On Wednesday, Sept. 11 there is a day of early parent teacher conferences. 

“What we find [at early parent teacher conferences are] mostly freshman parents that show up because they are new to the high school. For this conference and then after that our attendance isn’t the best at the fall conferences we average about 18% of our student population represented but this [early conference] is mostly Freshman parents,” Marc Williams, Principal, said.

Most teachers agree that it is a good idea to have these conferences and get to know their students, especially the new ones.

“The reason [for early parent teacher conferences] is because if the student is having a lot of difficulties early on it’s a way for parents and teachers to get together to see if there’s some solution quickly rather than waiting till october and an entire quarter has passed,” Marlene Oxner, Spanish Teacher, said.

Early conferences are beneficial for new students as well as teachers. The students’ parents can talk earlier in the year about grades and school before it is too late to fix what has already happened. The early parent teacher conferences do not bring many parents, but the ones they do are mostly freshmen and that’s why we need them. so freshman can get to know their teachers and talk about issues earlier.

“I typically see 15-20 parents and they are typically always freshman,” Jamie Oshel, Girls PE Teacher, said.  “I would say [what is good about the early conference day is] just getting to know your kids if there’s things you don’t know. Tthe parents typically come in and catch up about things you don’t know about their kid.” 

Early parent teacher conferences have been here for awhile and is a good thing for new students to SHHS learning the school and having the teachers get to know them, as well as assessing problems early in the year.