Special to
L’Observateur

LAPLACE — The St. John the Baptist Parish Public School District teamed up with the St. John the Baptist Parish Public Library and Blessed to Be a Blessing to offer a series of events encouraging parental involvement, scholarship, academic recognition, literacy and community outreach.

The first Parent Meeting took place Jan. 28 at the LaPlace branch of the library and drew a standing-room only crowd.

During the meeting, parents got an introduction to the PARCC assessment — the new spring tests being implemented statewide to replace the LEAP tests — and were able to discuss with district personnel the Common Core State Standards.

District administrators presented parents with numerous resources they can use to better help their children with the CCSS, many of which can be found through the Parent Engagement Portal located in the Parents & Students section of the district’s website,

www.stjohn.k12.la.us.

There, parents can find resource materials to help their children with the CCSS and PARCC, a link to free online tutoring and information about the Homework Hut, a local tutoring program for students and parents that takes place Monday through Thursday at numerous locations throughout the parish.

They can also gain access to the Parent Command Center, which they can use to monitor students’ test scores throughout the school year.

The St. John Library System has also compiled a list of resources for the CCSS that are available at its branches, which can be requested at the library’s front desk.

Parent Meetings will take place every third Wednesday at the LaPlace library with the exception of the Feb. 23 event — which will focus on financial aid — and the March 9 event, both of which will take place at the West Bank branch.