Schools – Safety First

Safety in schools is always in the forefront of our minds, but more so lately. On Monday, December the 17th, the first day back at school after the news of tragedy in Connecticut, our staff at Elkin Elementary met and brainstormed ways that our school can be safer for our children. We also talked to parents about their ideas and thoughts on safety. We came up with several things we can do to increase safety of our children. Some of these have already been implemented, the others are in the works.

We know that our greatest asset is the acute vigilance of our staff. We are well trained and deeply committed to keep all of our children safe. Research shows that a vigilant and well-trained staff is paramount in school lockdown situations. Another comforting asset that we have is the short response rate of our Elkin Police Department: less than 2 minutes. All of the school community working together synergistically creates a strong enclave of unified resistance.

Parent Involvement in Schools

Research findings show when parents are involved in their child’s learning, the child is more successful than when a parent is not involved in their child’s learning.

Examples of parental actions that lead to higher student performance in school include:

Asking your children how their school day was and showing sincere interest in what they learned that day.

Reading a book with them, and then having a discussion about what was read. Reading is the most important subject! A good way to promote reading is to turn off the TV during weeknights and to limit TV viewing during weekends. Research shows that it is especially helpful to children’s academic success if they see their parents reading and the family talks about what they have read. Please encourage your children to read instead of watching TV.

Monitoring homework to make sure it is completed in its entirety.

Making sure your children get enough sleep and eat healthy.

Making sure your children have an excellent attendance record.

Talking up the idea of going to college or a technical school after high school graduation.

These examples are time tested ways of intrinsically inculcating in your children a high value for learning that will help them to be more successful in school and life.