After roughly two years, McQuaid Jesuit’s Parent Mini-Class Night has returned.  Parents and teachers welcomed the return of this fall tradition.

It is a night where parents of students come into school for abridged classes that their son takes. It is meant to provide an overview of curricula, display how teachers operate class, and have parents get to know teachers’ expectations.

This year, parent mini-class night took place on September 22 after the fall 2020 event was cancelled due to COVID. Mr. John Maxwell, a veteran computer science teacher, supports the event.

“It is a great opportunity to share information about your class,” Mr. Maxwell said.  “It is helpful to let parents know about the workload, grading, and other special information such as AP requirements at the start of the school year.”

Mr. Maxwell felt that the event had not changed too much due to covid. “Mini-class night was the same as previous years except parents wore masks.  It was about the same.”

“As a parent, I believe it is important to meet the people who your child will spend a significant amount of time with during the year,” Mr. Maxwell said.  “Each teacher has a different personality, and believe it or not, that comes through–albeit just a small bit in the 10 minutes allotted for each class. Did they seem to be all business? Are they funny? Does the class seem interesting? All these questions, and more, are important and help you communicate with and understand your child better.”

McQuaid parent Mrs. Kristine Schwandt, having attended five parent mini-class nights, thought similarly to Mr. Maxwell.”

I did enjoy the parent mini-class night… I enjoy meeting teachers and hearing some of the stories they have to offer, and I like hearing how they’re going to run the class and how they’re going to teach the subjects for the upcoming year.”

Mrs. Schwandt also stated that she thought that turnout was “definitely a little bit lower, certainly for senior classes.”

Ultimately, parent mini-class night will not be going away anytime soon, as people seem to value and enjoy it. However, this journalist could see parent mini-class night evolving in the future. Perhaps adding one or two more nights for the event to occur, ensuring that parents have more of a chance to attend.