Hello! As Executive Director of Parents for Public Schools of Pitt County, and the parent of two Pitt County School students, I want to say thank you to all of our supporters for joining with us and continuing to help us strengthen our public schools. We will keep you updated on plans for re-opening the schools for the 2020-2021 school year as details become available from both state and local authorities. Please check our social media and email regularly for the latest information.
I must admit, it was a bit unsettling to figure out how we would continue to carry out our programming when the COVID-19 crisis began. But with the help of parents and community members, we continue to provide opportunities for engagement as we all support our public schools. Below are some examples of what PPS-PC has been up to the past few months, as our regular programming (school tours, community conversations, and PEP Academy) slowed down.
– We served as a liasion to relay needs from the schools to the community, facilitating collections and donation drives of everything from to-go trays for school meals, diapers and hygiene items for PCS families in need, and masks and hand sanitizer for cafeteria and facilities workers.
– We worked with PCS and Jersey Mike’s to distribute 4,000 subs to PCS students in one day, with the help of approximately 50 PPS volunteers.
– We worked with Suddenlink to get information to area families about free internet options.
-We collected approximately 1000 masks for cafeteria and facilities workers who were still hard at work for our schools.
-One of our PEP graduates worked with PCS to create a survey to gather data from parents about the transition to virtual learning, which will be used to provide direction for any virtual learning that takes place next year.
– We offered weekly FB Live sessions to provide school personnel with an additional avenue for distributing important information to parents and community members.
– We partnered with PCS and Resources for Resilience to offer a workshop for parents about how to help themselves and their children utilize resiliency skills during this time of trauma.
– We have continued to work with families who are new to the area to get them connected to learning opportunites at the end of the 2019-2020 school year, and as they register for the 2020-2021 school year.
– We published a community conversation report, compiling all responses from the 2019-2020 school year, which has already been shared virtually with our Board of Education, and will be presented orally and in print version in August.
As we wrap up this fiscal year, we know that everyone is adjusting to a different way of living. We hope that you will continue to support PPS-PC in any way that you are able. If you can financially support our work, please do so at www.ppspittcounty.org/donate. Please consider supporting us in other ways as well:
- Continue to share our social media posts, as they provide a way for parents to remain informed.
- Continue to engage with us when opportunities arise through Facebook Live sessions or virtual workshops.
- Let us know if you are part of a group that could host one of our community conversations (we are happy to do this virtually).
- Consider participating in the next cohort of the Parent Engagement Program, starting this Fall.
There are so many ways to remain connected to public education, even as we find our new normal. While some things remain uncertain, we know for certain that YOU are a valuable part of US, and an important part of strengthening our schools.
