Back to School Night at RHS tonight.

I love Back to School Night! Always have. Tonight I can't wait to stumble around the high school, looking for my son's classrooms...pushing through "the intersection"...meeting all the teachers...and admiring, once again, all the great work that was done on the building over the summer.

I'm always amazed at how many teachers I still don't know, even after having two kids go through the HS and meeting teachers here and there through various Board of Ed activities. When I look at Pete's schedule for this semester, I realize that I don't really know any of his teachers. So...it will be fun!

Back to School Night is also when I see lots of parents that I don't run into around town or on the soccer sidelines.

Looking forward to seeing you all there!

Parents and teachers as partners.

As we're deep into the "Back to School night" season, here's a good article on how parents can partner with teachers for student success. Click here.

It's from a pretty good website I don't remember seeing before -- www.schoolfamily.com. There was quite a lot of good info, message boards, lots of tips from parents and teachers. Seems like a lively site. Parents, check it out.

Back to School Nights are scheduled.

I love Back to School Night!

Here are the dates for Back to School Nights at all Ridgewood schools:

Hawes Elementary School
Grades K-2 September 15 @ 7 p.m.
Grades 3-5 September 22 @ 7 p.m.

Orchard Elementary School
All Grades September 22 @ 6:30 p.m.

Ridge Elementary School
Grades K-1 September 30 @ 7:30 p.m.
Grades 2-3 September 22 @ 7:30 p.m.
Grades 4-5 September 28 @ 7:30 p.m.

Somerville Elementary School
All Grades September 15 @ 7 p.m.

Travell Elementary School
Grades K-2 September 21 @ 7 p.m.
Grades 3-5 September 22 @ 7 p.m.

Willard Elementary School
Grades K-2 September 20 @ 7 p.m.
Grades 3-5 September 22 @ 7:30 p.m.

Benjamin Franklin Middle School
All Grades September 16 @ 7:30 p.m.

George Washington Middle School
All Grades September 21 @ 7:30 p.m.

Ridgewood High School
All Grades September 23 @ 7:30 p.m.

Back to school Night!

As I've mentioned before, I love Back to School Night! Tonight is Ridgewood High School's...another chance to meet the teachers (somehow Pete has managed to have almost NONE of the teachers his sister had), get lost in the maze-like building, get crushed at "the intersection," find out what the teachers' expectations are, debunk some of the myths that sophomores and others try to perpetuate, and see some friends.

See you there!

Back to School Night!

OK, I've got to come clean...I'm a back-to-school-night junkie. I admit it. I just love back to school night! It's kind of dorky, right? I'd probably go to other schools' back to school nights if I wasn't afraid I'd scare the other parents (and probably the teachers, too). I love the energy. Now that my daughter is in college and my son is at the high school, I'm down to my last few legit back to school nights. I'll be sad when they're all done...but until then, I'll enjoy walking the hallways, marveling at the crowds, sitting in the desks, checking out the artwork on the walls, chitchatting with friends and asking "how do they do this every day?" while fighting through the infamous intersection, and listening to the teachers explain how much they love our kids and how everything should go smoothly as long as we all (kids and parents) understand the "expectations." Honestly, tonight was one of the best night's I've had in a while! (no comments on the dull social life).

Some highlights from RHS tonight: the school looked pretty good overall...there were a lot of helpful student "ambassadors" to give directions...every class seemed full, which meant parent turnout was good...oh, this is a good one: almost every one of my son's teachers said they're using Blackboard regularly this year! I'm so glad! It's probably not the best program out there (the more I check it out, the more I realize it's probably better suited to the college environment), but it's what we've got and I'm glad to see it used as much as possible. I can't wait for the first time my son says "I need you to drive me back to school to get ___" and I'll say, "Well, Mr. Cook said it's on Blackboard so you can just download it now!"

One more thing I noticed tonight: the number of parents who walked out of classrooms and immediately called (or texted) their kids at home: "Did you know you have a test tomorrow? Did you know you have a project next week?" Another example of technology in the school!

Tips for Back to School Nights

As we're all getting ready for Back-to-School Night time (sorry, I think BF's was already last night, oops), here's a link to a helpful article at GreatSchools.net, for getting the most out of Back to School Night. Rather than a chore, or simply a chance to socialize with other parents, Back to School Night really is a great opportunity for parents to learn important information about the school year to come. You can read the entire article here.

Some of the best tips:
1) Bring a pen and paper (duh, but it's a good reminder!)
2) Don't ask specific questions about your child. Save that for a one-on-one conversation with the teacher
3) Be ready to volunteer (bring your calendar!)
4) Find out how to contact the teacher, for future reference (email address, voicemail, find out what he/she prefers)
5) Find out the teacher's expectations re: homework, make-up work, extra credit, absences, behavior issues.
6) Find out how you can check your child's progress...will there be weekly progress reports, will the teacher send emails, etc.?

If your school has a new principal (Hawes, Orchard, Somerville), Back to School night is a chance to say hello or at the very least see what he/she looks like so you can chat later. Same thing if your family is new to middle school or the high school.