Opening the lines of communication: Ritenour program links homes, schools

By Buck Collier

Last fall, parents in the Ritenour School District told administrators they wanted to be better informed of what's going on regarding their children and their schools. Today, a program is in place to help them do that.

Thanks to the district's Home Access Center, parents can keep up with homework assignments, school activities and even if their son or daughter decided to cut class for the day.

"It's a really exciting program," said Assistant Superintendent Cindy Gibson. "It's something the district has been looking at for a little while."

The installation of the program was made more certain after gatherings last fall revealed that parents wanted a strong link with their kids' schools.

"They were looking for another way to have that stronger connection between the schools and home," Gibson said.

The Home Access Center is an Internet-based, real-time tool that allows parents and legal guardians of Ritenour students to view the child's attendance record, report card, schedule, teacher e-mail addresses, emergency contacts and other pertinent items.

Ray Loehr is Ritenour's manager of information systems and oversees the program. He said the program will "help parents become more involved in their child's education."

Gibson said this high-tech connection is only the latest tool in Ritenour's effort to increase parental involvement in their children's education. "It really is an important piece of parent involvement," she said.

One concern of administrators "" how well the faculty would embrace the new program "" was quickly allayed. "Our teachers have truly embraced this," Gibson said, adding that many instructors already were communicating via e-mail with some parents. The program provided an opportunity to extend that communication, she said.

"A lot of our staff already were doing these things, already e-mailing parents with assignments and homework," Gibson said.

A test run of the program was conducted in mid-January, and it was made fully available to all parents last week.

To sign up for the program, parents and legal guardians must have a valid e-mail address. In order to protect the confidentiality of student records, all parents and guardians who want to use the service are required to fill out a form and return it in person at their child's school with a photo ID, The form is available at all school offices and on the Ritenour Web site at http://www.ritenour.k12.mo.us/.

For more information, contact any Ritenour school or visit the district Web site.