QUINCY — Encouraging parents to get more involved in school is easier when school officials start with something familiar to the parents. Victoria Hodge, director of support services and programs for the Quincy School District, said that’s been a lesson reinforced during the 2022-23 school year.

“The first strategy is to expand parent groups in each building,” Hodge said during a presentation to the Quincy School Board at its regular meeting Tuesday.

The Parent Advisory Committees are one set of groups district officials are using to connect with parents, she said.

“We’re always focusing on the PACs, and we know that if we do that, it provides a pathway for (connections) at the building level,” she said.

Maria Valle, the district’s family outreach coordinator, said officials sponsored 35 PAC meetings throughout the district in the just-completed school year. District officials also sponsored three meetings for parents with Quincy Superintendent Nik Bergman. Bergman said his presentations focused on topics that parents had told officials they wanted to know more about, including school safety, the nutrition program and the psychological support given to students.

The district also sponsored events at different schools, a lot of them focusing on the Hispanic heritage shared by many parents. They included a Day of the Dead celebration at Pioneer Elementary; Jessica Alcaraz said she did the makeup for most of the staff members.

“It was a really fun event. Parents mentioned it has brought back a lot of memories,” Alcaraz said.

Schools throughout the district sponsored similar events, Valle said. One was a family festival at Mt. View Elementary, which featured a performance from Kataleya Garcia, 7, a second grader at Monument Elementary. She sang two traditional songs from Mexico at the board meeting. Her dad Luis Garcia said he hopes people will remember their family history.

“We like to encourage people to follow their roots and never forget where they come from,” he said.

Building on those connections, district officials sponsored a night for fifth graders and their parents to visit Quincy Middle School, Jessica Alcaraz said. Fifth graders and their parents got a chance to talk to teachers, learn about the middle school schedule and explore the building. A similar event was held for eighth graders who visited Quincy High School.

Hodge said parents liked the initiatives and had some suggestions for next year. Parents asked for information on additional topics of interest, she said. District officials also are looking at ways to get the word out to more parents.

“We also know we need to create and explore other ways (to provide information) other than another meeting,” Hodge said.

Cheryl Schweizer may be reached at [email protected].