Increased involvement of parents and families often is cited as one of the most important ways to improve schools. A variety of studies confirms that parent involvement makes an enormous impact on students’ attitude, attendance, and academic achievement. Although some working and single parents may be unable to contribute to schools because of work commitments and time constraints, educators are discovering many additional ways that parents can help students and their schools.
Some of these ways are dependent upon the school’s desire to involve parents. To effect change, parents must find time to participate in their children’s education while schools must provide the supports necessary for them to be involved. The resulting partnerships between parents and teachers will increase student achievement and promote better cooperation between home and school. Together these efforts will connect families and schools to help children succeed in school and in their future.
In an average year, day school students have several weeks during the summer without camp or school. Arranging coverage and activities for children is a daunting task, especially in the all-too-common two-income family. Most parents do not work for Jewish businesses. Unless they are self-employed, they barely get adequate vacation days to cover all the Jewish holidays. Some employers in smaller firms may be flexible, but most parents have the double-damned option of taking unpaid time off (if their employers allow it) or paying more than they earn daily for child care that doesn’t always match their working hours at either end.
Nursery is great for working parents. Most are open 8-6, with meals provided and flexible arrival and departure time. School is very different. Closed about 14 weeks of the year, and finishing around 4 p.m. the other 38. A whole mini-industry of breakfast clubs, after-school clubs, holiday clubs and summer schools has grown up to fill the gap for families who can’t have an adult at home so much of the time. Each one has its own waiting list, hours, costs, payment methods and reputation for quality … or not.
The school calendar and scheduling is part of the conflict that working parents often face in their desire to provide their children with a quality Jewish education while also allowing them careers that enable them to pay for that quality Jewish education. Given the realities of each school’s needs and the reality of working parents, how can schools be more responsive to these needs?
Some Jewish day schools open their doors as early as 7 a.m. and provide supervision until school begins. Some schools offer a variety of after-school options that can run until 6 p.m. to accommodate working parents while also providing enrichment, clubs, sports or educational programming for their students. There is usually a fee, but it is generally not onerous.
In situations where the school does not provide after-school care, many parents rely upon the bus to transport their child from the school to a babysitter’s home (often another parent) or to a daycare center. There are schools that will not bus a child to any location except their own home. This is also a contentious issue. It gets even more complicated with divorced parents where the child goes back and forth between parents.
Every parent wants to attend their child’s siddur or Chumash party. In consideration of working parents these are often scheduled for 8:30 in the morning. However, by the time the play is over and parents get to work, especially if they work in New York—half the day is gone. Schools might want to consider scheduling the siddur and Chumash parties on Sundays. This lets parents enjoy these milestone events without having to take time off from work. It is also easier for grandparents and others to attend. We have already seen many schools schedule parent-teacher conferences on Sunday or weeknights, so that parents don’t need to take time off from work to attend.
The current era of technical sophistication offers yet another option. The Joseph Kushner Hebrew Academy and Yeshivat Noam have started livestreaming programs such as siddur parties and plays. This practice accommodates parents who are away on business trips or stuck at the office. It also allows grandparents and other relatives who cannot attend to shep nachas.
Jewish day schools strive to meet the 180 mandated (actually, only suggested) annual days of school. Certain days cannot be controlled such as Jewish holidays, snow days, and teacher conferences. However, there is wide flexibility (and variance) regarding Hanukkah, Chol Hamoed Sukkot, Erev Yom Tov, fast days, winter break, and ending the school year late in June, right before camp starts.
We aren’t living in the 19th century, with extra farm labor needed in the summer. We’re in the 21st century where both parents may go out to work, and a quarter of families are headed by a single parent. In addition, not every family can afford day school as well as summer camp. What if the schools were designed for parents who are also employees?
A starting point would be bringing year-round childcare into the school, and offering parents a single point of contact for the administration of before-school, after-school and holiday activities. The “core hours” concept could be usefully borrowed from business, where core (i.e. the traditional academic year) remains the default, but a simple application for non-core hours is available for those parents who need it, with a unified monthly bill.
Another option is to lengthen the school day, not only as a way to increase teaching time and offer extra instruction and enrichment, but also to accommodate working parents. An extended school day gives administrators the ability to ensure children get a well-rounded education. Some schools are sacrificing the arts and physical education to meet the needs of a time-hobbled dual curriculum. This is hurting our children, depriving them of the chance to find discipline and self-expression through the arts; and we should be ashamed to cut physical education while our children face an obesity epidemic.
Extending the school day would also help families. In two-parent households, women have increasingly entered the workplace, and in single-parent households, there is even more of a need for the adults to work. That means parents do not fully control their own schedule and have to scramble to find high-quality after-school options.
What happens when children are not engaged in enriching activities is well-documented. These hours can either provide an opportunity for children to grow, or to get bored and drift into self-destructive behavior, computer games or mind-numbing television addiction. Meanwhile, our global competitors are keeping students in school longer, giving them a better shot at success.
If we truly believe that parents are partners in the educational enterprise, then schools and parents must work together to develop strategies that fully address the needs of students and their working parents.
Rabbi Dr. Wallace Greene has had a distinguished career as a Jewish educator. He is the founder of the Sinai School, and has received many prestigious awards including the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Lifshitz College of Education in Jerusalem and The World Council on Torah Judaism. He is currently a consultant to schools, The International March of The Living, and serves as Executive Secretary of The Alisa Flatow Memorial Scholarship Fund. He can be reached at [email protected].
By Wallace Greene
