Parent-teacher conferences took place on Thursday, Oct. 24 in the field house from 6-9 p.m. and on Friday, Oct. 25 in teacher’s classrooms from 8-11:30 a.m. 

In alphabetical order, families got to meet with teachers for seven minutes. Grades are part of what is discussed during conferences along with the students’ growth during class, their skills, or even recommendations for classes for next year and other important details. 

I believe parent-teacher conferences are only beneficial for students who are having a hard time in certain classes, and so if a student is doing well (receiving a B or an A), then parents should not sign up. 

The point of parent-teacher conferences is for parents or guardians to have face-to-face conversations with the teachers, and since we have so many students here, it is difficult for parents to meet with all the teachers in one day. 

“On average, families get two to three conferences with teachers, they request weeks ahead of time to meet with their child’s teacher,” said Ms. Jessica Hurt, assistant principal. 

Conferences are great for students because they learn how to bring up their grades, or what to do to fix them. Parents who choose not to attend teacher conferences can still check their children’s grades on Home Access Center (HAC) or by email every Thursday. 

Parent-teacher conferences take place at almost every high school and they aren’t optional for any of the teachers because it’s part of the curriculum. Since parents have many questions there are two different times and dates for conferences, which give them the ability for a more flexible schedule. 

The teachers I talked with don’t mind the conferences or find them annoying, but the one thing they hope to fix is being stuck in their rooms for the whole day.

“My joke is it feels like being in prison because my windows are up so high so I can’t see outside, I can’t leave, and people come to visit me for short periods,” said Mrs. Kathrynne Saunders, English teacher. 

Most students don’t have a problem with conferences. My personal opinion is if you’re temporarily doing bad in a class, parents shouldn’t have conferences with teachers. It just makes you seem like you’re not trying hard even if you know you can get your grade up. 

“Conferences are kind of pointless in my opinion, if the student has good grades already, I feel like only if a student is struggling in a class, then that’s when parents must talk to the teachers,” said Melany Molares, senior. 

In the end, the purpose of conferences isn’t to make a student look bad in front of their parents, rather fix their shortcomings. 

“Since we no longer have quarters, we planned to increase the communication that we have with families about their students’ progress and thus increasing the transparency,” Hurt said. 

Conferences let parents see who their kids learn from every day and how their kids are doing, from the perspective of their teachers. But I still believe parent-teacher conferences are only beneficial for students who are having a hard time in certain classes.

The next parent-teacher conference meeting is on February 28, 2020.