Cascade K-8 Community School:Room Nine parents are involved in education

Parents ARE Involved in Education at the newly renamed Cascade K-8 Community School (Room Nine)

By Malya Muth

More and more parents want to know what’s really going on in their children’s schools. P.I.E., an acronym for Parent’s Involved in Education, is an increasingly common phrase being used around the country by Parent Teacher Associations (PTAs). But what does it really mean? How involved can parents actually be in their children’s schools, beyond volunteering in the classroom or raising money for school supplies and field trips?

At Room Nine Community School, the combined term PIE/PTSA represents the school’s ideal of the collaborative community that is unique and central to this alternative school’s mission. Shoreline’s Room Nine Community School is the only Kindergarten through Eighth Grade school, and the only “Choice” school (enrollment determined by individual application to a lottery, not by home residence) in the Shoreline School District. 

Established in 1974, by a group of Shoreline parents who wanted a school that better reflected their values, Room Nine formed a community of staff, parents and students who were, and are, connected, collaborative and respected as equal partners – illustrated by the symbol of the triangle which formed Room Nine’s original logo.

How Room Nine addresses student behavioral expectations noticeably demonstrates the unique collaboration and cooperation between the staff and students’ families. At many schools, children whose behavior cannot be managed in the classroom are sent to the assistant principal’s office to be handed a consequence, which, depending on the severity of the offense, might include a warning, time in detention, suspension, or at worst, expulsion.

Two years ago, Room Nine’s Program Manager aka the “Principal”, members of the PIE/PTSA board, the parent population, teachers, and a student representative formed a committee to revisit, discuss and agree on how to help the students take responsibility for their actions and demeanor at school. Together, this blended team formulated a plan in which RNCS behavior management would equal teamwork, responsibility, and integrity.

Pie-PTSA co-chair Lara Grauer states that, because of this team-determined management plan, “The students witness the cooperation and collaboration between the parents and staff and are encouraged to take leadership and mentoring roles at school.” 

 This is especially visible with the ASB (Associated Student Body) committee, which includes officers from the middle school grades and representatives from each of the elementary grade classes. ASB-led activities, such as Market Days and the Bike-A-thon, are supported by the staff and parents, but coordinated and managed entirely by the students of the ASB.

An excellent example of how parent involvement effects the school as a whole are the two off-site camping events, in the fall and spring of each school year; during these events, parents act as teaching assistants, partnering with staff to lead learning activities related to the environment, writing, science and physical education. 

Fall Camp is a 3-day, 2-night annual event involving the entire student body, of about 100 students, and 30-40 family members, from toddlers to grandparents. An even longer event, Spring Camp, is 4 days and 3 nights, held annually for grades K - 5 (and family members) at an outdoor learning center in one of the region’s national parks. Camp simply couldn’t happen without the parents purchasing and organizing supplies, preparing and running a kitchen to feed almost 150 people, including a sizable contingent of bodies with specific nutritional needs (intolerance of gluten, dairy, soy, meat, etc.). On top of that, the parents head up a host of team-building activities, like the ever-popular Wacky Olympics, a variety of organized free-time activities, hikes, and a talent show, as well as being supervising cabin parents for all the kids attending camp.

On-site, at Room Nine, aside from regular, classroom volunteering, parents lead special classes, called Electives, several times during the school year, enriching the student’s experience by exploring photography, biology, science projects, Lego Robotics, needlepoint, scrap-booking, character development in writing, improvisation, the chemistry of cooking, ethnic music, sewing and knitting, dance, blues, felting, health, and a host of other subjects.

Over the years, the school has changed locations, teachers, principals, and academic emphasis. Yet the theme of the school has remained the same – to a large extent, the parents, as much as the staff, help shape how the school runs, both in the classroom and structurally as a program.

The biggest impact of P.I.E. is that the Program Manager and staff see the parent body as partners in the education of the students. Communication, cooperation and problem solving opportunities are common, on-going and respectful. The relationships built over the school year demonstrate to the students that problems are opportunities for collaborative community to come together and find solutions that work - not just for the individual - but for the whole.

To find out more about Room Nine School, contact the office at 206-393-4180.