Strong Communities, Strong Schools Equates to Increased Property Values

By Nancy Minor

A year or so ago, I wrote an article about the benefit of strong schools and how they impact property values and future homeowners decisions on where they purchase. 

The part of the equation that I did not go into, is the impact strong communities have on schools. So many people think once their children have moved on that they have no responsibility for improving the schools in their community. 

From an investment point of view an interest in our schools by the community, will mean stronger schools and stronger schools mean higher values for our homes. This is not a new concept but it is more apparent now that we need the parent, teacher and community to be involved in order to have the highest level of performance from our students and to produce great schools.

The National Education Association wrote a brief on the impact of strong schools, parents and  community involvement. There has been a trend in the last five years to increase involvement by the community to better our schools. In the brief written by the NEA the impact on schools was significant. Quoting from the article the research is clear.

Parent, family, and community involvement in education correlates with higher academic performance and school improvement. When schools, parents, families, and communities work together to support learning, students tend to earn higher grades, attend school more regularly, stay in school longer, and enroll in higher level programs. Researchers cite parent-family community involvement as a key to addressing the school dropout crisis

1. Note that strong school-family-community partnerships foster higher educational  aspirations and more motivated students.

2 The evidence holds true for students at both the elementary and secondary level, regardless of the parent’s education, family income, or background—and the research shows parent involvement affects minority students’ academic achievement across all races. Parent, family, and community involvement in education correlates with higher academic performance and school improvement.. http://www.nea.org/assets/docs/PB11_ParentInvolvement08.pdf

Community involvement on a local level would include programs such as the backpack kids sponsored by the Y. The Fowler YMCA started this program to help the children who might benefit from free breakfast and lunches and maybe snacks during the week, but who may have nothing to eat on the weekend. 

By sending these children home on Friday with full back packs, it means these children are not going hungry all weekend. It means they will be more prepared to start the week. It means they will feel like doing homework because they can focus on studies and not hunger.

Another great organization is the Norcross High School Foundation For Excellence, which has a Spring Gala every year to benefit Norcross High School. This organization has been instrumental in providing grants for teachers and funding improvements for the school. http://www.norcrosshighfoundation.org/

Another foundation is the Norcross Cluster Partnership which supports all nine public schools in Norcross and Peachtree Corners. www.norcrosscp.org. They have fund raisers and provided back packs and school supplies for children in the schools of the Norcross cluster.

Our churches, our local civic groups, and  our business partners, all play a role in enriching our schools and closing the circle.. 

To find out how you can support our local schools, contact the organizations listed above.

For real estate information contact Nancy Minor at 404-955-7653 or Nancy@Minor.net. You can find my homes on the web at PeachtreeCorners.com

New on the Market this week.