person.
  • Get comfortable within the school and with the teacher. The more comfortable you are, the easier it will be to have those serious conversations when they come up. Stop in for lunch with your child or to lend a hand photocopying or helping with something in the classroom. Join the PTA and get to know other parents through different school events or through a PTA committee. Come to an after-school event and get to know other parents and teachers in a casual “after hours” atmosphere.
  • Feel free to make first contact with the teacher! Good communication runs both ways. If you don’t know how to get in contact with the teacher, call the school, look at the directory on the school website or send a note with your child. They want to hear from you!
  • Follow through with what you say you will do. If you cannot do what you said you would do, communicate that too! 

For more ideas, visit these links:

https://www.greatschools.org/gk/articles/partnering-with-your-childs-teacher/

http://parenting-ed.org/wp-content/themes/parenting-ed/files/handouts/Communicating-with-Teacher-Handout.pdf