Students head to class at Custer Baker Intermediate School. Myfcs Academy meetings will take place at the school.
DAILY JOURNAL FILE PHOTO
A new yearlong program with a goal of increasing transparency between parents and school leaders at Franklin Community School Corporation will launch this month.
The program, called myfcs Academy, will have its first 90-minute session Oct. 19, and will have subsequent sessions each month through April, said Robin Betts, who is facilitating the program.
The sessions will take place at Custer Baker Intermediate School, lasting from 6:30 to 8 p.m. each Wednesday that lands on the same week of a school board meeting. Meetings will include breakout sessions, question and answer segments, and speakers from the school district and the community, she said.
“We had talked about it long before COVID started, just bringing members of our community and parents together to learn more about the inner workings of our school district,” Betts said. “With COVID, there was a slight delay in bringing it to fruition. Now, we’re excited to bring the program to Franklin.”
The program will give parents and community members a look into the lives of student-athletes, student services and supports, extracurricular activities, and how the school day looks different for students in kindergarten through sixth grade compared to seventh through 12th grade, she said.
“This year, we started having principals submit names of parents who might be interested. Next year, the program graduates will submit names of people who might be interested and we have an application for people (who want to participate),” Betts said. “This year we sent out over 30 invitations, we’re trying to keep the class between 20 and 30 people. It’s a wide variety of applicants but small enough to participate.”
Principals reached out to parents of students in high-ability and special education services, parents of athletes, choir members, band members, parents of students attending Central Nine, parents of English Language Learners and others in order to represent people involved with a microcosm of the general student population, she said.
Officials at Franklin schools saw the success of similar programs in Noblesville and Plainfield schools when planning the academy. While Plainfield used the program to increase communication between community members and school board members, Franklin’s program will resemble the one in Noblesville more, where school leaders used the program to show parents how they made decisions in the schools and the process of getting to those conclusions, Betts said.
Even people who don’t have a child in the school system but live or work in Franklin will be invited to the meetings, she said.
“In Franklin, we know there are a lot of households in our community but don’t have school-age kids or may have grandkids. They may be mentors or tutors in our schools,” Betts said. “We want to collaborate with all community members, not just parents. We invited those involved in college education, clergy members, business owners, residents.”
With the program, school officials hope to create a dialogue between the community and the school district, she said.
“I love getting feedback personally from the community. What we’re doing well and how we can make it a better experience,” Betts said. “It’s exciting to share our story. Great things are happening in Franklin (that) people don’t know about. I’m looking forward to shining a light on students and their accomplishments.”
Although myfcs Academy is invitation only, interested parents and community members can email Robin Betts at [email protected] to request an application.
