What’s Right with Our Schools
Community Reconnected
How parent and community groups fuel student success BY TIM WILLERT . PHOTOS PROVIDED.
W hen Carla Atkinson walked into Norman PTA Council meetings a few years ago, she saw only a handful of parents scattered around the room. Fast forward to this fall, and the same meeting buzzed with three times as many parents representing schools across the district. For Atkinson, Norman Public Schools’ family engagement coordinator, that growth is more than just numbers — it’s a sign that parents are finding their way back into schools. Across the metro, educators and community leaders are seeing the same trend: parent involvement is on the rise again, and with it, fresh energy for student success. School districts across the Oklahoma City metro are working to restore parent and family engagement to pre-pandemic levels with the help of PTA units, local foundations and volunteer programs. “I don’t think parents ever chose to not be involved ... It was just something that happened,” Atkinson said. “And then you build your new normal. As things lifted with the pandemic, people had forgotten ‘we can go do this at our school.’” Why family engagement matters School administrators and the leaders of organizations that raise money for programs and services point to the need to restore human interaction lost during the pandemic, calling those connections essential to student success. “It is 100 percent true that the more families engage in schools, the more successful their students are,” said Breea Clark, Norman's former mayor and current PTA Council president. “It’s because parents are learning about what their kids are learning. When they show up, it adds validity to the experience of learning itself, and the students get more excited about it. It becomes a family affair.” The role of PTA PTAs promote family engagement, fund programs, organize events, raise money and advocate for students and schools. Individual school sites charge dues, a portion of which is funneled to state and national units to support advocacy efforts and the Reflections Arts Program, Clark said. “It pays for the grants that go right back into schools for STEM, the arts and parent engagement,” she said. Nancy Perdomo, director of family engagement for Oklahoma City Public Schools, said the 33,000-student district is focused on growing parent involvement through PTAs.
VOLUNTEERS HELP KIDS CHECK OUT BOOKS AND KEEP THE READ OKC BUS SHELVES STOCKED WITH FUN READS.
PTAs, though, aren’t the only way parents can get involved in their child’s school, Perdomo said. “There are a variety of volunteer programs, whether that’s tutoring or mentoring through the OKCPS Foundation,” she said. “They can be a reading buddy, or they can volunteer on the Read OKC bus.” The Read OKC bus is a mobile library program that provides free books to students in the Oklahoma City school district. “Field trips are probably our most popular volunteer opportunity,” Perdomo continued, “Because it’s an opportunity to go someplace fun with their kids.” Another positive sign of increased parent engagement is the return of popular school events, such as Super Kids Day and Family Fun Night, which require a lot of volunteers. “This helps teachers to focus on teaching when they don’t have to organize the events that create special experiences and foster a love of education,” said Clark. “Once parents withdrew, there were no volunteers to organize all of these events.” “We know that when families are involved, they attend parent-teacher conferences and support learning outside of the school day,” she said. “Research shows that it increases test scores, graduation rates, attendance and all academic measures.”
16 METROFAMILYMAGAZINE.COM / NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2025
Made with FlippingBook - Online magazine maker