PPS of Hawi'i This is a rare and difficult time for everyone in our State, including families of children in our public schools, educators, healthcare providers, and other essential workers. Mahalo to all the family members and others providing important services. Your Parents for Public Schools of Hawai‘i board is concerned about our Hawai‘i families and how many are struggling to care for the physical and emotional health and learning needs of their children. We would like your help to determine our PPS Hawai‘i requests of our Hawai‘i public schools. We are conducting a survey to gather parent views. After...
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PPS of San Francisco PS-SF’s outreach team has spent the past two weeks calling to check in with families to see how they are doing during this time. Of the families we have spoken with, most are struggling to balance childcare and work, and to understand and implement distance learning with their children. Many have needs related to food, financial assistance, internet access and housing. We have been working one-on-one to connect families with resources. For a list of resources available, visit the chapter website. Extending the Conversation: Supporting Social & Emotional Learning During COVID-19 The chapter is also continuing...
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PPS of Pitt County In our Parent Engagement Program, we talk a lot about the difference in involvement and engagement. Both are great ways to connect with our children’s schools. Involvement entails doing things for the schools…like delivering orange juice for a monthly teacher breakfast. Engagement involves doing things with the schools…like chaperoning a field trip or reading to a class of students. Both involvement and engagement look a bit different right now, but both are still happening in full force. The community has donated diapers, food, household items, and more, all forms of involvement. Parents have attended teacher conferences,...
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PPS leaders attending the PPS regional meeting in Chicago, IL on September 28 expressed appreciation for the opportunity to be encouraged and inspired in their efforts at home. At least one participant described the meeting as an “eye opening experience.” The theme, “Strengthening Our Network,” set the tone for major agenda items including Fundraising approaches, roundtable discussions about Diversity, Equity and Charter Schools, and insight about PPS’ new Strategic Plan. “I am so thankful for our donors who believe PPS makes an important difference in the education environment of our public school students and have given money to this organization...
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Each year around January and February, a special group of parents begin to call and email Parents for Public Schools of Pitt County. The conversation usually begins with something like, “I can’t believe the time has come!” or, “How did my baby grow up so fast?” These parents have questions about kindergarten, such as how to register their child, when and how to know which school their child should attend, and, how to navigate the school choice option in Pitt County (where some schools have an Open Enrollment policy). Thankfully, as those calls and emails begin to roll in, PPS...
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All Parents for Public Schools chapters share a mission of supporting quality public education for everyone. The context of the Hawai‘i chapter is different in a few ways. Hawai’i is the only state with one school district, the only one that does not fund public schools with property taxes, and Hawai‘i has the highest private school enrollment in the country. Hawai‘i also ranks 45th in per student funding and has the lowest teacher pay (adjusting for the cost of living) and highest teacher turnover. This school year, over 1,000 classrooms are without a qualified teacher. Native Hawaiian students are more...
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Grow Local A subtitle goes here Great things happen when communities unite their resources! Pitt County Schools, the Greenville-Pitt County Chamber of Commerce, and the Pitt County Development Commission joined forces to sponsor Grow Local, a weeklong opportunity held March 18-22 for local businesses to highlight the careers available to the county's middle and high school students. Kathy Herring, board member of the Pitt County PPS, served on the planning team, providing input as organizers designed an event they hoped would engage 1,000 students with businesses across the county. They were thrilled that almost 3,000 students participated, taking advantage of...
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Each year, PPS-PC conducts community conversations with hundreds of individuals gathering experiences about our public schools. We compile those comments into a written report that is also presented orally to our Board of Education. We include recommendations for what should continue and any changes the community might like to see. As we tell participants at the conversations, we like to imagine that PPS-PC is a vehicle that holds the voices of the community and drives them to key decision makers in our community. This year, 262 individuals participated in 21 conversations. Participants included a diverse range: Kiwanis and Rotary clubs,...
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