Hinsdale High School Teachers Association

Conferences are a mix of experiences for teachers. There is the experience of being at school from 7:30am to 9:30pm, not seeing our loved ones or tucking in our own children that day. There is the stress of meeting so many new people, getting one’s books completely up to date, sitting in an uncomfortable student desk for hours, straining to be heard over the hundreds of other conferences going on, the hours of doing so invariably leading to one’s voice being hoarse the next day. And of course, there’s the part about being at school for approximately 14 hours and having to be back the next day at 7:30am prepared to teach.

On the other hand, there is the interaction with parents where teachers get to celebrate the experiences we share with their children; their strengths, their weaknesses, and all the things both good and bad they tell their parents about us that we never hear in class. There’s the gratitude that is expressed in person, the frustration shared, the excitement of planning for their child’s future college major. There’s also the sheer joy of learning from a parent that we did actually make a connection with their child - even if there was no way the student would tell us so in class for fear of looking like the teacher’s pet or somehow uncool by expressing a fondness for our subject.

Regardless of the experiences shared, what amazes me is the sheer volume of this important contact with parents that teachers are able to achieve in one event. During parent-teacher conferences this year, teachers from Hinsdale Central achieved the following number of parent contacts:

Number of parents seen: 1,000
Number of conferences held: 6,270
Number of “un-scheduled” conferences: 932

Total number of conferences: 7,202

These statistics reflect both the “scheduled” conferences that happen the day of the event as well as “un-scheduled” conferences yet to occur. These 932 “un-scheduled” conferences will take place in the form of additional phone calls, letters or email sent by teachers during their planning time, lunch time and personal time. Approximately two-thirds of Central teachers have un-scheduled conferences yet to complete, with approximately six-percent having more than 20 such additional conferences to complete.

Central has a long tradition of educational excellence. Numbers like this demonstrate both the sheer dedication of  Hinsdale Central’s teachers as well as the support by the community for what they do in their classrooms.