At the beginning of the school year, New York City education officials called an important meeting at M.S. 22, a troubled school had been labeled "persistently struggling," meaning its performance was so poor it could be taken over by the state.
Only two parents showed up.
Yolanda Jennings and Magaly Cordova, members of the parent association, said they were used to being the most active parent leaders at M.S. 22 in the Morrisania section of the Bronx. But this year, they predicted, would be different.
Because of its low performance, M.S. 22 got extra academic support through the city's Renewal program as well as additional services and activities for adults and kids. Parent involvement was at the top of the turnaround agenda.
The school got help from organizers with the New Settlement parent action committee which solicited parent feedback, encouraged them to get involved in the school. At one meeting, held on a parent- teacher conference day, about 20 parents attended.
Also, Parent Coordinator Yadi Rodriguez made calls and home visits to new families to encourage them to attend school activities. On the parent-teacher conference day in March, Rodriguez proudly showed a spreadsheet on which she had scheduled appointments in advance for parents of 300 of the school's 428 pupils.
"It takes a lot of work, building relationships," she said. The school community includes many immigrants from Latin America, West Africa, Bangladesh and Yemen, along with with Bronx natives.
The school had something else planned for them that day: a fair featuring various local non-profit groups such as help for immigrants, after-school programs, and even bags of groceries.
Tia Monroe, who moved to the Bronx last year, said she was impressed by the communication between parents and the school.
"They're very involved, they call me any time there's any issue with my daughter," she said.
Cordova said she her small group of active volunteers grew this year, from about two to eight. This turned out to be just enough for a quorum; at parent elections in June, Cordova was re-elected president.
Another sign of progress: Rodriguez said more than 200 parents came to a recent forum where they participated in surveys with facilitators.
"When I first started here, I couldn't get not even five parents in the building," she said, referring to her nearly decade of work at M.S. 22. "I'm excited because they're here. This is where we're at now and it can only get better."
The students were also coming. Average daily attendance was 92 percent for the school year, up two percentage points from the year before.