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Bridging the cultural divide
As it gets more diverse, Centreville High School is having to try new ways of reaching out to parents and unifying the school community.For the first year since the school opened in 1988, the majority of its body of 2,800 students consists of students from various minority groups.
The change has the faculty and PTSA leaders making plans to reach out to Centreville's minority families who aren't used to an American school system, said the school's principal Mike Campbell.
"We are trying to tell minority parents that in our culture, it's okay to be involved in the schools," Campbell said.
"It has been a challenge," Cathy Moraco, president of the school's PTSA. "We have noticed the changes and respect the cultural differences but we do wish that they would be more involved with our school."
Immigrants continue to move into the Centreville area, filling up the neighborhoods and schools. The large majority of those immigrants are Koreans who are attracted to Korean businesses, churches, and neighborhoods springing up in the area.
Asians -- most of them Koreans – make up about 25 percent of Centreville High School's population, according to Campbell.
Moraco said the PTSA has made more headway with the Latino community than the Korean community.
Korean parents are afraid of coming to school and asking questions, said Soo-Min Ok, the Korean parent liason at Liberty Middle School and Centreville High School. It is also difficult for Korean parents to be involved because they work late hours and often can't make it to meetings.
"When you are an immigrant here, you work a lot," Ok said.
Campbell said the administrators are trying to reach the diverse population by reaching out to the churches they attend. The PTSA is trying to make sure parents of minority students have enough literature.
"The more parents are involved in their children's education, the more successful they are," Campbell said.
Centreville High School is a good school, Moraco said. "We just need to focus on the unifying goal of keeping our children safe and giving them an education."
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