Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, June 14, 1994 TAG: 9407120002
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: MELISSA DeVAUGHN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Medium
Last week the School Board unanimously approved spending $5,500 to get the project rolling. Tele-Works Inc., the Blacksburg-based communications company that is installing the system, will gather the remaining $50,000 from area businesses.
"This system can - and it does - help communication between parents and teachers," said Tele-Works spokesman Eric Taylor. "It won't solve every problem, but it will help."
The hot line, called the Montgomery County Home-School Communications System, is a series of phone lines that will be installed at all 19 schools in the county. Students are given personal identification numbers, which they can enter when calling the system. Recorded messages will list their homework assignments for every class.
But that's not all. The system is set up to add additional messages that can only be heard by a parent, like "Suzie is not turning in her homework assignments for algebra" or "Congratulations, Billy won the spelling bee today." Also, it can be coded to call parents, reminding them of upcoming events or special recognitions
In its final report to the Montgomery County School Board, the Focus 2006 Strategic Planning Commission said the schools need to improve their communication with parents. The commission recommended establishing "24-hour access for information, homework, school news, and other critical announcements."
"We have so many two-job families and its very difficult to communicate on the school system schedule," said Monte Boisen, who headed the task force that suggested the hot line. "A lot of families were not being able to be good partners, and this eliminates that issue."
Boisen said the goal of the hot line is "not to replace face-to-face consultation with teachers, but to open up more dialogue" by keeping the parents more informed of their children's performance.
"Its very exciting to think some of the things that came out of that task force will bear fruit," Boisen said.
Tele-Works installed a similar homework hot line at Pulaski County High School two years ago, and so far the system is getting rave reviews from its users.
"Even though it seems impersonal, it's a way to communicate," said Phil Vickers, administrative computer coordinator at the school. "We try to make it user-friendly, too." After a couple of in-service training sessions, the teachers were able to record their daily messages with little or no difficulty.
"I used it when I taught computer science and it was very easy," Vickers said.
Debi McCoy's teen-age son, who has Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, attends Pulaski County High School. McCoy said her son writes down his homework assignments, but because of his short attention span, sometimes forgets where he wrote them.
"For us, because he's in special [education], and with the type of disorder he has, the homework hot line's been a godsend," she said. "I don't think [Pulaski County High School] could've done anything better."
Since her son started using the hot line, McCoy said, he has been on the school's honor roll every six weeks. In fact, the percentages of As and Bs schoolwide rose from 47 percent to 59 percent over the past two years, in part because of the new hot line.
The Montgomery County Home-School Communications System will be installed at a fraction of its retail cost, which is more than $200,000. In return for the discount price, it will allow Tele-Works engineers to work out any bugs in the new software without having to travel out of the county. The system should be in place by the fall.
by CNB