Mrs. Hamel’s Blog

The teachers through effective classroom instruction and the careful delegation of independent study carry out the responsibility of the school district to educate the student. It is important for the student to be taught the concepts related to the subject area before he/she is given work to do at home. There is a steady increase in the amount of homework expected of students from the elementary grades through the senior high school.

Policy adopted: May 1989 Policy reviewed: October 2002

1. Arrange a quiet, suitable place with adequate workspace for your child to work.
2. Encourage your child to complete all homework assignments.
3. Understand the value of various types of homework, since the value differs under different circumstances and conditions.

1. Homework keeps parents in touch with the school program and their youngster’s progress, thus creating a closer bond between home and school.
2. Homework teaches the student to follow directions and to organize time.
3. Homework teaches students to accept responsibility and develop self-reliance in schoolwork. It improves study skills and work habits.
4. Homework reinforces school learning and gives needed drill on work done in class.
5. The amount of knowledge required by the curriculum simply cannot be imparted during the school hours alone.

“Schools, families and communities all contribute to student success, and the best results come when all three work together.”
Connecticut State Board of Education, Position Statement on School-Family-Community Partnerships

The school-family-community partnerships component is defined by collaborative programs involving school personnel, families, community members and organizations to support student success. Partners work together in planning, coordinating and implementing activities at home, at school and in the community to support the academic, emotional, and social success of students. Using the term partnership rather than involvement is important because it helps to capture the concept that home, school, and community share responsibility for children—schools, families, and communities as overlapping spheres of influence in children’s lives (Epstein,1995). Students also play an important role in these partnerships and must take responsibility for their own learning. Each partner is viewed as an equally contributing member, maintaining a certain independence while acknowledging shared responsibility. To succeed, the partnership must be flexible and based on mutual trust and respect. (US Department of Education)

A healthy school environment affects the well-being of students. This includes the emotional and social conditions. The term “school climate” is often used to refer to these conditions. A measure of the quality of school climate is the students’ feeling of safety and connectedness to their school. In a positive and healthy school climate, students feel close to the people there, they are happy to be there, feel a part of their school, believe teachers treat them fairly, and feel personally safe while at school. Intellectual safety is a subset of emotional safety and refers to students’ comfort when they take intellectual risks such as asking questions, making comments, joining groups, and choosing to study difficult topics. Students who attend schools with a positive, respectful climate are able to focus on learning and realize their academic and interpersonal potential (U.S. Department of Education, 1999).