Parent's Night

Tomorrow (10/4) is parent's night.  I hope I have the opportunity to meet many of you, and that you enjoy the opportunity to see the high school and the teachers who have your children.  I thought I would share a couple of thoughts about parent's night to give you a perspective of the night from the teacher's point of view.

1.  Remember that the point of the evening is to give you an overview of what is going on in the class.  You will have about 10 minutes with each teacher.  The teacher does not have time to tell you (and every other parent) in detail about your child's performance.  If you have concerns, you should set up an appointment with the teacher, or exchange emails.  If there is time for questions, please keep them general and about the class, not about your son or daughter.

2.  Remember that we have only had your children for about a month, and we have not met them every day.  We are still developing our relationships and solidifying our grasp of names.  In the whirlwind of parent's night, it may take a moment to make the connection between the name and the face.

3.  The goal at parent's night is to provide information and give you a chance to ask questions in a civil and friendly fashion.  Please don't try and put the teacher on the spot.  If you have concerns about the program or the teacher, ask for a meeting with the teacher or with me.  A confrontational question during parent's night is unlikely to resolve anything.

4.  Parent's night occurs after teachers have worked a full day.  It is exhausting, and moves at a breakneck pace.  It is sometimes tough to remember all the people we talked to, or the details of the many conversations.  If you followup with a teacher, please remind them of who you are, and what the topic was.

I hope you enjoy parent's night, and find it useful to meet your children's teachers.

-Doug Brown

Sci/Tec Department Head