Schools

North Bellmore School District to offer 'Parent University'

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Mothers and fathers in the North Bellmore School District will head back to the classroom on Monday, as the first of a new series of workshops designed to strengthen the relationship between educators and parents/guardians will be presented at Newbridge Road Elementary School.

Superintendent Marie Testa said that Janet Pollitt, the interim director of curriculum and instruction, is coordinating a program called Parent University this year. The first workshop in the series,“Common Core Learning Standards: What Parents Need to Know,” will begin at 7:30 p.m. on Sept. 23.

The workshop is free and open to parents and guardians of children attending any of the five schools in the district, which takes in students from North Bellmore and part of North Merrick.

Testa explained that Parent University was conceived after the Board of Education requested that administrators devise ways to keep parents and guardians of North Bellmore students better informed about what’s going on in the district. She said that, with the recent introduction of the Common Core learning standards, it is more important than ever that educators and parents work together to support children.

“There are periods of rhythm that come through when faculty, staff parents and administrators are working together,” she said. “That’s really what we’re hoping to do.”

Pollitt described the goals of the first workshop in flyers and ConnectEd messages sent to parents, in addition to her report at the Sept. 12 Board of Education meeting. She said that parents of children in kindergarten through sixth grade should have a better understanding of the Common Core learning standards and how they relate to their child’s grade level after the program.

As the presenter, Pollitt will discuss what North Bellmore’s students are expected to know and be able to do in reading, writing, speaking and listening, language and mathematics. She will also discuss shifts in instruction that are happening in the district to meet the new standards, in addition to ways that parents can help support their children at home.

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