Open House Night at CRLS

There’s a hot new event in town, in a very familiar place.

I’m talking about the now semi-annual CRLS Open House where parents and guardians are invited to follow their kid’s schedule, and sample the courses they will be taking in the new semester, 15 minutes at a time.

What follows is one parent’s experience at last Thursday's Open House.

Since my husband and I happen to be parents of a student in Learning Community “S”, we headed for the initial reception in the “S” office. On the way, we were handed some new, very classy black and silver CRLS bumper stickers that Joanne Ackman, the family liaison, was passing out.

Up on the second floor, Dean Kathleen Wamness was in the "S" office serving cake. Coffee was brewing. The room started filling until it was standing room only. We met some folks and said “Hi” to a bunch of others we knew from elementary school, soccer, baseball -- all over town, really. Who knew that we were all “School S” parents?

Wamness welcomed us and pointed to a looseleaf notebook right near the door. "If your kids tell you they can't get in to see us, it's not true, all they need to do is sign up in this book." And then: "Don't be afraid to call us, that's what we're here for."

Coming out of the office after the reception, we were greeted by a crew of enthusiastic students wearing black “guide” ribbons, and offering to show us the way to our next stop, homeroom. Here we learned that homeroom teachers are functioning like advisors, reading important announcements, checking in with the kids everyday. Guidance counselors are also checking in with students at that time, or the kids can go see them if they want to change classes or talk about a problem.

During the hour that followed, in all four of the classes our daughter takes this semester, I saw the same thing: a confident teacher with a definite teaching philosophy standing in front of us, giving a well-organized presentation on the material to be covered, complete with a syllabus and a “contract” for students and parents to sign (to acknowledge that we’d read the course expectations). They gave us a taste of the daily routine and how it connects to academic, organizational and other skills high schoolers need. Teachers' e-mail addresses were given out and there was even time to ask a question or two. All and all, everything seemed pretty ambitious and well thought out.

But as impressed as I was with the level of organization I saw, that is not what I remember the most about my Open House experience. What struck me the most is not something you can get sitting on a School Committee or dropping by as a casual visitor, either.

I saw teachers who were very curious to know us, in order to connect to someone they already knew and wanted to know more about -- i.e. our kids. A couple of the teachers even looked at us and tried to guess which teenager we were connected to, even though they’d only had them as students for a couple weeks. I saw teachers who obviously enjoyed teaching, and enjoyed teaching our kids, and said so.

I wondered as I left if teachers have any idea how much that means to parents, to hear that they enjoy teaching our kids. I hoped they had said it to every class.

I have to admit that, at first, this high school Open House experience is awkward. It’s different than being a parent of a kindergartner. Let's just say, after nine years of elementary school, one’s energy level is just not the same. The curriculum looks harder -- if you recognize it at all. You start to wonder, do I belong?

But take it from me: After one Open House experience at CRLS, you will feel right at home.