Canton Educators Use Bus Tour To Reach Students, Parents

Editor’s note: the following was submitted by the Cherokee County School District

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It was a day that Jake and Brice Rodriguez won’t soon forget.

A group of 80 Canton Elementary School STEM Academy teachers, administrators and support staff came to their home the Tuesday before the first day of school.

The educators arrived on school buses, carrying pencils, lollipops, messages of encouragement and arms ready to hug.

The school buses delivered the group to half a dozen neighborhoods in the community with high concentrations of families the school wants to better engage. During the stops, Principal Beth Long and her staff went door-to-door to greet students and their families, share important back-to-school information, encourage them to attend the school walk-though event and to give small gifts to each child.

“I feel like they care about us,” said Jake, who attended Canton ES STEM Academy, will start the sixth grade at Teasley Middle School on the first day of school on Monday. His brother, Brice, will begin the third grade at Canton ES STEM Academy.

The Welcome Back Bus Tour idea came to Dr. Debra Barron, an English for Speakers of Other Languages teacher at the school, as she volunteered with the MUST Summer Lunch Program. The program delivers brown bag lunches during the summer break to children who receive free or reduced price lunches at school during the school year.

Canton ES STEM Academy is home to the Cherokee County School District’s largest population of students who receive free or reduced price lunches at 86 percent, as compared to the CCSD average of 32 percent. The school also serves the district’s second-highest population of students whose families speak English as a second language.

“I felt like we needed to tap into parents a little bit more… every year we do a little more,” Dr. Barron said of the school’s focus on family engagement, noting that engaged families lead to more success for students. The group of educators included the school’s Parent Involvement Facilitator, Gloria Davila, who is bilingual and assisted in ensuring all parents understood the message.

The reaction from parents and students is just what the educators hoped to achieve.

“Just look at their faces,” Dr. Barron said, as she watched students’ reactions when their teachers approached. The response from parents was equally positive. “They really appreciate what we’re doing.”

Jeff Carson, whose twin sons, Jyles and Jayce, will start the third grade at Canton ES STEM Academy next week, said creativity and caring is synonymous with the school.

“We love it,” Carson said of school, noting he volunteers in the twins’ classes and their mom serves as PTA president. “We wouldn’t have them go anywhere else. We chose our home so the boys could go to a STEM Academy… they come home from school every day talking about what they learned.”

Principal Long said the event was mutually beneficial.

“This was a very beneficial activity to engage our families and to let our students know we look forward to seeing them back at school,” she said. “It also gave new members of our staff a chance to become more familiar with our community and the diverse population that we serve.”

Cherokee County School Board member Patsy Jordan rode the bus for the entire tour and said the event was a highlight of her career as a teacher and now policymaker.

“It was a wonderful experience to see the smiles on the children’s faces,” she said.

Superintendent of Schools Dr. Frank R. Petruzielo applauded the school’s initiative.

He noted CCSD’s supervisor for federal programs including Title I, which supports schools with high percentages of students who receive free and reduced price lunch, attended the trip to observe so it could be shared as a best practice with other schools. He said he was pleased that one member of the county’s state legislative delegation, Rep. Mandi Ballinger, accepted the invitation to all of them to participate, noting he thinks it’s an experience every Georgia lawmaker needs to have.

“Unlike any unproven so-called ‘Opportunity School District’ plan like the one recently proposed by the Governor, miracles are currently performed at Canton Elementary School STEM Academy and our other Title I schools every day,” Dr. Petruzielo said. “The state, or a for-profit charter company, cannot possibly replicate the caring and supportive environment it has taken these schools years to create, or the bonds of trust forged with the communities they serve.”

Maria Raymundo, who will start the third grade at Canton ES STEM Academy, smiled as she watched the crowd of teachers leave her front yard.

“It makes me happy,” she said of the visit. “I love my school.”

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Photo 1: Canton Elementary School STEM Academy Principal Beth Long, left, hugs third-grader Jyles Carson, as his twin brother, Jayce; sister, Jensyn, and school Academic Facilitator Debra Georges look on during a Welcome Back Bus Tour stop on Tuesday. A group of 80 educators from the school visited half a dozen neighborhoods in the community with high concentrations of families the school wants to better engage.
Photo 2: Third-grader Maria Raymundo gets a hug from her second-grade teacher, Maria Warrix, during the tour’s stop at her home.
Photo 3: Jeff Carson, left, whose twin sons, Jayce and Jyles, center, are third-graders at Canton ES STEM Academy, shares a laugh with second-grade teacher Emily Reinhart during one of the tour’s stops.
Photo 4: School Parent Involvement Facilitator Gloria Davila hugs pre-kindergarten student Alyson Banderas.
Photo 5: From left to right, Principal Beth Long, ESOL teacher Dr. Debra Barron and Assistant Principal Tammie Anderson visit with a student.
Photo 6: Cherokee County School Board member Patsy Jordan gets off the bus for a stop.
Photo 7: From left to right, STEM teacher David Cornn, Principal Long and State Rep. Mandi Ballinger.