Every Friday, the size of Jenna Karr’s kindergarten classroom doubles. Moms and dads, grandparents, and some little brothers and sisters join students for the first 30 minutes of class, known as Family Reading Friday. As Karr teaches her students reading, writing, and arithmetic, she gives their parents lessons in academic involvement.

Families read together for a few minutes before Karr makes announcements about school activities. She also shows parents the teaching strategies used in class, frequently giving them exercises for practice at home.

Karr implemented the program in her classroom at Rosa Parks Elementary in Corona, Calif., last year and saw dramatic results. As parents of the first-year students got to know one another, they became more comfortable and more involved at school. All but one family was represented each Friday, and eight parents volunteered in Karr’s classroom each week.

The class won the PTA membership drive and had high participation in the parent group’s fundraisers. “I saw those families every week, so every time there was something that we needed volunteers for or donations of, they just poured in from my classroom,” Karr says.

Not only did the program improve communication with parents; it also helped reduce classroom discipline problems and improved student performance, Karr says. “They were more comfortable in the class, and I think they felt a little more personally connected,” she says of her students. “It wasn’t like school was a place separate of their family. It was kind of an extension of it.”

All of Rosa Parks Elementary’s kindergarten classes will have Family Reading Fridays this year, and the parents who participated last year have signed on to continue in 1st grade. “We’re hoping that it’s going to keep trickling up with them,” Karr says. “It’s kind of exciting.”