Neighbors | Zack Shively .Educator Kristin Havich talked with parents at Austintown Elementary School's open house on Sept. 6. The event provided a chance for parents to learn the classroom their child will be learning in over the next school year.
Neighbors | Zack Shively.Teachers displayed project that their students created in the hallway for parents to see during Austintown Elementary's open house on Sept. 6.
Neighbors | Zack Shively .Second-grade teacher Ashley Wallace explained the goals of her classroom to parents at the Austintown Elementary School open house on Sept. 6.
Neighbors | Zack Shively .Instructor Amy Iacofano had a conversation with some parents after her presentation at Austintown Elementary's open house.
Neighbors | Zack Shively .Teacher Dana Patrick met with parents at Austintown Elementary School's Open House on Sept. 6. She laid out expectations for both the students and parents for the next school year, and she also went over the grade scale, classroom behaviors and important dates to remember.
by ZACK SHIVELY
Austintown Elementary School hosted an open house event on Sept. 6 for parents and teachers to meet and discuss the upcoming school year.
The event built a base relationship between the parents and teachers. During these meetings, the parents learned the classroom that their child will be learning in over the next school year. The open house also provided parents an easy way to ask any questions they had for the teachers.
The Austintown Elementary PTA worked with the school to help the event run smoothly. Principal Thomas Lenton described the event as a “collaborative effort“ between the PTA and the school. The event gave the PTA the opportunity to sell Austintown Fitch merchandise to raise funds for the association. More importantly, the open house supplied the PTA to talk to potential new volunteers.
They staggered the event times so that the first-grade open house ran at 6 p.m. and the second-grade one started at 7 p.m. to accommodate parents with multiple children. The school design works well with this plan as the first grade has their hall on the first floor and the second grade is on the second.
Second-grade teacher Dana Patrick gave the parents a brief presentation and met with parents afterward. She printed her presentation as a handout for the parents. She spoke on expectations for both the students and parents for the next school year. She also went over the grade scale, classroom behaviors and important dates to remember. She offered sign-ups for parent-teacher conferences on her desk as well. She said that she focuses on meeting the parents, setting expectations and presenting the parents with a way to contact her during the open house. She hung a project that her students created in the hallway during the event for parents to see.
The school has an open house every year a couple weeks into the school year. The elementary used to host the event when they were separate schools. This marks their fifth open house in their new building that puts all kindergarten, first- and second-grade students in the same building.