New approach to Parent Prep event aims to offer more flexibility

Story and photo courtesy of the Westerville City School District – 

Parents and caregivers planning to attend Westerville City School District’s upcoming Parent Prep workshop series no longer have to register for sessions in advance. During the workshop events on Feb. 10 at Minerva Park Middle School and March 9 at Westerville Central High School, attendees can create their own schedule, whether it’s attending one session or five.

This year’s new approach to the annual workshop series — two dates and an open schedule — is designed to offer parents more flexibility to attend sessions. The district is also working to secure translators in Somali, Spanish, Portuguese, Nepali and French for two sessions:

• “Emotion Regulation,” where participants will learn why students need regulation to best perform at school and home as well as receive techniques and strategies to help students identify need for break/regulation and ways to adjust, manage and balance their emotions and energy; and
• “SB288 Parent Info Session,” where participants will learn about recent legislation that now requires schools to provide developmentally appropriate instruction in child sexual abuse prevention to students in grades kindergarten through six. The session will provide an overview of the lesson students will receive to meet this requirement.

Attendees can choose from more than 40 sessions on a variety of topics including mindful parenting, digital safety, conflict resolution, substance education and college and career readiness.

Parents and family members can take a deep dive into initiatives such as “A Peaceable Place” with Concord Counseling throughout elementary classrooms and ROX!, an empowerment program for girls in the district’s middle and high schools. They can learn how to navigate through the NCAA Eligibility Center if they have a college-bound athlete. And they can pick up restorative practices — a set of strategies that help build community and manage conflict in ways that prioritize relationships and respect — to bring into the home environment.

The latest list of sessions with descriptions for the upcoming Parent Prep event can be found here. Detailed session times will be released next week.

Sessions at each event are for adults only due to topics addressed and content shared; no students or other children are permitted to attend.

The district’s Student Well-Being and Mental Health team organizes the event, which is sponsored by Westerville Education Challenge with support from the Westerville Parent Council.

Westerville Education Challenge is proud to sponsor the Hope Squad program in the Westerville City School District!

About WEC

Where everyone belongs – Because We Care

The mission of Westerville Education Challenge is to help create school cultures where every student feels safe, supported and celebrated.

We do this by raising awareness and funds for Social-Emotional Learning initiatives and programming in Westerville City Schools.

Contact us about how you can get involved at Contact | Westerville Education Challenge.