Moffat County School District is fortunate to have some truly wonderful educators.

The passion and skill on display in any given Moffat County classroom on any given day is both inspiring and fun to watch. MCSD teachers are talented, work extremely hard and care deeply about successfully educating Moffat County kids.

But the truth is there’s a limit to the impact a classroom teacher can have on any student. That limit, essentially, is the door to the classroom. Once a student leaves the room, the teacher’s influence exists only in the student’s memories. But learning doesn’t only happen in the classroom, and the attitude, preparation and approach a child brings to the classroom also affects his or her ability to learn. All of that depends on influences outside of the teacher’s control.

Of course, nobody has full control over a child’s attitude, preparation or approach. But parents and guardians undoubtedly have an enormous influence on it. That means that, in order to maximize a child’s learning success, the impact of parents and guardians is hard to calculate.

For this reason, involving and engaging parents in their children’s education is an important concern for the school district. Each school in the district holds meetings for parents to attend, learn about classroom and school practices, ask questions and engage in solutions.

These meetings are called P.A.C. at the elementary schools and the high school, standing for Parent Advisory Committee. At Craig Middle School, a meeting with a similar purpose is called P.I.E, standing for Parents Involved in Education.

At a recent CMS P.I.E. meeting, one of several discussions included parents learning about the school’s practice of “teaming,” or how it arranges students into small groups according to need and fit. Certain content areas team students of similar levels relative to their mastery of the material being taught. Others put together students of mixed levels, allowing the students who are mastering the concepts more quickly to work with students who are taking a little longer. This practice is based on research that emphasizes the powerful learning that comes from teaching, as well as the impact of another voice aside from the teacher helping a student understand a concept.

Parents at the CMS meeting had lots of questions, which is great. These very engaged parents had already heard from their children about some of these strategies and wanted to know how they worked, if or why they were the best way to do things, and whether there were better strategies. Ultimately, the discussion ended with concerns and suggestions acknowledged and taken in by CMS educators, and buy-in and understanding from the parents. All of this will lead to better educational outcomes for students.

P.A.C. meetings and P.I.E. meetings cover all kinds of important topics, and are spectacular opportunities to increase parent engagement in student education, which is a big way to increase student success.

Check out when your students’ school holds its meetings, and consider showing up at the next one. Bring an open mind and some questions. We’re looking forward to seeing you.