Principal Champion for Parent Teacher Home Visits

Primm Walters, Sun Valley Elementary School

   The Parent-Teacher Home Visit Project  has helped us grow our school into a community center, where both students and parents alike, feel welcomed and safe. 

   As a result of the Parent Teacher Home Visits, each morning as I greet the students I see the children enter with  an eagerness to learn because not only do they feel safe, but now they see themselves as partners with the teachers in their class and school.

    We did the home visit for a family who has three girls at Sun Valley Elementary School at a local McDonald's.  By the time the visit was over the three girls, who had been very shy initially, were eager to talk to me about their interests in many areas both in and out of school.. 

   Their parents felt comfortable and appreciated the time we took to get to know them as a family.  By the end of the visit, the girls' younger brother was sitting in my lap sharing my french fries. We all felt connected. 

   As we continue with the Parent Teacher Home Visit Project our perception of the community grows deeper with new understanding.  We are less fearful in going out into the community. Our confidence has grown and we are successful in building bridges from the school to homes and from the homes back to school. 

  The changes I see as a result are why I am a strong champion for Parent Teacher Home Visits! 

Super Star for Home Visits

Regina Valencia, Site Coordinator and Teacher, Sparks High School

    Unlike a lot of her peers, Regina Valencia didn’t need to do Parent Teacher Home Visits to understand Latino culture. She has lived in Spanish speaking countries and speaks Spanish. But those factors have benefited her greatly as she began to build relationships with her students’ families in a school with a mostly Latino student population.

During the 2014- 2015 school year, Regina Valencia has done 70 Parent Teacher Home Visits!  She reports that Parent Teacher Home Visits have increased her awareness of the students’ family lives and home situations one by one.

    She sees the improvement in her communication both with the student and with the family. “It’s fun in class being able to talk to the student about Barbie the dog who jumped all over us on a visit and sat in our laps. I can talk to that particular student and say ‘hey how’s Barbie doing?’ Breaking down those barriers helps in the long run to improve the academics as well because students will come to me about more difficult things. I think that is the most important benefit of the Parent Teacher Home Visits.”

    “I had a Visit that impacted me. A Parent has three daughters that attends our school and she was going to have surgery the following week. It was close to Christmas time. I was impressed that the mother was so involved in her daughter’s education. Being a single mom getting ready to go into surgery in the next couple days, she was still willing to have the Parent Teacher Home Visit and welcomed us into her house. That was incredible.”

    Regina says that her openness to visiting families at their homes has also generated more parents’ interest in learning English as a second language as they feel more comfortable now that they have a personal relationship with me and want to be more involved in their children’s education.
   For more information about How Parent Teacher Home Visits Can Lead to School Transformaton, check out this short article from the National Education Association. 

Strong Supporter of Parent Teacher Home Visits

Melanie Reeves, Sparks High School Teacher

   When I get to know my students and their families I am better able to help them through the understanding I gain.

   Let me tell you about one of my Parent Teacher Home Visits. At this particular visit I learned that the parents had a third grade education. This helped me understand how I could be helpful to both the family and the child in different ways. For instance I will focus on more of the basics in reading and math.

   Since doing home visits parents have begun to contact me much more often. They are comfortable in reaching out to me.  

   From the Parent Teacher Home Visits I have gotten to know who my students really are. It has been an invaluable tool for getting to know the “real” person for both the students and their families.  It has helped me form a better relationship with my students because they know that I am accepting of their home, family and situations.  I have  been accepted into their home and that makes a more genuine bond between me, the student and family.  

   My biggest goal  in doing Parent Teacher Home Visits is to let the parents know that I am accessible.  I also seek to help the child become more comfortable with me and as a result more comfortable in the classroom and ready to learn from me.

   The bonding I feel with and by my students has improved tremendously since the Parent Teacher Home Visits.  They know that they are important to me. 

   Read a short good article featuring Washoe County Schools' Parent Teacher Home Visits in Education Weekly here. 

Direct Results from Parent Teacher Home Visits

Stacie Perez, Graduating Senior at Innovations High School

     Stacie is at the brink of graduating from high school.  She is also a teen mother. She says she loves her teachers and that the Parent Teacher Home Visits showed her even more that her teachers care about her.  

     She likes the visits because she feels that parents should be informed about what’s going on with their child and what the parent can do to help their child in school. Stacie says since the Parent Teacher Home Visit her mom has become more involved with her schooling. She says her mom encourages her to attend school no matter what, unless she is very sick. 
     Her mom monitors her more closely now and wants her to graduate. Stacie says that she likes the fact that her mom is more involved about school and pushing her to do her best. She says that is what she needs sometimes in order to get things done.

     Now her mom has a phone app called the infinite campus  that lets her know exactly what is going on daily.  She says she hope that when her child grows up she will have Parent Teacher Home Visits as a way to inspire her and her child to succeed in school and build a relationship with the teacher. 
    For more information on the National Parent Teacher Home Visit Project click on this website.