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Volunteers Help at Tempe School: Some Parents Say They Can't Meet Service Quota

Posted on: Sunday, 7 May 2006, 18:06 CDT

By Jennifer Pinner, The Tribune, Mesa, Ariz.

May 7--Hundreds of tiny paper pots with colorful "blooms" are stapled on the walls of the front office of Ward Traditional Academy in Tempe. Each bloom represents four hours a parent has given in community service to the school. For some pots, parents have met the quota to keep their child enrolled: 20 hours.

But other pots remain empty.

With only a few weeks left in the school year, 10 families out of the 264 at the school have told the school -- near McClintock Drive and Southern Avenue in the Tempe Elementary School District -- they don't want to complete the hours and are being asked to find another school next year.

It's a tough thing for principal Julie Boles to do, but she says the school has tried its best to help parents.

"We're not heartless -- we're going to work with these families," Boles said.

If parents can't make it to school because of job commitments, they can send a grandmother or other extended family member to complete the hours in their place, she said.

"Ultimately, we want that parent support in that child's learning," Boles said.

At similar traditional schools in the Chandler Unified School District, parents are not required to complete service hours as a condition of enrollment. Parents are encouraged to perform at least five service hours at the school during the school year, however.

So far, the situation at Ward has been the only major hiccup the school has experienced in its first year of operation.

Next year, the school will be near capacity with 430 students and will be implementing the Spalding Method, which focuses on including reading comprehension in every subject. The school will also begin a study program to help students in subject areas they're struggling with.

Debi Stone, parent of a third-grader, said she's appreciated the opportunity to volunteer.

"It's been hard work on the teachers, but they've held up and done a great job," Stone said.

Stone helps at the school almost daily.

"These teachers get paid very little and they're there for our kids," Stone said. "It's the least we can do to help in the environment our children are in . . . it's our way to give back."

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Tribune, Mesa, Ariz.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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Source: The Tribune

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