building relationships with parents
SAGE gives teachers more of an opportunity to meet with more parents and at a more meaningful level, according to two K-5 teachers at Milwaukee's Fairview Elementary.

"We do have a lot of parental involvement at this school," said Julia DeCicco. "My friends who are teachers at other schools are envious. We have parents who volunteer in the classroom. In fact, one of our student's grandmother tutors in a second grade class at the school."

"But the real support is when parents work on projects at home and reinforce what their child has been taught at school. For example, we have the Daily News about what we do at school," she said. "The kids take it home and the parents are asked to read it with them and to complete a homework question."

Another key is that parents have more access to educators, said Julia Grams, who team-teaches with DeCicco in a classroom of 30 students, along with teaching assistant Debra Taylor.

"I can answer phone calls any time of the day because we have three adults in this classroom," Grams said. "If a parent has a burning question or if there's a problem, I can address it immediately and that way we can avoid difficult situations."