Embedded in the West Orange Public Schools - End of School Not the End of School Work For Parents

It’s the last day of school. I know all of the kids are excited that summer is here. But for parents our school responsibilities continue as we make sure summer assignments are completed, stay up to speed with the district information about academic year 2013-2014, and prepare for September.

After the end-of-school celebrations this weekend but before you take that well deserved breather over July 4^th, make sure you are connected in all ways to your district’s information portals. Sign up for the Facebook account at https://www.facebook.com/woschools and ‘Follow’ us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/woschools. Sign up for the district E-news letter launching this fall with all of the stories fit to print but probably weren’t, and links to many important organizations and information. Email me at Amy@asimonsays.com and let me know the names and graduating years of your students, and/or if you are an alumni. Don’t forget to be on the WOZONE email list as well, sponsored by the West Orange Council of PTA’s visit http://www.westorangeptas.org.

I’d like to give another shout out of congratulations to our graduation seniors. They were accepted to some very impressive schools for next year. Please know that not all of our students can afford to attend the colleges and universities that they are admitted to. For the coming school year think about helping graduating seniors attending post secondary education by donating to the West Orange Scholarship Fund. Email jquinn@allenco.com to donate. The WOSF gave out over 39k in scholarships this year and have donated over $900,000 in scholarships since its inception in 1923.

There are a lot of great volunteer opportunities in the West Orange school district where you can positively affect the life of a child. You might consider tutoring an elementary school student. Contact the West Orange African Heritage Organization to sign up. woahopressident@aol.com. It takes a few hours a week to enhance a child’s abilities for a lifetime.

Join your school PTA. There is no better way to support your child’s school than to be a member of the PTA. Sign up information will be in your school packet coming at the end of summer. The PTA is a valuable resource for parents, and a dynamic programming, and fundraising organization that provides your child with all of the extras that make school so exciting like presentations and assemblies, trips, smart boards in classrooms and more. If you have never been on an executive board or have participated in creating policy and new ideas for an organization, a great place to start is by serving on a PTA executive board. Contact your school’s PTA to see if seats are available for next year. You might also consider mentoring a child or help coach a sports team. Reach out to your school principal or the township recreation department, bkehoe@westorange.org, for opportunities.

So many of us converse over the back yard fence, in the grocery store, or in the chat rooms about our kids and our schools. True and lasting results for our kids, and our schools, is in doing not just talking. Stay involved with your children, their friends and other children in your schools by being connected to the district information portals, mentoring, coaching, tutoring, volunteering, and contributing. Let your kids see you involved. By doing so you will contribute to the raising of the next generation of involved parents.