At Our Core: The Power of Parent Advocacy
During challenging weeks and joyous milestones in student achievement alike, strong parent advocacy and family engagement remain essential to our mission and the success of our students. The magic of parent advocacy was at work during this week’s Community Meeting at Cole. Staff, DSST: Cole & CASA families, DPS, and DPD came together to discuss last week’s events and how to best move forward. The meeting was not approached without some trepidation, especially after a whirlwind of parent fear and frustration. But what actually happened was incredible. Parents spoke out respectfully and with sincere concern for the staff and students across the entire campus, ending in tears of compassion and a new resolve to come together more often. Instead of being critical or dismissive of the school and making plans to leave the community, parents approached the problem with suggestions on reaching out to students and creating a safer place for their children to thrive. While the reasons for the meeting were heavy, the amount of parents constructively sharing their concerns as well as their desire to affect change was incredibly uplifting.
