BY ANDREA TORTORA
The Cincinnati Enquirer
COVINGTON -- Ninth District Elementary Principal Gordon Macintosh likes to envision a school where all students are working hard and staying focused.
Family Resource Coordinator Marilyn Arnold wants to see every child working together with respect and courtesy.
Parents, community members, administrators and teachers from the Covington district shared their visions for a perfect school environment Tuesday during a Parent Involvement Retreat at The Madison.
By the end of the day, each school had developed plans to improve parents' involvement in their children's education and in the way their schools work.
"We want to reconnect all the parents to the life of the schools," Superintendent James Kemp said. "Parents are the last great resource that is untapped."
This was Covington's third year for the parent-involvement retreat. About 60 people attended the event.
Included in the mix were representatives from several community groups, including the Covington Community Center and Children Inc.
Tom Lottman, associate director of Children Inc., talked about the Covington Young Families program that reaches out to the at-risk population.
"We see our project as an incubator for parent involvement," Mr. Lottman said. "We want to help parents realize their role as a child's first teacher."
Several parents at the retreat also will be attending the Commonwealth Institute for Parent Leadership that begins this weekend. Those parents include Bonnie Chappie, Cynthia Mathis, Terri Patterson, Jerry Sammons, James Tucker and Judy Walz.
Covington school board Chairman Col Owens said he is pleased parent involvement is becoming a mainstay in the school system. "We need all the help we can get," he said.
