It's Elementary

School began yesterday. When I arrived home, I scrolled through my personal and professional Facebook accounts. On the social network a distinction between elementary and secondary parental involvement we in education have long lamented became clear.

Filling the news-feed were pictures of perfectly groomed elementary students, all posed with backpacks and lunch boxes. Most of the pictures had some comment about the picture being required or expected.

Absent were any pictures of high school students.

Instead there were comments from my secondary teacher friends about surviving the first day.

What happens between fifth and sixth grade?

I do not believe that parents start to care any less.

Having worked at elementary, middle, and high school, I know the educators do not care any less.

As many reasons as there are parents and educators have been proposed, many with compelling arguments, but if we honestly understood the reason, we would have long ago changed the amount of parent involvement at the secondary level. If we as educators make it clear that we want the parents present, working with the school, then we can work through the myriad reasons why each parent chooses to back off the “aren’t they cute with the lunchbox” emotion of elementary school to a “we’re getting ready for life” pride in high school.