Rick Patrick
rick@greenepublishing.com
On Thursday, April 27, Madison County School Superintendent Shirley Joseph welcomed parents, teachers, school administrators and community members to come together and exchange ideas on the county's schools. This was the first of several meetings Supt. Joseph plans to have leading up to and into the next school year.
Supt. Joseph asked those attending for feedback on the topics people would like to discuss during these meetings. The topics ranged from academic achievement to discipline and more. One topic that arose during the meeting was that of parental involvement. It was generally agreed that much greater parental involvement was needed. Some ideas on how to achieve that included involving local churches and other community leaders to reach parents. One person spoke on the need to build relationships between teachers and other educators and parents. It was suggested that when those relationships are forged, there is a greater understanding of the students' home life and how that may affect school success.
There will be many more of these “town hall” type meetings for the purpose of informing the community and the exchange of ideas. Some of the meetings may take place on school grounds, others may take place in other community locations. No specific date or time has been set for the next open meeting.