Superintendent appoints new deputy to oversee family involvement

BOSTON - Thomas W. Payzant, Superintendent of Boston Public Schools, announced this summer the appointment of Glenola Mitchell as Deputy Superintendent for Family and Community Engagement.

Ms. Mitchell's duties involve working with Boston Public Schools staff and the schools to encourage and support greater involvement of families and the community in students' lives. This involvement is one of the six essentials listed in the Focus on Children II whole school improvement plan. The plan states that schools should provide opportunities for families to understand, support and contribute to their child's academic progress, especially during the hours and days when students are not in school. One of the main goals is to get more parents directly involved in the schools to build better relationships with teachers.

Ms. Mitchell most recently served as the Assistant Director of the Massachusetts Parent Involvement Project for the Alliance for Education. Her duties included the oversight of operations and planning to provide opportunities for parents, teachers, businesses, community and faith-based organizations in parent involvement. Prior to that she was the Community Development Specialist and Statewide Parent Outreach Coordinator for the State Department of Education. She also served on a number of screening and search committees for the Boston Public Schools. Ms. Mitchell was also a Co-Founder and Developer of the Young Achievers Science and Mathematics Pilot School in Boston.

Superintendent Payzant said that he thought it was important to create this position and to have Ms. Mitchell performing the duties.

"I am pleased to have Glenola on board in this most important role," he said. "I believe that her extensive experience with family involvement will help the Boston Public Schools reach out to parents and the community. This extra help will go a long way in supporting the hard work of our teachers and will lead to a better education for all students."

Another part of Ms. Mitchell's work involves overseeing the newly recreated Parent Resource Centers. There are three centers, one in each of the school zones. The centers were reorganized this summer to provide better service to parents. They are designed so that parents can take care of all school business in one central location where they can register their child for school, request transfers from one school to another and receive general information about the schools. The centers also offer special services for parents such as computer training and assistance for those who don't speak English.

Ms. Mitchell began her work in the late summer. A picture is available upon request.