School Report Cards

Parents, how are your students doing in Woodstock schools? Are you satisfied with their progress?

Do you see the report cards? Read them? Understand them? Study them? Talk with your kid(s) about them? Talk to their teachers about them?

What do you want for your kids? A well-rounded education? What skills do you want them to have by graduation?

Do you want your kids to be able to read? I mean, really read? Why should a kid learn to read?

Someone said that a person who does not read is no better than the person who cannot read. Who said that?

Do you let your kids disappear into the TV set, the Gameboy, the iPod, video games? Or do you set them up with a reading regime and let them play with all their toys only after their studies are done?

And what about their schools? Did you look at your school's report card this year? Do you talk with and meet with your kids' teachers at any time besides the 10-minute parent-teacher conference? Frankly, whatever can be accomplished in ten minutes???

Schools only have to issue report cards once a year. Then it starts collecting dust and probably the only people who look at it and worry about it are the principals and some of the folks over at 227 West Judd Street.

How involved are you with your kids' schools? Do you want to be more involved in your kids' education? Have you tried? With what results? Do their schools have Parent Advisory Councils? Where the parents are actually involved with staff in creating the best possible education for their kids and all students?

Or is there just a PTO (mostly, parents) for bake sales and raising money for certain programs?