Saipan Tribune

Thursday, June 20, 2013

Friday, January 25, 2013

District-wide accreditation highlighted in PSS parent summit

The Public School System and the Board of Education conducted yesterday the 2013 State Parent Summit which saw the participation of about 200 attendees, mostly officers and representatives of individual public schools' parents-teachers-school associations.

State Parent Advisory Council president and newly elected BOE member Janice A. Tenorio was elated on the overall turnout of the event, which discussions focused on the district wide accreditation for PSS.

Tenorio said that the summit aims to educate all parents-through their PTSA officers-to be aware of what's happening inside and within the system including important processes such as school accreditation.

Yesterday's event was held at Saipan World Resort from 8am through 2pm. Besides participating parents, some representatives from private and the public sectors also graced the occasion including officials from the Commonwealth Healthcare Corp.'s Division of Public Health, Department of Public Safety, and the American Red Cross CNMI-Chapter.

During the event's breakout session, parents were divided into groups where each received comprehensive discussion and knowledge about topics that are important in maintaining good accreditation standards.

At the end of the session yesterday, parents were given the opportunity to provide their feedbacks on the information presented to them, which Tenorio revealed, will be brought to the table for further discussion by the State Advisory Council and education board.

Education Commissioner Rita A. Sablan, Ed.D, also talked about PSS' initiatives, the important role of parents in their children's education, and the importance of the district wide accreditation for PSS in her welcoming remarks yesterday.

Besides the annual parents' summit, Tenorio said yesterday that all schools have an open-door policy to hear and work with parents in whatever concerns and visions they may have to improve quality of students' education.

After the summit, Tenorio is hopeful that parents will walk away with full knowledge and understanding on how PSS works for the betterment of their children's education. She is also expecting that the summit would result to more parental involvement in all schools.