The era of the lost homework assignment has gone the way of the dinosaur, at least in the 6th grades at two junior high schools in McHenry County. That’s where administrators instituted homework hotlines three years ago.
Now each afternoon before the end of the school day, the principal at McHenry Junior High School and a teacher at Parkland School record homework assignments from the 6th-grade teachers onto answering machine audio cassettes so students and parents can get the information simply by calling the hotlines.
“We have found that it is very helpful,” said Bill Burke, Parkland principal. “In the beginning, we had comments that by this age the students should be responsible enough to know what their homework assignments are, but that attitude has changed. People have come to realize that the hotline is a very beneficial tool, and that it’s really helping the students and their parents as well.”
Parents at Parkland appreciate the hotline so much that at an open house earlier this year many asked that it be extended to the 7th and 8th grades. Burke explained that the school has only three telephone lines, and that hooking up each one to an answering machine would be unfeasible. He added that 6th grade was chosen to receive the hotline because “that’s the year of greatest transition. Children have the most difficulty with organizational skills at that time, and they need a little extra help.”
In addition to helping students, especially those who are absent, the hotlines allow parents to find out about their children’s homework and to listen to comments about upcoming assignments.
“Many parents call on a regular basis,” said Steven Phillips, administrative assistant at McHenry Junior High School. “The hotline has greatly reduced the number of missing homework assignments. It’s really doing a great job.”
