The Family Conference is a most important part of your child's education at The Center School. It is an opportunity for all involved with the student to discuss his/her progress and goals for the year. This year, as always, your Advisor will be contacting you to set a time for the Conference. It is an integral part of the philosophy of the school as it insures communication between all the people who are concerned with the student. Parent, advisor and student are all part of the Family Conference.

But what are we after? Our main objective is for the students to understand that learning is THEIR responsibility. The Staff always discusses this and considers ways to make each child aware of this. It is an ongoing theme for all of us. In an attempt to make if more than just works, we prepare Progress Reports whereby the students observe and the report on THEIR PROGRESS, to you, in written form.

The Center School year is divided into trimesters. The first trimester ends just before the December holidays. You will then receive a report from each teacher assessing you child's progress and a cover sheet from the Advisor.

Prior to your conference you will receive a series of PROGRESS REPORTS written by your child, with comments from the teacher. These reports will give the students' observations on what and how s/he has learned in each subject. The children are given suggested questions to reflect on in each class. Teachers read the reports and comment on the child's observations. Our intent is to place the burden of learning and evaluating the learning on the child. This will NOT be an evaluation of the course; it is an evaluation of how the student views his/her learning in each course.

The Family Conferences will be held on a Thursday evening and Friday afternoon, and they will be based on these Assessments. The Progress Reports must be returned to the school, as a part of the child's permanent record, so if you want a copy, please make a copy before your Conference, and RETURN the originals to us at that time. The Conference includes YOU, your CHILD and the ADVISOR


Thank you for your ongoing support. We look forward to our Conference with you and your child to discuss this report.

Elaine J. Schwartz for The Center School