PGCPS: Male Engagement Is Ahead of The Curve

The ongoing commitment by Prince George's County Public Schools to engage and involve men in the academic lives of students is catching fire all over the Country. Recently, Education Secretary Arne Duncan encouraged dads to get involved in their kid's education. In our County last year, men came out to support their children, their schools and their communities in record numbers. For example, in 2008 more than 11,000 men escorted their children to school on the first day (2009 data unavailable at this time). Additionally, more than 10,000 men participated in the first annual Men Make A Difference Day. This year's Men Make A Difference Day is scheduled for October 12, 2009. For more information on Men Make A Difference Day, contact a Parent Liaison at your neighborhood school.

Duncan to Dads:
Get Involved in Kids' Education
By The Associated PressManchester, N.H.

Getting fathers involved in their children's education will take turning off the TV at home and opening the school doors to them, Education Secretary Arne Duncan said Wednesday.

"Both sides have to move toward the middle, toward each other," he said in an interview after a forum attended by dozens of nonprofit groups, churches, and government officials around New England.

"What's fascinating to me is that both sides need each other so badly. Educators desperately need parents to be more involved, particularly fathers, and fathers desperately need to be involved in their children's education," he said. "There's just this tremendous untapped potential and power here.

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Formal Parent Organizations See Their Membership Skyrocket

The membership of Formal Parent Organizations (FPO) in Prince George's County Public Schools saw dramatic increases across the County in SY 2008-2009. The ongoing focus on volunteer services by the School Board; combined with the extensive outreach to parents and community members by Formal Parent Organizations resulted in this record growth.

In SY 2008-2009 95% of PGCPS schools had an established parent organizations. A total of 78,690 parents and community stakeholders are current members of FPOs. During SY 2008-2009 8,388 new members were added to more than 160 FPOs. A total of 270,408 parents and community stakeholders attended FPO meetings. This number represented an average of 27,408 parents and community stakeholders attending meetings monthly. When you divide that by the number of schools, 134 parents and community stakeholders on average attended Formal Parent Organization meetings per month.

Parental Engagment in Prince George's County Public Schools Is Highlighted in the Harvard Family Report On Parental Involvement

A recent publication entitled: Seeing is Believing: Promising Practices for How School Districts Promote Family Engagement, written by the Harvard University Center for Family Research contains information regarding parental engagement in Prince George's County Public Schools. Here is a small portion of what they had to say about our services and efforts.

“The feedback you provided during our interview helped inform the development of this brief, and we are very pleased that we were able to include a profile of your district's family engagement work as part of this project. Thank you again for taking the time to speak with us about your district's experiences and strategies”.

Below is a link to the brief: http://hfrp.org/family-involvement/publications-resources/seeing-is-believing-promising-practices-for-how-school-districts-promote-family-engagement

STATE OF SCHOOLS ADDRESS

Dr. Hite will deliver his first State of the Schools Address as the Superintendent of Prince George's County Public Schools on Tuesday, October 6, 2009 6:30pm at Dr. Henry A.Wise Jr. HS. The public is welcome to attend.

October 12, 2009: 2nd Annual Men Make A Difference Day

Ten Tips for Time Mastery

Published by
pdus2go
on August 31, 2009 in Linda Henman, PhD., Magnetic Boss, PDUs2Go Author Article and SPECIAL EDITION. 2 Comments Tags: Leadership.
By Linda Henman, PhD.

By Linda Henman, PhD.

1. Don’t over schedule. Leave time in every day for unexpected events because almost every day brings at least one. In addition to having more control of your day, you’ll reduce stress.
2. Set 30/ 60/ 90 day SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time sensitive) goals for your personal and professional life. Activities that don’t support these goals don’t go on the calendar. Set weekly goals that support these.
3. Don’t over commit. Just say “no” to charities, committees, meetings, or activities that don’t directly support a personal or professional goal.
4. Prioritize each day. Separate important from unimportant and urgent tasks, and do first things first. Unless you are expecting an emergency phone call, turn off your cell phone. Use it for outgoing calls, on your schedule, so you can stick to your priorities.
5. Eat the frog first. If there’s an unpleasant task you must accomplish, do it first. You’ll have more energy and focus once the unpleasant or difficult task is complete.
6. Know what you’re doing. Analyze current uses of time and energy—yours and that of others on your team—to determine whether you are spending time on critical issues that drive your goals and support your priorities. Then schedule your hardest or least favorite tasks for high energy times.
7. Follow the 80/20 rule. Realize that 20% of your efforts drive 80% of your results. Identify the 20% of people who support you, the 20% of activities that drive your goals, and the 20% of training you need and then eliminate the other 80% of each.
8. Get organized. Have a sense of where and how information is stored; be able to locate materials quickly; have a system so your assistant or someone else can find things; and routinely clean out files and throw outdated material away.
9. Don’t allow people to copy you on emails, ask to make decisions they are accountable for, or otherwise interrupt you “for just a minute” to discuss something they should be handling.
10. Buy time. Use helpful new technologies or support people to do the things you aren’t good at, don’t like, or don’t want to do. When you lead with your passion, work is more enjoyable, and you’ll accomplish more.

Sign-Up To Speak at Community Meetings on Closed Schools

Hello Parents:

Do you have an opinion or suggestion with regards to recent school closings? If so, please sign-Up To Speak at Community Meetings on Closed Schools.

Prince George's County Public Schools will conduct a series of community meetings for the purpose of soliciting and receiving input on how the school system should best utilize closed school buildings impacted by the Prince George's County Board of Education's school consolidation/closing plan. Please visit the link below to access the form you will need to complete if you wish to speak at a community meeting.

http://www1.pgcps.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=ekfrm&ItemID=99894

PGCPS Has A Variety of Formal Parent Organizations

In SY2008-09, 95% of PGCPS had established formal parent organizations. A total of 78,690 parents and community stakeholders are current members of formal parent organizations. A total of 270,408 parents and community stakeholders attended formal parent organization meetings. This number represented an average of 27,408 parents and community stakeholders attending formal parent organizational meetings monthly. Approximately 134 parents and community stakeholders attended formal parent organizational meetings per month in SY2008-09.

Here is the break out:
PTA (100)
PTSA (35)
PTO (29)
PTSO (6)
FPO (5)

Parental Engagement with PGCPS is on Twitter

We are on Twitter, which means you can follow us 24 hours a day. Join others who are keeping in contact with the Office of Family and Community Outreach and parental engagement at http://twitter.com/pgcpsparents

Important Dates

September 25, 2009: Professional Development (Schools closed for students)

September 28, 2009: Holiday - Yom Kippur (Schools and offices closed)

October 12, 2009: Men Make A Difference Day: Second Annual – Each school will customize events designed to promote fathers and other male role models becoming/remaining involved in their child’s education. Examples: Dudes on Duty, Donuts for Dads, Luncheon, Concert performance.

November 5, 2009: Healthy Living/Healthy Families: First Annual – Each school will customize events designed to promote healthy lifestyles and healthy families. Demonstrate the benefits of healthy families related to academicachievement. Examples: guest speakers, health fairs, family exercise, focus on nutrition.

April 22, 2010: Multicultural Family Celebration: First Annual – Each school will customize events designed to promote and embrace diversity. Provide an opportunity for students and parents to learn about different cultures. Examples: International dinner, Family fun Day, International Night.

May 10, 2010: Women's Day: Second Annual – Each school will customize events designed to shop appreciation to mothers and other female role models who have been involved with our school communities throughout the year. Promote increased participation of mothers and other female role models. Examples: Tranquility Teas, Appreciation Receptions, Empowerment speakers.