ORLANDO, Fla. – Gabriel Quijano is a straight A student at Union Park Middle School. But the sixth-grader said he would not be doing so well in school without help from his mom and dad.
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"It makes me feel good and kinda sad for the kids that don't have parents like that," said Gabriel who is one of the lucky kids according to his principal, Kris Viles.
Viles said that across the board she and her collegues are seeing parent involvement decline.
"Yes we're in the business for students, but students need parents too," said Viles.
That's why she is the first administrator in Orange County to test out a program called "School House to Your House."
The seven-week program consists of place mats with lesson plans that the students review in class and then take home and work on with their families. The lessons focus on topics like resolutions, love and unity.
"In school, we usually just talk about it just to get to know it, and at home we actually get to do it to understand it even more," said Gabriel.
His mother, Kathy Quijano, said it's also helping her and her husband discuss things with Gabriel that may not have come up in the past.
"He told me a couple things, and I was like, 'Really? You've seen that happen at your school?'" said Kathy.
Union Park Middle is the first Orange County school to utilize "School House to Your House," but the company that created it said it has been successful in both New York City public schools as well as in Miami-Dade County.
"I'm a big believer that the child can do great things at uniting the family," said Neal Kimball, the creator of the program.
"School House to Your House" is an offshoot of the Kimball Companies first product, "Family Table Time," which encourages parents to make an appointment for family dinners at home.
"Parents need to understand that they are the most important teacher in their child's life and their dinner table is the most important piece of furniture in their life," said Kimball.
The company reported that in Miami-Dade County the "School House to Your House" program sees a 38 percent participation rate, which is much more parent involvement than before it started.
Principal Viles said she realizes that not all parents have work schedules that are conducive to working on the place mats during the dinner hours.
"The one thing that I do know is they might not sit around the table and talk every single night or every morning for breakfast for dinner, but they do make contact time. It might be in the car, going to the doctor, going to a game, or going and visiting friends, but they do have contact time," she said.
The school is planning an event at the end of the month celebrating the completion of the trial run of the program.