Ring Elementary School students parade around the school for their annual Halloween Parade. Submitted photos

Ghosts, goblins, superheroes and princesses filled Ring Elementary School for its annual Halloween Parade but this year, Ring Elementary School staff added a family engagement activity to the Halloween festivities, “Fall into Reading.”

“The Ring Family and Community Engagement (FaCE) team, which consists of teachers, representatives from community organizations, school staff, and parents came up with the idea of connecting our ‘Fall into Reading’ event with the Halloween Parade because we have always had such a great turn out. We thought this would be a great time to engage parents with an academic focus,” said Terry Ortiz, Ring Elementary School teacher and FaCE committee member. “The goal of the event was to engage parents in a way that was interactive and that would allow them to acquire a new skill to practice with their child at home.”

Every grade level focused on a different ELA skill and had hands-on activities for students and their families to complete before the Halloween Parade. UPK stressed reading aloud with children. Kindergarten practiced sight words. First grade highlighted story elements such as character, setting and plot. Second grade worked on comparing and contrasting. Third grade emphasized reading comprehension and fourth grade worked on close reading.

Research shows that increased parent engagement has a positive correlation to attendance rates, feelings about school and stronger academic performance. Ring Elementary School is finding ways to not only involve parents, but to engage parents where they are active participants in school events. Ring School is currently planning two more parent engagement events this year.