Blog

Welcome to the 2022-23 school year. As Logos Prep enters its 17th year of existence, we are excited that each of you is part of the family! This year, we will look closely at family. Family is one of Logos Prep’s six core values and is essential for the mission of our school. With the many new lions who are joining us this year, we plan to begin our family focus with a quick refresher of what it means to be a member of the Logos Prep Family. As Stephen Covey points out in The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Families: Creating a Nurturing Family in a Turbulent World, “Successful families do not just happen.” This is true in your home and this is true in our school family as well.

The formula for Logos Prep’s success is parents and professional educators working in partnership. Though educators across schooling options recognize the importance of parental involvement in education, a strong family/school partnership is uncommon. This is because historically American parents have been removed from the educational process.  

America's first education law was enacted in 1642 by the Massachusetts General Court.  It required parents and guardians of children to "make certain that their charges could read and understand the principles of religion and laws of the Commonwealth."  By 1851 mistrust of parents was spreading amongst educators as statistics came out suggesting that 1 in 10 people were illiterate.  "In too many instances the parents are unfit guardians of their own children....the children must be gathered up and forced into school," Massachusetts Teacher reported. In 1883 the California State Superintendent of Public Instruction wrote, "The child should be taught to consider his instructor, in many respects superior to the parent in point of authority." One hundred years later, educators had clearly not mastered schooling without family inclusion.

In 1983 The National Commission of Excellence in Education released its report, A Nation at Risk.  It made the claim that America's "educational institutions seem to have lost sight of the basic purposes of schooling, and the high expectations and disciplined effort needed to attain them."  The report warned of a "rising tide of mediocrity that threatens our very future as a Nation and people."  A crisis in education was claimed in 2002 when US Secretary of Education Rod Paige estimated that of 45 million high school seniors, "10 million could not read at even a basic level; more than 25 million did not know even the basics of U.S. History; and of students in all high school levels, more than 20 million could not do even basic math."  Note that those statistics were based on students still in school and did not account for those who dropped out before their senior year.  

As educators scrambled to figure out how to address the learning gaps, reports began to emerge citing the importance of family involvement in education. In 1988 the United States Department of Education provided publications with suggestions for parental participation in the education of their children. In fact, as part of our 2021 application to the United States Department of Education to be named a Blue Ribbon school, Logos Prep was asked to detail our efforts of engaging parents in education.

(Expert from the LP Blue Ribbon Application) “Logos Prep uses a University-Model® School approach to scheduling and education. Professional educators, teaching in their areas of expertise, provide in-person instruction in what we call the central classroom, while students spend alternate days at home in the satellite classroom. Throughout the year, school staff and administration offer parent-training sessions on a variety of topics relevant both to education and other aspects of parenting. Parents and teachers communicate regularly through weekly assignment sheets, online grade reporting, email, and one-on-one communication. This approach allows teachers and parents to discover and appreciate each student’s strengths, opportunities, learning preferences, and interests.”

Though this answer was part of the application that ultimately allowed us to be named a Blue Ribbon school, this answer only scratches the surface of what we believe about parents.  Parents are more than educational partners. Parents are an essential part of the educational process. Parents are God's ordained for their children. God gave the initial and most significant education charge in Deuteronomy 6 when He instructs parents to teach His truths to  their children. He confirmed parents as the primary educators and His truths as the most significant subject matter.  It is through recognition of this that we can best do our part in preparing and motivating students to use their talents to make an impact for Christ. Parental involvement has been called our secret sauce. It is one of the keys to success in the Logos Prep Family. It is our joy to partner with you in the education of your child. May 2022-23 be the best year yet.

Tammy McIlvoy
Head of School
Logos Preparatory Academy