parents-sherburne-child-45.html
0819 August
46 / 84
finding a high level of expectations and commitment time at certain
school
s. ?at many other public
school
s, room parents do not exist. when i was still working, i?d try to pop in at lunchtime,?
myers
says
. ?i could have a quick chat with the teacher, or ask if there were any supplies that i could send her way.?
myers
notes that southdowns elemen- tary, where millie attended prek, focuses on children with special needs and fea- tures two prek inclusion classes. ?millie was more than academically prepared for a magnet kindergarten by the end of that year, but more importantly, she learned at a young age to be inclusive and empathet- ic toward children who are not the same as she,?
myers
shares. as a parent,
myers
knows and believes that, at the end of the day, making sure her child receives the best education possible throughout her years of
school
ing is ulti- mately her responsibility. ?it?s up to me to be involved, to make informed choices, and to be responsive to her needs, as well to those of her teacher and
school
,? she
says
. ?and if the
school
isn?t meeting my daugher's needs, then it?s up to me to explore other options.? ? communication is even more impor- tant in the face of challenges another baton rouge parent, maria yian- nopoulos, has two daughters?a recent col- lege graduate and a senior at dutchtown high
school
. she notes a real difference in the parochial/private and public
school
systems, especially when it comes to handling and teaching kids who are living with special needs. ?communication is the key to success to the career of any student,? yiannopou- los
says
. ?but the communication i?m talking about is between the parent and the educator. the more educators and administrators know about the challenges that a child faces, the better.? regarding her daughter?s progress, she
says
, ?i have seen her go from doubting herself and her abilities to her under- standing that she is very capable. she is mainstreamed, and she has learned to live with adhd and asperger?s.? not long after being displaced by hurricane katrina, yiannopoulos?s daughter was diagnosed with adhd and asperger?s syndrome. ?no one in the baton rouge parochial system knew how to deal with those two combinations, so communications broke down between the
school
s and me,? she
says
. yiannopoulos found herself at a loss when representa- tives from one parochial
school
told her they could not accommodate her daughter, suggesting they ?go elsewhere.? ?technology has been the biggest god- send to parents and educators, especially for working parents with questions,? she
says
. ?facetime or skype allows com- munication to take place to address the concerns together. it?s been a win-win.? yiannopoulos shares that using google classroom allows her to go online with her daughter to look at her assignments. ?i see everything that?s going on, everything that she has posted, and if she?s not fol- lowing through and there?s a reprimand. if she?s not submitting her work, i get to hear why she is not doing this. and then i can understand better,? she
says
. ?it is an incredible collaborating tool, the technol- ogy that we have now. it really does take a whole village to educate a kid.? importance of parental involvement and voluntarism as a stay-at-home mom,
myers
served as a room parent for each of her daughters, 4 6 b r p a r e n t s . c o m | a u g u s t 2 0 1 9
page-47.html
