Education Commissioner Dr. La Verne Terry has issued her support of Gov. John P. deJongh Jr.’s proclamation of October as Family Involvement Month in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
“Family involvement in a child’s learning is critical to a student’s success in school as well as to the success of schools. Creating an environment where learning takes place both at school and at home coupled with parents who are actively involved in their children’s education has been proven to increase student achievement and overall success in school,” said the commissioner.
“Increased involvement of parents and families often is cited as one of the most important ways to improve public schools. Studies confirm that parent involvement makes an enormous impact on a student’s attitude, attendance, and academic achievement. Although, it may be a challenge for some parents to participate in traditional activities like attending PTA meetings, there are still ways in which they can become involved with their children and with the school. For instance, parents should always make time to pick up the report card, return teachers’ phone calls and attend parent-teacher conferences. Together these efforts will connect families and schools to help children succeed in school and in their future.”
Terry further reminds the parents of public school student of the V.I. law that allows parents to take off work for two hours monthly for their participation at their child’s school. “The law providing two hours a month for parents to visit their child’s school serves as an ideal beginning to becoming actively involved in the educational life of your child and offers opportunities to become familiar with administration and staff toward building a cohesive and proactive unit to school improvement,” she said.
