Parents Welcomed to In-Person Back to School Night

Campolindo teachers invited parents of all grades to the 1st in-person Back to School Night (BTSN) in 2 years on August 26.

Last year’s BTSN was conducted through pre-recorded videos, and World History teacher Matthew Bostick said that this year he and other teachers were “happy to be able to connect with the large number of parents that did show up in real life.”

“It went well, it was nice to have the parents back,” Bostick said. “It was nice to reconnect especially with senior parents whose kids I had as freshman, and as I told them, it seems those of you in the senior class were freshmen just minutes ago because you missed so much time in the middle on campus,” said Bostick.

Bostick noted that BTSN is a good “window into the class” for parents otherwise uninvolved in their student’s school life. In regard to attendee demographics, Bostick said that “the freshman parents always attend in the highest numbers and the seniors in the lowest, and this year felt like a normal year.”

English teacher Darrien Carlyle experienced his 1st BTSN this year and developed a plan to overcome any anxieties or doubts he had about interacting with the parents. “I have prepared. I have prepared myself by relaxing by acknowledging the things that I feel insecure about and doing my best to combat my insecurities with words of affirmation,” said Carlyle.

As this is his 1st year teaching high school, Carlyle said, “Tonight, I plan to bring that to the parents. What we do here in class, we’re going to be focusing a lot on composition and learning to become better writers, but also how I really want to emphasize intrinsic motivation and helping students learn to do their best, inwardly compared to being pushed by anxiety about grades, anxiety about parents, and so on and so forth.”

Both teachers and parents alike believe in the benefits of BTSN. Freshman parent Denise Daly said that BTSN was enlightening and a great experience. “It’s great to see who your children are spending most of their time with and their philosophies to understand how they’re going to be learning,” she said.

This was Daly’s 1st BTSN and she said that the event was “wonderful, the teachers were really great and informative and I felt like they all have really great backgrounds and a passion for the children.”

She added, “I think it’s also helpful for teachers, because it allows teachers and parents to get on the same page, we’re both in the same team, we want to help the students out. What we do in the classroom is helpful but we as teachers need reinforcement at home, and vice versa.”