Get Your Child Ready for Work and for Life

As we start a brand new school year, some entering high school for the first time, our role as parents take an interesting new direction. On one hand, we should be gradually releasing our children to independence but also need to maintain a structured place of stability should they need guidance and direction. Our child's goals should be their main focus, and our priority as parents should be in helping them get there successfully. Here are a few reminders to help us parents keep our students on course through their high school years.


High school is the training ground for college and work. Help prepare your child for college by encouraging him or her to take challenging courses. To help prepare your child for work, you and your child should meet with the school guidance counselor to choose the best courses based on your child’s career interests.

Serve as your child’s best coach and mentor

• Foster your child’s independence, and continue to be aware of and support your child’s studies and after-school activities.
• Continue to stay involved with the school as your child progresses through high school.
• Know what your high school child needs to succeed.
• Look for programs designed to help students succeed in college and in a career–those that teach study skills, provide tutoring to enhance skills and knowledge and help students choose the right courses to succeed.
• Provide structure. Show your child how to manage time for studies, activities, friends and family.

Keep on reading

• Continue to make sure your child is reading.
• Buy or make available books in which your child may have an interest. Students who have more reading materials available to them read more and do better in school.

Partner with teachers and counselors

• Get to know your child’s teachers and counselors.
• Continue to attend open houses or parent nights at school to meet your child’s teachers.
• Request parent-teacher conferences when you think they are needed.

Communicate with teachers

• Find out the best time to contact teachers by telephone.
• Ask for teachers’ e-mail addresses so you may contact them outside of school hours, as teachers are usually not available during school hours.
• Find out about Web sites where teachers may list class notes and homework assignments.

Know that counselors:

• Handle class registration and schedules.
• Can help if there are problems at home, such as divorce or illness, which could affect your child’s school work.
• Have checklists of how to apply to college and where to get college financial aid.
• Can tell you when college entrance exams are given, especially the SAT and the American College Test (ACT).

Consider safety

• Pay attention to your child’s behavior and friends.
• Tell your child to leave valuables at home and to keep belongings locked up, as theft is the most common school crime.
• Be aware if your child’s grades drop or if your child is sad or angry.
• Talk to your child about any concerns you may have.
• Consult with counselors, social workers, school psychologists or others trained in and helpful with solving adolescents’ problems.

Stay involved with the school

• Be informed through the SPHS Boosters and the school newsletter or website.
• Continue to be an advocate for your child and other students in the process.

When your child turns 18 

Be aware that when your child turns 18 years old or enters a college or university at any age, the rights under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) transfer from you to your child. You may become informed about this law at  http:// www.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/fpco/ferpa/index.html.