By CALEB FREY

Staff Reporter

LAPLACE — All St. John the Baptist Parish public schools will be holding an open house starting from Jan. 18 – Feb. 9. Each workshop is designed for both parents and students to learn about upcoming tests such as the LEAP test, and get the parents informed about their child’s school and curriculum.

These open houses are being taken very seriously on the part of teachers and school board members.

&#8220It’s an opportunity for parents to get to see exactly what their students are doing at school as well as have direct access to teachers and counselors,” said Patricia Triche, principal of Lake Pontchartrain Elementary.

A major part of the focus is devoted to students in 4th and 8th grades who must score basic or above on their LEAP test to be promoted to the next grade level. The fact that the tests aren’t graded makes it difficult to convey the importance of doing well on the LEAP according to Triche.

&#8220Whenever you have a test that’s not graded, half the battle is getting the kids motivated to do well on the test,” Triche said. &#8220We let the kids know their individual performances affect our school’s overall scores.”

Fifth Ward Elementary principal Perry Dicarlo thinks it’s very important to keep the parents up to date on what is happening to their kids at school.

&#8220With the amount of new students we have in the area, a lot of people haven’t even seen their children’s schools,” Dicarlo said. &#8220This gives them the opportunity to see the school and it gets the parents involved academically.”

A main concern of Dicarlo’s is the amount of new students in the area and getting them on the same page with parents and teachers academically, but he remains optimistic for his student’s scores.

School Board President Gerald Keller considers these workshops and the subsequent exit exams of great importance.

&#8220If they don’t pass the LEAP tests, they don’t get promoted to the next grade,” Keller said. &#8220We’re trying to get across the seriousness of these tests to the parish.”

Elementary students aren’t the only ones affected by the exit exams. According to Keller, high school students must pass the GEE test before they can graduate their senior year so it’s important to get the kids and parents involved and serious about the exit exams as soon as possible.

But it’s not just the parents that Keller wants to get involved. He realizes that teachers have as large an impact on how the students score on their exit exams.

&#8220The scores aren’t where we would ideally like to see them but they are getting better,” Keller said. &#8220We’ve got some schools that are doing great and some that need work.”

St. John School Board member Elexia Henderson of District 2 feels that parents not knowing their children’s curriculum is a problem they would like to address in these open houses.

&#8220We believe that if the teachers can have a better rapport with the parents they can reach the students more effectively and in turn the parents can encourage their children better,” Henderson said.

Henderson also notes a steady improvement of LEAP scores over the past few years, which she hopes to increase upon.

&#8220Scores have improved but not a great deal,” Henderson said. &#8220That’s OK as long as there is some improvement. We just don’t want to see any signs of regression.”

The following are the scheduled open house dates with each starting at 6 p.m.

Jan. 18 – Leon Godchaux Accelerated Program

Jan. 23 – West St. John High (8-12)

Jan. 24 – Lake Pontchartrain Elementary (K-8)

Jan. 25 – West St. John Elementary (K-7)

Jan. 31 – East St. John High (9-12)

Feb. 1 – Garyville/Mt. Airy Magnet (K-8)

Feb. 6 – Fifth Ward Elementary (K-8)

Feb. 7 – East St. John Elementary (K-7)

Feb. 8 – John L. Ory Magnet (K-8)

Feb. 9 – LaPlace Elementary (K-8)

For more information, contact the central administrative office at 1-800-296-1106 or call the school.