SPC Founder, Ia Elua

All About Us!

School Parents Connected was founded by Ia Elua, Ph.D. As a parent Dr. Elua recognized and addressed the need of thousands of other parents to establish an on-going collaboration with schools and with fellow caregivers.

Dr. Elua is a licensed mental health professional who holds number of professional degrees, including a Doctoral degree in Clinical Psychology, MS in Education and School Psychology, and MS in Clinical Social work.

Home and school are the two most important and most influential environments where our children grow and develop (1). Within the last few years educators and psychologists have focused on the importance of home-school collaboration, since it has been demonstrated empirically that the effective on-going contact between the two results in improved academic, behavioral and social-emotional development of children (2, 3). Regardless of the economic, racial and cultural background of the family, active parental involvement in children’s education has been linked with improved academic performance, improved school attendance and reduced drop-out rates. Two-way communication between the home and school has been repeatedly associated with achieving desired academic performance and school-related behavior including study skills and on-task behavior (4).

The role of effective partnership between caregivers and educators helps our children become successful and motivated learners. However, the role of parent collaboration, the importance of us, caregivers staying on top of daily classroom processes and being part of our children’s daily needs and concerns is absolutely crucial. We as caregivers are the most important part of our children’s social and emotional, as well as educational and behavioral development. By staying in touch with each other on a regular basis we can create close and effective school and classroom communities that will enable us to better serve our children’s ongoing needs and fill the gap that currently exists among class parents. It is our goal to empower ourselves, so we can similarly empower our children.

 References:

1) Bronfenbrenner, U. (1979). The ecology of human development. Cambridge, MA:     Harvard University Press.

2) Garrison, D., & Reynolds, M. P. (2006). Linking family and school with parent consultation and home-school collaboration. The Family Psychologist, 22, 4-6.

3) Christenson, S. L. (2004). The family-school partnership: An opportunity to promote the learning competence of all students. School Psychology Quarterly, 18, 454-482.

4) Cox, D. D. (2005). Evidence-based interventions using home-school collaboration. School Psychology Quarterly, 20, 473-497.