Here at Cesar Chavez Academy Middle School, the format of parent teacher conferences has changed. On October 21st, teachers, students, and their parents did Student-Led Parent Teacher Conferences (PTCs), where the students were the ones explaining what they’re doing in school to their parents.

In the past, the school has had parent teacher conferences led by teachers. Things changed over the pandemic and now they are doing student led parent teacher conferences. Student-led PTC involved the homeroom or advisory teacher passing out pamphlets to students, and throughout the day teachers helped students fill in their grades for classes like math, science, social studies, and electives. There was also a comment section for the teachers to write down any other feedback they had for parents about their child.

One advantage to using Student-Led PTCs is that if parents are unable to come, students can take their pamphlet home and explain it there. The change was made so students can take on more responsibility and gain ownership over their academic performance.

Many teachers and staff members helped make these Student-Led PTCs possible, such as Mrs. Romero and Mr. Curry. When explaining why they made the change, Mrs. Romero said, “We just wanted our students to take ownership of their learning.” Having students explain their grades to their parents gives students a more active role in their academic performance.