Pats on the back for everyone in the school district who worked
on the new Eliot School. It’s beautiful, and it’s a fine thing,
too, for our community to have a beautiful new school on the east
side of town.
Pats on the back for everyone in the school district who worked on the new Eliot School. It’s beautiful, and it’s a fine thing, too, for our community to have a beautiful new school on the east side of town.
Parents, staff and students are duly thrilled with the Mission-style, two-story school, and the construction crews beat the bell for the new school year by a smidgen. But that’s good enough.
As Gilroy schools welcome the 9,600-plus students back to the classroom, a few thoughts come to mind:
n Attendance is money. Every day your child is in school, the district receives money from the state. Reducing the absentee rate by a small percentage translates into huge dollars for our schools. Do the math, and unless your child is really under the weather, get him or her to school.
n Drivers need to take extra care around schools. It’s curious that even though Gilroy has returned to the neighborhood school concept, clogged traffic situation s exist at many schools. Perhaps more parents should consider having their children walk or take their bikes to school.
n One of the most important keys to student success is parental involvement. Read the notes that come home, check your child’s homework, communicate with the teacher if you’re unclear about something. Gilroy has many wonderful teachers who are there to help your child do their best, take advantage of their expertise.
n If you can help a teacher with school supplies, do so. They will tell you what they need and most spend personal funds for classroom items. Let’s keep that to a minimum in Gilroy and let them know we care and that we’re aware of the burden.
n Read to your children and encourage them to read. That is the fountain of knowledge and there is no substitute for it.
As the year starts, it’s also worth noting that money isn’t the answer to every educational problem. We don’t have the money for a lot of things. Let’s simply acknowledge that and pledge to work toward solutions regardless.
The year has started off smoothly and there’s, overall, good news in today’s newspaper about schools meeting their Academic Performance Index goals set by the state.
There’s a forward momentum in Gilroy’s public schools that, hopefully, will be sustained by ongoing efforts. Bettering education is a total community effort involving parents, teachers, students and administrators. But it starts at home with expectations and vigilence.
At back-to-school nights that responsibility should be emphasized.
