Serra High School

Parent Teacher Conferences

Thursday March 4, 2010

7:00-9:00 PM

Thursday March 4 will be the Spring Semester Parent Teacher Conference Night. Our teachers will be in attendance from 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM to meet with parents regarding their son's progress in their class. In order to make this evening run smoothly, we ask that you make an appointment with each of his teachers that you want to meet that evening.

This is not a required event for parents, unlike what you may have experienced in middle school or grammar schools up to this point. Rather, this is an event designed to help serve parents whose sons are not doing well academically. We ask that you keep this in mind when scheduling appointments. Of course, parents are not prohibited from meeting with teachers. However, if your son is already doing well in his classes you may be able to "touch base" with his teachers through email just as effectively as through a face-to-face meeting.

Teachers have reported that it is often helpful for students to attend these meetings with parents. This serves the purpose of clarifying the lines of communication between student, teacher, and parent.

In the past, students were instructed to make appointments on behalf of their parents to meet with their teachers. This year the sign-up process is different; parents should sign up through the PCR Parent Portal. In order to ensure that you can meet with your son's teacher(s) and for your son's teacher to be prepared to meet with you, parents should sign up beforehand. Walk-in conferences will only be honored if the teacher has free time in his/her schedule. Click here for instructions; click here for a list of meeting locations.

What is the history of Parent-Teacher Conference Night?

When this evening was first instituted many years ago, it was designed to provide an opportunity for parents of students who struggle academically, to meet with their sons' teachers. Over the years it turned into an evening when many parents attend with their sons, regardless of grades. As a result, last year teachers experienced many more signups than we had anticipated and a number of parents were not able to meet with teachers as a result.

Who should attend this evening?

Depending on the situation and the student's standing in class, we continue to encourage students to attend with their parents. This keeps the line of communication clear.

However, keep in mind that this evening is only one of the ways that we as a school communicate student progress. Keep in mind that all of our teachers have access to both voice mail and email, and that teachers post assignments and evaluations in the PCR Parent Portal, which is available online.

Please take advantage of these opportunities to work with your son's teachers, and consider whether or not a Parent-Teacher Conference will be the best use of you and your son's time. Although in the past, the Library has been open for students who need a place to study, we will not be able to open the Library this evening. Please take this into account when considering your son's need to study for school the next day.

For example, these might be good reasons to meet with your son's teachers:

• Your son is doing poorly in class or his grade is slipping and you want to know how to help him
• You are looking for ways to improve your son's study habits, communication, etc (although email could suffice)
• You need to disclose some personal information about your son to his teacher

On the other hand, these transactions might be just as easily handled through voice mail or email:

• You have a question about a comment given on the recent report card
• Your son is doing well in class and you just want to check in or show support
• You have questions about deadlines for projects or something listed on the teacher's web page

In general, if your question and answer can easily be communicated through email, you probably don't need to come to Parent-Teacher Conference Night.

I am careful not to make general statements out of context; parents will have to make the best decisions based on their individual cases. However, remember that these appointments will be brief (five minutes in most cases) in order to help teachers stay on schedule and meet with as many as possible of the parents who want to be seen that evening. If you find that your meeting with the teacher is causing him or her to fall behind schedule, please schedule another time to follow up with the teacher either over the phone or in person at the teacher's discretion.

If a teacher is not able to meet with you this evening please either leave your name and contact information on the sign up sheet outside their door or follow through yourself using the contact information provided at Back to School Night. Our teachers are very busy at this time of year and have many parent contacts to make, so please be flexible and patient during this time.

Also, if you have difficulty meeting with your son's teachers this evening please consider dropping in to the counseling department offices this evening and seeing if you can meet with your son's counselor. The counselors generally do not have many pre-scheduled appointments so they may be able to meet with you between 7PM and 9PM.

Sincerely,

Mr. Keith Strange
Assistant Principal, Academics