Escuela Whittier

November 18, 2009 was Report Card Pick-­up Day for grades kindergarten through eighth at Whittier School. Many parents showed up and were more anxious about learning their grades than the students themselves. For this important event, Anahit Tapia and I were on assignment for The Message conducting a survey of a few of the parents in attendance. The survey consisted of questions regarding how parents involve themselves in their studies. When asked, “What’s the homework routine at home” the majority of parents answered that when their kids get home they eat first then they do their homework. Another question was, “How can you, as a parent, help your child improve their grades?” Most parents replied one way they help is by helping their children study at home and giving them good advice like, “Pay attention to your teacher!” as many parents would advise. It was awkward, in some cases, to see students walk into the classroom very confident and smiling, only to come our looking depressed and sad when the teacher conference was over. In spite of this, the environment was very calm. Report card pick-­up ran from twelve  to six fifteen. Many teachers were admittedly tired after a long evening of conferences, but satisfied with the parent turnout and how smoothly conferences were scheduled. Looking through the surveys, it was clear that parents really care about their grades and want their children to push themselves to earn great grades they and their parents can be satisfied with.