School's Back in Session for Parents Too

Students flocked back to Gilroy High School Tuesday morning to find a completely revamped campus. According to the Gilroy Dispatch, more than $5 million was spent in refurbishment over the summer to better the campus.

Beautiful building or not, the start of the school year is an exciting—but stressful—time for kids, as well as moms and dads.

Parents, one of the best things you can do to support your child's learning is familiarizing yourself with the important people at school.

can help improve communication, clear up misunderstandings and help parents get a better feel for how their children are doing in school. ( tells you all about it.)

So who are those essential people? Think principal, classroom teacher, secretary and parents of other students. 

But how do you make that face-to-face connection? Maybe you work long hours or someone else in the family drops the kids off at school so you're just not on campus. You can meet school staff and other parents in-person at Back-to-School Night events at all the Gilroy Unified School District events.

Be sure to collect phone numbers, email addresses and names (it could be embarrassing to only know someone as "Isabel's mom").

The open houses are as early as next week at some schools. Find your child's school here and put the Back-to-School night on the calendar:

Aug. 22: Rucker Elementary School (6 p.m.), Las Animas Elementary School—1st Grade (6:30 p.m.)

Aug. 23: Glen View Elementary School (6 p.m.), Las Animas Elementary School—2nd Grade (6:30 p.m.)

Aug. 27: Las Animas Elementary School—Kindergarten (6:30 p.m.)

Aug. 28: Las Animas Elementary School—3rd Grade (6 p.m.), El Roble Elementary School (6 p.m.), Luigi Apria Elementary School (6 p.m.)

Aug. 29: Las Animas Elementary School—4th Grade (All day), Rod Kelley Elementary School (All day), Eliot Elementary School, (6 p.m.)

Aug. 30: Antonio Del Buomo Elementary School (All day), Las Animas Elementary School (6 p.m.)

Sept. 4: Brownwell Middle School (All day)

Sept. 5: Ascencion Solorsano Middle School (5:30 p.m.), Mount Madonna Continuation High School (6 p.m.), Advance Path Academy (6 p.m.)

Sept. 11: Christopher High School (6 p.m.)

Sept. 12: Gilroy High School (6 p.m.)

Sept. 13: South Valley Middle School (All day)