New Haven Independent

That is, a half day’s orientation on how to wear the uniform (shirt always tucked in, belt buckle facing front); how to recognize and respect all teachers and address them (always Mr. or Ms.); how to stand in lines (always straight, never “snakes”); how to address staff and each other (always with direct eye-contact); and, most importantly, to learn what is expected of them during the coming year.

Nearby, looking on, parents of one of the 75 new fifth graders, Susan and Fred Hogan, were very pleased with the structure that their son Brandon (pictured below) was already being immersed in. “I’m not scared,” Brandon said about this first morning, “but of course we haven’t gotten into the classrooms yet!”

Unhappy with their son’s experience at the Barnard School’s fourth grade, the Hogans had home-schooled Brandon from February until June last year. They weren’t sure where to send their child for the fifth grade when they received a flyer, in March, describing Amistad.

“We wanted a school with structure - Brandon’s the youngest of eight kids we’ve raised,” said Susan Hogan, the pastor of Faith Tabernacle Ministries in Hamden, “and with so many kids it’s either structure or insanity, and we chose structure. That’s what appealed to us about Amistad, plus the ethic of hard work, because Brandon is gifted academically and needs to be challenged. Our values, the respect, putting out the effort, are reflected in this place.”

How Amistad inspires parents and involves them in the education of their children started long before this sunny morning. In May there was a general orientation breakfast for those lucky parents who were chosen (all by lottery). On that occasion, said Hogan, she asked if she might visit the school frequently, see how the classes were going, and so forth, as she had done when Brandon and her other children had attended Vincent Mauro, which she described as a very parent-friendly school. Or was that too much involvement?

“Oh no,” said Susan Hogan, paraphrasing Matt Taylor, “at Amistad there is no such thing as an over-involved parent.”

In May, the parents and Brandon’s teacher, Ms. Lopez and an administrative staff member, like math teacher and fifth- and sixth- grade dean Teron McFadden, all met. (McFadden really dislikes snaky lines, he told the kids, in the spirit of Amistad, which sweats the small things for the sake of the large. “They upset me, and you don’t want me upset”) This meeting with the family is styled a “chat.” Although the word might be informal, the result is not. For at its conclusion there is the signing of a formal contract by the teacher, parent or guardian, and the student. The contract signed by the Hogans and all the incoming students (some summaries and excerpts of the parent section, provided below) formally commits the parents to be responsible for seven duties:

1. Punctual attendance, including attending the summer academy
2. Homework - providing a quiet place, checking work every night, and if necessary, going to Homework Club between 5 and 6 as necessary, providing transportation.
3. Independent reading, at least 20 minutes a day seven days a week, and “I will never sign the reading log unless I have personally seen my child read.”
4. Communication - “I will return all calls from school within 24 hours and attend all meetings regarding my child.
5. Uniform - “I’ll send my child to school every day in the Amistad uniform.”
6. School Expectations - “I, and not the school, am responsible for the behavior and actions of my child.” And if the child violates the school value code, which includes respect, achievement, citizenship, homework, and the parent acknowledges that the child will be disciplined and lose privileges.
7. Parent Meetings - “I will attend all required parent meetings, including Back to School Night, three progress report nights and “Biggest Job” seminar during the year.”

As Brandon’s future social studies teacher, Susan Delp, greeted them, Ms. Hogan recalled that at Barnard she had been upset that the school was not parent-friendly. “Getting access to the classroom was not easy,” she said, “and I had to go to some length to break down those barriers, because I wanted to see what was going on there. In Brandon’s previous school, where our other kids had gone, we were so involved, I say that I was often there before the janitor. I was room, lunch mother, and Fred was a cook on class trips. But at Barnard it was different. How could I help my son with his homework if I don’t really understand what was going on in the class? So I went to the principal, through the chain of command. I understand chain of command,” said Pastor Hogan, who described herself, accurately, as a woman with a way with words, “chain of command is fine as long as it doesn’t mean I’m chained.”

Eventually, she said, she had to go to the Board of Education with her complaints, and shortly afterwards, the door at Barnard was much wider open. However, said Hogan, if she had gotten in the classroom sooner, she would have removed Brandon sooner. The teacher was competent, she said, but there were issues of classroom disturbance from the other kids, and “My child needs structure and quiet, so I’m very pleased with this place, Amistad. I even blessed Amistad and said a prayer as we went on our orientation tour.”

Who’d you pray for? A reporter wanted to know. “I prayed for the teachers and staff and the kids to have a place of peace, because you need that for learning to take place. And I prayed for the other kids and their parents, because I understand, as I tell my parishioners, the child sitting next to mine might not step over a newspaper in order to get to school. He might have to step over needles or discarded condoms. This school is like a dream come true, it takes a great burden off.”

Does that mean the Hogans will not be coming by as frequently as they have done at previous schools? “Oh, even though I think this is a perfect fit for Brandon, I’ll be here,” she said. “And they’ll also be at Career, where another of our children, Josh, is a junior and is beginning to prepare for college applications. “You’ve got to stay on top of that,” said Fred Hogan.

This story is the first of an Independent series in parental involvement. In the coming year, The Independent will be following the Hogans, as well as two other families - one at the King/Robinson School and one at the St. Martin de Porres Academy - to explore the different styles or models of parental involvement at these three different schools, one charter, one public, one parochial. Stay tuned, and monitor your children’s homework!

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