Successful Schools have a Strong Home-to-School Connection!



Class of 1940, Cherry Road School

 So many wonderful, common-sense strategies made Cherry Road School successful right from the start in 1927. One of the strongest of these strategies that flourished for many years was the partnerships formed with parents and neighbors.

More and more schools today are realizing this again. Here is a Home to School Resource Guide provided by Edutopia, a publication of the George Lucas Educational Foundation.

This Guide is filled with suggestions on how to make parent partnerships successful.

Marion Parsons, the first and longest running principal of Cherry Road School, established the Mother's Club and the Parent-Teacher Association during her first year, and fostered and sustained these groups and these partnerships for 25 years. Without the help of these appreciated parents, the school could not have survived the hardships of The Great Depression, World War II, and troubled economic times that meant one teacher for each grade, sometimes as many as 45 kids in one classroom. With the help of the community, the school became and has remained one of the highest-rated schools in New York State!

Ask any alumni who is today in their 80s, even 90s, what was the most significant experience of their childhood and they will tell you without hesitation: Cherry Road School. Much of that success is the result of the strong home and school connections. These stories and others are chronicled in The Brass Bell.