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Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools know all about educating students. They know how to efficiently and effectively run a school system. They also know the importance of parental involvement. To that end, they have developed the slogan, 'What a family DOES matters more than what a family HAS'.

Recognizing the fact that a child's first teacher is a parent, Charlotte Schools are working to communicate this belief to Charlotte Schools parents and to encourage them to get involved in their child's education.

It doesn't really matter what a family has. Whether they are rich or poor or middle of the road, all that really matters is that they are all involved in each other's lives. It doesn't matter if there's a TV in every room, or only one or even none; families that participate in activities together have children who learn better (notice I didn't say that they are smarter), are more confident, and feel safe and content both at home and at school. Charlotte Schools recognize that they have the capacity to help parents get involved in their children's education, and even have a 'Family Services Department'. This organization provides a variety of tools, resources, and support to help families learn how to work with Charlotte Schools for the benefit of the children.

In fact, recent research has shown that there are at least 3 distinct benefits to children when their parents get involved in their education:

- Parental involvement improves student learning in all racial, income, and ethnic groups, regardless of the parents' education levels.

- Parental involvement is linked to better school attendance, homework performance, and higher test scores.

- Parental involvement leads to more students graduating from high school and to more of those same students pursuing higher education.

It's easy to see that, if a child has parents who are involved in their education, the educational experience they have over the years will be much richer than that of a child whose parents are unable or unwilling to get involved at the school.

There are so many ways that a parent can get involved in the Charlotte Schools that it's nearly impossible to name them all. The following is a sample of how you can get involved in one of the Charlotte Schools that your child attends (or may attend in the future):

- First of all, join the Charlotte Schools parent leadership organization, commonly known as the PTA, PTO or Booster Club.

- Attend open houses, curriculum nights, book fairs and other programs.

- Visit the school often. Get to know your child's Charlotte Schools teachers, and principal, by name.

- Be an advocate! Only you know your child best, and it's important to let Charlotte Schools know as much as possible about your student. Be sure to let the teacher(s) and principal know your concerns about what and how your child is learning.

While not an exhaustive discussion of how parents can get involved in their children's Charlotte Schools, it is, hopefully, a beginning step to seeing how Charlotte Schools are committed to working with parents to give students a quality education.