Big Apple parents have stepped up their involvement in their children’s education, Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña told the Daily News on Thursday.
Fariña said stats show that more moms and dads are taking part in public schools this year thanks to an overhaul of the city’s family outreach efforts that began when Mayor de Blasio and she both took office in 2014.
“We’re focusing on supporting hard-to-reach students and their families, and building strong partnerships with the entire school community,” Fariña said. “I am proud of the incredible growth our schools have made to engage families as partners in their children’s education.”
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The number of school-based workshops for city families increased by 60% to date this academic year compared to last year.
City schools have held 8,000 parent workshops on topics such as financial literacy and college awareness since September, up from 5,000 in the same period in the last academic year.
Likewise, parent attendance at these workshops has increased by nearly 59%, city Education Department figures show, with 251,000 parents in attendance since the school year started.
Parent-teacher conference attendance has also increased by nearly 38% in the same time frame, according to Education Department data, with 296,000 parents showing up at conferences, up from 215,000 parents.
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Fariña has overhauled the city’s efforts to bring parents into the public schools. The city is retraining 1,400 coordinators who are charged with getting parents involved in their kids’ education. In August, Fariña tapped former Bronx Superintendent Yolanda Torres to grow and reorganize the Education Department’s Division of Family and Community Engagement. As part of the new teachers contract, the city also set aside more time for parent-teacher conferences, including meetings where students are present.
Fariña said the changes helped the city achieve a record graduation rate and record levels of student attendance for the academic year that ended in June.
“We’ve had a very big focus on more family connections across our schools and we are seeing real results,” Fariña said.
