A U.S. Department of Education report indicates "students whose parents are actively involved in their education have better grades, test scores and long-term academic achievement." The Dothan City School system hopes its parents get that message and say "Yes We Can” and attend an upcoming summit on education improvement.

"Yes we can parents" is the theme of the upcoming parental involvement summit.

Two workshops will be held at the Dothan High Schools to help parents learn better ways of communicating with teachers and their children. Break out sessions will cover topics that will give parents the skills to help students achieve higher levels of learning.

“We are planning on having a session on how to help your preschooler be successful, in the school setting all the way up through how to prevent cyber bullying over the internet. We're also having some sessions on how to talk with your child's teacher,” said Susan Loftin with Dothan City Schools.

A resource fair will also be held during the summit to give parents more information about improving academic achievement, getting tutorial help and applying for college scholarships.

“They are going to be giving out information on how to communicate better with your teenager, going to have some parenting tips as well, so it's going to be a variety of things that we're going to offer to the parents,” says Rosalind James, Alabama Cooperative Extension Office.

Parents are encouraged to attend one of the two sessions. Anyone in attendance will have the opportunity to win door prizes and possibly the grand prize, one of two Disney Cruises.

Administrators say they hope this incentive will pack the house and help get students headed in the right direction.

“All of our children in the Dothan City School system can succeed but we need parents support and we need the school and the parents and the teachers all working together for this common goal,” said James.

Parents of school children in pre-kindergarten up to 12th grade can mark their calendars for two dates.

The first session will be held at Northview High School on October 21st, and a second session will held at Dothan High School on October 28th. Both sessions run from 5:30 to 8:00 p.m.

Pre-registration is preferred, however you can still register at the door. To sign-up early contact Rosalind James at 794-4108.