For Jesse, music is a way of life. He’s been playing bass guitar and touring since he was five years old. But all that travel meant going to school was hard — until he enrolled at our school. He had been to public school and had been homeschooled but found the difference here to be monumental.
According to Jesse’s Dad, “school for me was miserable so when my kids came to me and said they didn’t like school, I understood because I felt the same way about school. When we found this school, it was like ‘these people get it.’ They know that each kid is different and has different needs and they work with them.”
We helped Jesse reach his goal and change his story by allowing him the opportunity to do what he loves and graduate from high school.
Jesse’s parents aren’t alone in knowing what they want for their children.
A recent Harris Poll of more than 5,000 parents found education ranks high among their concerns ahead of the midterm elections. Another survey conducted for Good4U revealed other big concerns, including:
- 92% of parents want to ensure students advance from grade to grade based on their competency.
- 86% of parents say it’s important to address societal inequalities by making sure kids have access to food, counseling and technology.
- 86% of parents say it’s important to treat behaviors associated with trauma-induced stress and grief as opportunities to teach life skills, not as disciplinary cases.
- 89% of parents say it’s important to structure school to serve individual students and understand not all students learn the same way.
We have seen a growing demand by parents for schools that that offer individualized instruction, flexibility and job training skills. “Our proven model is ideal for the students who don’t thrive in a traditional classroom,” said Jason Morton, vice president of National School Operations. “Elected officials and educators need to recognize and support the role parents play in the education of their children and the changes they want to improve student outcomes.”
In 1994 President Clinton established that the fourth Sunday of July as National Parents’ Day to promote responsible parenting and to recognize positive parental role models. And shouldn’t parents’ role in education be a part of this designation? This National Parents Day let’s listen to what parents want from schools.