Holy Angels Regional School, a Catholic institution in Patchogue, recently launched Parent University, a series of 2-hour evening workshops that have different themes centered around education.
Holy Angels Regional School is collaborating with Cornell Cooperative Extension of Suffolk County to offer the Parent University program. The first Parent University workshop took place on Nov. 16 and focused on raising responsible children. During the workshop school principal Michael Connell, along with a childhood education expert from CCE, discussed different ways parents can foster responsibility in their children.
Three more Parent University sessions are planned for the school year:
- Jan. 11: Extracurricular Activities: Exceptional or Excessive
- Jan. 31: Screens and Children
- March 6: Easing Homework Hassles
According to Connell, engaging with parents is critically important. “Parents are the primary educators of their children,” Connell says. “We’re here to support them. And in that support, we’re also really responsible for reaching out to them to provide opportunities, to make connections, to make sure the home-school communication is accurate, to make sure there are opportunities for parents to be involved in their children’s education.”
Although there has only been one Parent University session so far, Connell said the feedback from parents has been positive. “The parents who attended were very grateful for the opportunity and the connection to be able to come and do this at their child’s school,” he says.
According to Connell, there are different ways parents can be actively involved in their children’s school experience. They can work with their children on school projects at home, and at Holy Angels Regional School, many extracurricular activities are generated by parent volunteers. For example, parents who volunteer for the school’s Student Action Club help students find opportunities to give back and help their communities.
In regard to student programming at Holy Angels Regional School, it launched the Kindness Matters program last year to help children practice positive behavior in an effort to minimize bullying and conflict. During the program, students participate in different activities that foster kindness, such as writing inspirational mantras and partnering up with a buddy in a different age group to attend mass together. According to Connell, the faculty has noticed less incidents of bullying this year as a result of the Kindness Matters program.
Founded in 1923, Holy Angels Regional School is a child-centered, family-sensitive Catholic school on Long Island for children in pre-K to eighth grades. It is part of the Diocese of Rockville Centre.
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Main image: Holy Angels Regional School serves children in pre-K to eighth grades.
Courtesy Holy Angels Regional School
