Principal Goes Door to Door With Back-to-School Message
Tired of low student
turnouts on the first few days of school, Dr. Robert E. Morris, a Hartford, Connecticut,
elementary school principal, decided to remind parents himself about the opening
of school. Not just by letter, but in person. For the past three years, Morris
and volunteers from the staff and community have walked neighborhoods on a Saturday
morning, knocking on doors and stressing to students and their parents the importance
of coming to school the first day. Included: A description
of a community's campaign to get students in school.
Small faces peering out of windows and doors on a summer Saturday morning
in Hartford, Connecticut, registered surprise and excitement when they saw who
was on their doorstep calling their names.
Clark Elementary School principal Dr. Robert
E. Morris (left) talks to staff and community members before they hit the streets.
(Education World photo)
Dressed in a blue suit, white shirt, and blue tie that remained crisp despite
the heat, Dr. Robert E. Morris, principal of John C. Clark Jr. Elementary School, rang doorbells and called up to windows
for children to come down. When they did, often joined by parents, Morris and
other staff members reminded youngsters that September 2 was the first day of
school -- and they wanted to see them there.
"Where's Paul?" Bo Ryan, Clark's physical education teacher, boomed up at
a figure in one apartment window. "Tell him to come down here."
This is the third year that Clark staff and community members have gone door-to-door
the week before school opens to urge students to come to school on opening day
to start the year off right. Families received letters notifying them of the home
visits.
"Parents are very receptive to this approach," Morris told Education World.
"We're sharing our expectations, encouraging kids to come on time, come the first
day, and we're bonding with parents. We want to dispel the myth that urban parents
and children don't care about school. If you get them involved, they do care."
DETERMINED TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE
One idea Morris is determined to impress upon families is the importance of
sending their children to school on the first day. The Hartford school system
overall has low turnout the first few days of school, and district officials have
been encouraging school staff to improve attendance. In 2000, the year Morris
started at Clark, first-day attendance at the school was 78 percent, which he
said, needed to change.
After walking the neighborhoods in 2001 and 2002, first-day attendance went
up to 82 percent in 2001, followed by 87 percent last year. "I say, why not 100
percent this year?" Morris told Education World.
To reach even more parents and children, the school staff and community members
planned to host a block party last Saturday, with food and entertainment, to remind
families once again that school starts in three days. "That could get us another
5 percent," added Morris. The school is anticipating an enrollment of 450 students
in pre-K to sixth grade.
While the reasons children don't start school on time are varied, Morris said,
many parents don't realize the importance of the first few days of school. Often
parents think teachers will just take attendance and students will socialize.
"But we teach on the first day," Morris said. "We encourage teachers to prepare
lessons for the first few days."
Most of the children are from low-income families, and parents often tell
him they cannot afford new clothes for the first day of school, said Morris. "I
tell them not to worry about new clothes," he said. "Just make sure they are clean."
School staff also must cope with an ever-changing population. The annual mobility
rate is about 30 percent. "If people find a better apartment, they just go," Morris
noted.
HONKS, HUGS, AND WAVES
Principal Dr. Robert E. Morris and pre-K teacher
Ghei Steadwell leave a student's home after reminding a parent about the date
school opens.
(Education World photo)
The variety of challenges facing their students does not affect the staff's enthusiasm
for the Saturday walk. Volunteers were divided into teams to canvas different
neighborhoods; many of the teams included teachers who hoped to meet some of their
new students.
This year, faculty and community members also distributed gift bags to families,
with household items such as plastic containers and paper towels, and erasers
and buttons for the children, as well as a list of the school's expectations for
the year.
"I'm so excited; I'm so happy; I'm not going to let anything get in my way,"
Morris said to the volunteers in the school's lobby before they hit the streets.
"I never had this big a turnout; this tells me I have to work harder."
Shortly after 9 a.m., Morris, Ryan, four other teachers, and a member of the
Salvation Army set out as one team. A few blocks from the school, they were crunching
over broken glass past boarded up windows and doors to find Clark students.
"Good morning, Dr. Morris!" a woman called. A little girl came running out
of her apartment to give the principal a hug. People who drove by and recognized
him honked and waved.
"Have you been reading?" Morris asked a boy. "We're really pushing reading
this year," he said to an adult. "We want everyone to read five books a month.
We want to take our learning to a new level."
On almost every block, children stopped Ryan; they shrieked greetings before
bear-hugging him or leaping into his arms. He paused to chat with residents about
their children, and their lives since they graduated from Clark.
Melissa Trantolo, a new Clark fifth-grade teacher, said she was eager to meet
some of her students. "I think this is a great idea to get the community involved,"
said Trantolo, who, like the others, was juggling class lists and the gift bags
as they walked. "It lets the parents know we're willing to go the extra mile for
them and their child."
At one stop, one of Trantolo's fifth graders came out to meet her. "Hi, I'm
Miss Trantolo, your new teacher," she said to the boy. "I'll see you on the 2nd."
The volunteers pulled open battered doors, and walked down neglected hallways
to pound on apartment doors. If no one answered a door, Morris or a teacher used
cell phones to call the families to tell them they were outside or on their way.
"Word gets around," Morris said. "Even if they don't see us, as long as people
communicate that we've been around, that helps out tremendously."
Most adults who came to the door recognized Morris; several hesitated when
he quizzed them about the opening day of school. "Do you know when school opens?"
he asked. If they were unsure, he quickly said, "September 2. Is your child going
to be there?"
MAKING THAT CONNECTION
The home visits show families that the school and community are willing to
make an extra effort to help the students, volunteers said. "It's important to
alert them to when the first day of school is, and to show them how much we love
the kids," said Ryan, who was named Hartford's Teacher of the Year last year.
"The kids have a lot of energy and enthusiasm. If you give to them, they give
back 110 percent."
Ghei Steadwell, a pre-kindergarten teacher who also tutors students after
school, said that coming into the neighborhood helps connect new parents and reconnect
other parents to the school. "It makes them feel like they belong," Steadwell
said. "It's a little jolt to remind them when school opens. And the kids get so
excited to see the staff."
Tired of low student
turnouts on the first few days of school, Dr. Robert E. Morris, a Hartford, Connecticut,
elementary school principal, decided to remind parents himself about the opening
of school. Not just by letter, but in person. For the past three years, Morris
and volunteers from the staff and community have walked neighborhoods on a Saturday
morning, knocking on doors and stressing to students and their parents the importance
of coming to school the first day. Included: A description
of a community's campaign to get students in school.
