The annual “Back-to-School Night” event at H-F is for the parents to come to the school, walk their child’s schedule and get to know their teachers.
Carla Erdey, Director of Communication and Community Engagements at H-F, provided some information about the program and why it is beneficial to have this event at H-F.
“Back-to-school night is an opportunity for teachers and parents to connect on a personal level to see face-to-face who each other are, and then that connection between home and school is really important for students’ success in school,” Erdey said.
The back-to-school night is run in part by Principal Clinton Alexander who comes to the event and answers any questions parents may have about the school or their child in general.
Alexander explained the difference between back-to-school night and parent-teacher conferences.
“Yeah, there’s a big difference between back-to-school nights and parent-teacher conferences. A parent-teacher conference is a time where you have one-on-one conversations with your teachers, talking about students and their academic skills in the classroom,”said Alexander. “At back-to-school night, it’s more of a general meet and greet of the whole classroom’s parents. And so it’s just an overview of what the course is about and the expectations, so we don’t get as detailed back to school night, as we do with parent teacher conferences.”
Teachers here participate in back-to-school night with their presentations for the parents at the school. The teachers give short ten minute presentations about the syllabus in the class. The teachers do have time to talk to parents on a personal level about what is going on with their child in the classroom, but also how their performance is without talking about grades.
U.S. History teacher Jon Elfner has given a response on back-to-school night. “I really enjoy back-to-school night. It is early in the year and parents are eager to learn more about classes. The parents are routinely friendly, encouraging and thankful that we are working with their kids. H-F parents love H-F and the teachers, so it is always fun to spend the night talking to them.”
Elfner has expressed his personal appreciation of back-to-school night and how he loved talking to the parents of H-F students. He really enjoys the time that he spends with the parents at this event. His response also shows how he has fun with the parents when they ask specific questions about their life and their child’s performance.
Back-to-school night gives the opportunities for parents to learn about the teachers and what goes on in the classroom. They learn about how their child goes from classroom to classroom everyday. The program provides an educational view for parents and how their child is learning in their classes.
