School Involvement for Parents

Children do better in school when their parents are actively involved. Parent involvement is more than just receiving information about what is happening in the school. Parents have many opportunities to take on leadership roles and to have influence in school communities. Here are just a few of the ways that family members can get involved in schools:

Parent-Teacher Associations

Joining the Parent Teacher Association (PTA) is the main way to get involved at school. The PTA is a body comprised of parents of students. Each PTA develops its own bylaws, elects officers, and holds regular monthly meetings. Every public school in New York City must have one.

The PTA helps parents learn about the school, share ideas, and enrich the school. The specific roles of the PTA depend on the school and its members, but among its responsibilities are selecting members for the Community and Citywide Education Councils and organizing fundraisers, workshops, and family events.

The president of every PTA in a School District is a member of the District Presidents’ Council. The presidents of each Presidents’ Council, or their designees, serve on the Chancellor’s Parent Advisory Council (CPAC).

School Leadership Team

Parents, teachers, and administrators work together on the School Leadership Team (SLT) to make important decisions about the school. The SLT’s core responsibility is developing the school’s Comprehensive Educational Plan (CEP) that is aligned with the school's budget.

Community Education Councils (CEC)

There are 32 Community Education Councils (CEC) in New York City. Each CEC oversees a Community School District that includes public elementary, intermediate, and junior high schools. Each CEC has 11 voting members including nine parents of students in public elementary, intermediate and/or junior high schools in the district. There are two additional voting members who are appointed by the borough presidents and must be residents of or own or operate a business in the district. A non-voting high school senior residing in the district and who is an elected student leader will be appointed by the community superintendent. Beginning in the spring of 2005, parent selections and borough president appointments will take place every two years.

Learning Leaders

Learning Leaders is New York City's largest nonprofit organization dedicated to serving public school children. Learning Leaders recruits, screens, trains and supports school volunteers who provide tutoring classroom assistance and other enrichment services to New York City public school students.

After attending three sessions of training, provided by the Learning Leaders organization, you will have the opportunity to work one-on-one or with a small group of students in their area of academic difficulty or, give general assistance to a classroom teacher (other than your child's teacher). No prior experience is required. Visit the Learning Leader Website for more details.