“Some very smart and big-hearted people set out to give parents like me the knowledge and understanding not only to help my children, but also to impact the lives of other families in unimaginable ways.”

- Eldridge Ellis, PLI Class of 2004

Seven years ago when Eldridge Ellis’ daughters were at Smith Elementary School, he wanted help to make sure his children got the best that public schools could offer.  He found himself lost when trying to understand a lot of what they were bringing home from school, especially information about accountability, testing, and curriculum benchmarks.  He signed up for the PPSJ Leadership Institute.  As he learned more, he noticed that children were not meeting the high mark in writing so he initiated a writing lab in the school.   He became involved with  the JPS Watchdog Dads program and serves as a leader in that district wide program.  His daughters are now in high school and he is still using his PLI skills to make sure they are getting  the best education possible.

Ellis’ story is just one example of how the Parent Leadership Institute (PLI) transforms parent engagement in schools. The PLI teaches parents to be advocates for excellence in education – with their children and their schools. This is what we know: effective schools and students are not created by bureaucrats or federal programs. They are created from the ground up by parents who insist on high performance from schools, from themselves, and from their kids. When parents insist on excellent principals, teachers, and school boards, anything is possible. When  moms or dads or other family members, regardless of their income or education level, are given tools for monitoring their child’s success, for measuring school performance, and for understanding test scores, students, teachers, and principals all reach higher. This is the way it has always been with schools across the ages and across the country.

The Institute gives parents the tools they need. It teaches, encourages, and engages parents in local schools because parents who feel connected to their schools are parents who are connected to their children and to daily homework.

Because of the Institute, parents have worked together to secure books for kids, establish reading clinics, and increase participation in the JPS reading fair. One parent increased the number of students taking Advanced Placement Courses by 300 percent. Other parents worked to make sure “no child would be left behind” by creating a support group for parents of children with disabilities, providing summer reading books to families who did not have them, and providing tutoring for students who were on the verge of dropping out of school.

This fall, for the seventh consecutive year, PPSJ convened thirty parents to learn about learning styles, leadership skills, and what quality teaching and learning looks like. They learn how to understand test data, how to make large organizations responsive, and how to access resources. They learn how to work together and create change.

Parents don’t just attend the Institute, they design and implement an action plan that will have a direct impact on student performance, is sustainable and involves other parents. These parents begin teaching other parents in their local schools. And charged up parents who were empowered when their children were in elementary schools are now parents who are impacting high schools.