School reaches out to parents with block party

Linden-Kildare Junior High hosted a block party at the Linden City Park on Saturday.

It was the first of its kind for the district and an outreach effort to encourage stronger relationships with parents.

“A lot of times parents are intimidated coming into a school so we thought we’d take the school out to them. We know and love the kids but we don’t always get to know the parents. This is a more relaxed atmosphere and it gives them a chance to get to know us. We can’t do what we need to do for these kids unless we’re doing it together.” Jessica Fitts said of the event.

Junior high principal, Rebecca Owen, expressed her gratitude, “We’re so grateful for the turnout. One of our big goals this year is more communication with our staff, the community, public, and parents.”

Diana Russell, the school’s counselor and coordinator of the event, said there will be future events with the same goal—getting to know the parents. “There are four big events. We plan on bringing parents into the building. We’re going to do an invite-only special tour of the building and dinner for our parents. We plan to start a grandparent support group for grandparents who are raising their kids to help them network with each other and exchange phone numbers and have some help in that regard.”

Students who attended with a parent were eligible to enter a drawing for a gift card.

Students, parents, and staff engaged in multiple activities such as tug-ofwar, dance contest, and a book giveaway.