SCHOOL OF EXCELLENCE

SCHOOL OF EXCELLENCE

  • School of Excellence is a recognition program that supports and celebrates partnerships between local PTAs and schools to enrich the educational experience and overall well- being for all students.

  • This is a year-long commitment to identify and implement an action plan for school improvement based on PTA’s National Standards for Family-School Partnerships. To learn more about the National Standards visit PTA.org/NationalStandards.

School of Excellence Program: An Overview

Published in the Acorn on November 24, 2019

Oakview Elementary has enrolled in the 2019-2020 National PTA School of Excellence program for consideration of the 2020-2022 National PTA School of Excellence designation. The Oakview PTA will be working on this program throughout the school year in an effort to strengthen the family-school partnership, improve family engagement and earn the 2020-2022 National PTA School of Excellence designation awarded to schools in August of 2020.

The PTA developed National Standards for Family-School Partnerships to empower parents, educators, community members and students to work together for the educational success of all children and youth. Many of you participated in our initial survey at the beginning of October, which is based upon the six standards of the Family-School partnership. We have reviewed the survey results, met with the School Improvement Council (SIC), and held a discussion with the Oakview leadership team. As a result, we have selected to focus on Standard 4: Speaking Up for Every Child. Families are empowered to be advocates for their own and other children, to ensure that students are treated fairly and have access to learning opportunities that will support their success. Our goal is to grow family participation in advocacy. During the year, we will also address other items that arose from our survey results, such as sharing more information regarding the middle school transition, displaying friendly signs in multiple languages and distributing information on community resources that serve the needs of families within our community. We look forward to partnering with you this year!

School of Excellence Program: Speaking Up for Every Child

Published in the Acorn on December 9, 2019

All children need an advocate – someone to speak out and stand up for them. The National Standards for Family-School Partnerships offers guidance on how our school staff and PTA can make a critical contribution by offering opportunities for parents and community members to learn and practice the special set of skills that speaking up for children requires. According to the National Standards for Family-School Partnerships, here are some of the things an advocate does for a student:

  • Sets high expectations and monitors progress

  • Helps the student set goals and plan for the future

  • Steers the student through the school system, selecting courses that match his or her goals

  • Intervenes if the student has a problem or is being treated unfairly

  • Makes sure the student gets assistance, such as tutoring, medical attention, or counseling, when needed

  • Monitors out-of-school time and makes sure it is spent in constructive, enriching activities.

The National Standards for Family-School Partnerships recognizes two goals for the standard of speaking up for every child. The first goal is understanding how the school system works. The second goal for this standard is empowering families to support their own and other children’s success in school. Over the next few months, we will explore these two goals and work together to grow our family engagement.