The National PTA School of Excellence recognized the Floral Park-Bellerose School for its commitment to fostering a welcoming, inclusive and empowering environment.
Through the School of Excellence recognition program, the Floral Park-Bellrose PTA completed several steps, enriching the educational experience and overall well-being of all students. After enrolling in this program about a year ago, the Floral Park-Bellrose School gathered information via surveys to then make an action plan on how to improve the school’s community.
“We sent out the survey to as many parents as possible,” Susan Saint-Joy, president of the Floral Park-Bellrose School PTA, said. “And when we saw the results of the survey, it told us which standard we were the weakest in.”
In order to receive the School of Excellence recognition, the national group needed to see that the school was working on its weakest point. Saint-Joy said this process involved a lot of accountability on the part of the PTA and school officials.
“What our weakest point was, according to the survey, was that parents said they didn’t feel like they were being educated on a lot of what their kids were learning,” Saint-Joy said.
The local PTA consulted with the National PTA on building an “excellence team,” which included John Dekams, principal of Floral Park-Bellrose School; Michael Elka, assistant principal of Floral Park-Bellrose School; Saint-Joy; and a local father. Saint-Joy said the team got together and worked on an action plan to make the weakest area in the survey stronger.
The team came up with the idea of sharing community information to help educate the parents on what the students are working on in the classroom. The community information also helped out to strengthen another weak point, which was the lack of knowledge on where to find helpful resources in the village.
“A lot of the parents that live in the area had no idea that there were actually free resources that can help them,” Saint-Joy said.
Saint-Joy said about 20 percent of the student population speaks Spanish as their first language. She tackled this language barrier by partnering with local libraries and promoting their English as a Second Language program.
“So the principal would send out a Friday footnote every Friday, and in that Friday footnote, he would have resources in the community that offered English as a Second Language, how to pay your taxes, and things that sometimes we don’t think other adults struggle with or just have no idea how it works,” Saint-Joy said.
Parents can change the weekly footnote to a different language so that they can understand it better, as there are over 100 languages available to choose from. Saint-Joy said the intention of this was to include everyone, whether they speak another language or not.
This footnote was also distributed on printouts throughout the school. On the PTA website, FPBSPTA.com, Saint-Joy said she created a tab where parents can access adult learning information.
“We made it a point of duty to make sure that these parents understood that these resources are available to them,” Saint-Joy said.
The excellence team also promoted the district’s Parent University program, where once a month speaker talks to parents and educates them on mental health and how they can help their kids. The speaker would talk about digital literacy to help keep parents up to date with the latest trends.
Saint-Joy said by the end of the school year, the National PTA saw growth and on Aug. 5, the school of excellence recognized Floral Park-Bellrose School for its improvement.
“Our journey to achieving this distinction was made possible through the collaborative efforts of the excellence team, which worked closely with families, teachers, and community members,” Saint-Joy said. “By holding regular meetings, conducting surveys, and organizing community events, we ensured that the voices of our diverse community were heard and valued. Together, we have implemented initiatives that have strengthened our school culture and enhanced the educational experience for every student.”
Saint-Joy said she will continue to foster an empowering environment for all students by introducing more inclusive programs to the school. One program, she said, is having families represent their culture through food, dance, music, or storytelling in honor of National PTA’s Take Your Family to School Week. She said this program would be a great way for students to discover how they relate to one another and learn more about each other.
Saint-Joy said she hopes the next PTA president will continue enrolling in this School of Excellence program because she said it’s a way to ensure that school officials are “servicing the school and the communities and the families the way that we are supposed to.”
