Viers Mill Elementary School's PTA night attendance is dismal. In a school whose students represent well over 30 nationalities and languages and whose families are generally low income, many parents are too busy working, tossing together dinner or taking care of their children to attend, said Matthew Devan, principal of the Wheaton school.
But nine years after Devan developed a monthly Family Learning Night that combined free dinner (in the form of pizza), free child care (in the form of family activities with the teacher) and PTA meetings, parent involvement in the school and in their children's work has risen drastically, he said.
Even if parents still don't attend PTA meetings — about seven core parents do most of the work, PTA president Joanne Baker said — they're at least developing relationships with the school and their children once a month, Devan said.
Recently, the cohesiveness between parents and teachers in a mostly-minority school has sparked the attention of some federal officials, including U.S. Deputy Secretary of Education Tony Miller, who dropped in on a Family Learning Night on Tuesday to praise the school.
"All too often you see expectations set too low," he said in an interview about impoverished schools. "People not believing, the system not working well. Viers Mill is an example of the system working."
In 2005, Viers Mill was the first Title 1 school in Montgomery County to win a national Blue Ribbon award, recognition for significantly closing the achievement gap among its students. A Title 1 school receives federal funding due to its high poverty rate.
Sixty-seven percent Viers Mill students qualify for free or reduced-price meals, an indication of poverty, and 46 percent are still learning English. But in 2005, 85 percent of Hispanic, African-American and special education students scored proficiently on a state assessment test.
The milestone award set an example for other struggling schools, said Montgomery County Community Superintendent Frank Stetson, who also attended Tuesday's Family Learning Night.
"Viers Mill's success — it kind of leaked out to the community," Stetson said.
And the community took note, he said.
Two weeks ago, Highland Elementary in Wheaton became the second Title 1 school to win a Blue Ribbon award in a ceremony attended by U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan.
At Tuesday's Family Learning Night, a packed house amassed in Viers Mill's cafeteria to hear Miller speak. Quoting President Obama, Miller told the children, "If you quit on school, you quit on your country," while Assistant Viers Mill Principal Elba Hildebrant translated his words to Spanish for many of the Latino parents in the audience.
Behind them was an electronic chart filled with flags from almost every continent titled: "Where are you from?"
After pizza and Miller's talk, students and their parents dispersed into classrooms with their teachers to work with each other on a project defining each student's goals this school year. The final products will be displayed on construction paper around the school.
Third-grader Alex Hyde was practicing writing his family's name on his piece of construction paper with his dad, Alan Hyde.
"It's a lower-case ‘d,'" he told his son as Miller and his wife looked on.
Alan Hyde said if it weren't for the Family Learning Nights, he probably would not spend his evening at school.
"This is what really gets me out," he said. "We're enjoying the arts and crafts."
First-grade teacher Teresa Brown said any school-related activity that gets parents out is crucial in a Title 1 school. Without parents supporting their children and their schoolwork at home, curriculum in the classroom can fall apart because many impoverished students lack basic vocabulary and language skills, she said.
"We have to start from below the level other kids come in at," she said. "We have to work extra hard to get them up to average."
But Miller said he spent Tuesday night at Viers Mill because he believes the school's success is not an anomaly.
"It can be done. Regular kids can learn above average," he said.
