Whether parents have a few minutes or a few days to spare, the Ontario Ministry of Education wants to make sure they spend the time becoming involved in their children’s learning.
In early February, the ministry awarded $63,263 in Parent Reaching Out grants to the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board.
The grants were first made available in 2006 to help foster parental engagement in education, both at school and in the home. Parents offering time on school councils, participating in school events and also helping their child with homework can be beneficial to children, says Michele Giroux, the school board's corporate services executive officer.
Forty-one schools in Ottawa will benefit from the school council grants, up to a maximum of $1,000, including Centennial Public School and Elgin Street Public School.
Centennial received $700 and plans to use the money to translate their school council application forms and council information into other languages.
With about 40 different languages spoken by students and their families, Centennial prides itself on cultural diversity, says school council chair Helen Dowd.
“Our concern is the school council does not reflect the population,” she says.
Council members hope the translated information will help get more parents on board.
“We’re hoping it will make a difference and we’ll see more parental involvement,” says Dowd.
PRO grants support projects that target parents who have not traditionally been engaged in the school system, says Giroux.
Parents in this category include new Canadians, or people new to the province, and the economically disadvantaged. Working parents without enough free time also fall into this category, says Giroux.
Research has shown that parent involvement is good for students, says ministry spokesperson Patricia McNeil.
“When parents and guardians are involved in their kids’ education, it’s better for the kids and it’s better for the education system overall.”
School councils submit proposals for projects that include parent resource rooms, parent lending libraries, and school-based social gatherings for families.
The OCDSB also applied for the ministry’s regional/provincial PRO grant, and received $30,000 towards their proposal.
“It’s an opportunity for us to spend $30,000 on parental involvement that we could not otherwise do without the grant,” says Giroux.
The board’s project, “connected conversations”, is a speaker series that aims to tackle three areas where the OCDSB wants to improve.
This spring, experts will speak to parents and school staff about closing the learning gap with boys, who learn in a different way than girls.
They will also address English language learners, and how to foster parental involvement in schools.