Orange County Public Schools is proud of Palmetto Elementary School and Union Park Middle School for receiving a Florida Department of Education Commissioner’s Recognition Award for their excellence in Family and Community Involvement. The Involvement award recognizes schools whose innovative practices increase family and community involvement and promote student success.
Palmetto Elementary hosted “Literacy Night” outside to accommodate COVID-19 concerns about large gatherings indoors. Teachers dressed as book characters and prepared literacy games for attendees to play as they traveled from trunk to trunk. With hundreds of participants, it was an overwhelmingly successful event.
Union Park’s “Night of Learning” parent workshop taught parents how to support their child(ren) and monitor their academic progress, as well as best practices to remove barriers that impede success. By having parents pre-register for the event, the school was able to provide participants with their child’s diagnostic data rather than a hypothetical. Doing so allowed parents to easily see their child’s strengths and areas of improvement. To provide flexibility to parents, the school offered the workshop during the evening, in-person and virtually through Zoom.The participant surveys showed 100% of the parents in attendance learned new tips/strategies to help support their student at home and felt better able to understand their learning goals.
“I am excited for these two schools to be recognized for their endless commitment to their students’ and families’. We know the success of all students depends on everyone working together, as evidenced in the ‘Literacy Night’ and ‘Night of Learning’,” Dr. Maria Vazquez, Superintendent Designate, said.
In addition to school-based learning, the district offers full-day conferences, Learn Where You Live regional in-person events, Lunch and Learn live online sessions and Virtual Mini-Academies. Go to parentacademy.ocps.net for more information.