race, class and gender

Home/School Connection

I envy Deborah Hicks’ role. She is able to see the home life and the school life. As the educator, I am often blinded by why happens at home. When I am able, I try to make home visits. But I will admit, this rarely happens in reality. When it does, I am shocked by what I see at home. I once visited a home in which the child was one of ten in the household of 5 adults. There were 2 bedrooms and one bathroom. There were no beds. There was one beat up couch and odd pieces of junk lying around. But to my amazement there was huge big screen TV in the living room. It was larger than the wall space and blocked part of the front door. I had many problems with this student. It wasn’t until I visited the home that I began to understand the issue he was having at school. As teachers, we can only rely on what the students and parents say part of the time. We really do not know until we step foot in their lives. For this reason, I envy Hicks. She is able to see where the issues are. She is able to make recommendations for school change. I only wish our system could see the power in this. Our school has lost 3 positions for next year. One of which is the home school coordinator. This position is one that the teachers greatly respect. We rely on this man to go to homes and speak with parents when we are unable to. He comes to us and tells us what he has seen in the home. He is a huge help in the home to school connection. I really do not know what we are going to do without him next year. How can a school system cut this position? We all know the research. We all know how important this connection is. Why is it being cut off?

Sarah Feinman