Klein Intermediate School Principal Bob Anderson is the champion of Parent University, a program in its eighth year at the school that encourage parents to become involved in student success.

Anderson moved to the Houston area in 1998 and worked at both Lamar CISD and Humble ISD as a fifth grade teacher before working as an administrator at KISD for 12 years. He is in his eighth year at Klein Intermediate and in his 18th year in education.

“Both of my parents were educators, so it’s kind of in the blood,” he said.

Klein Intermediate is a Title I school and is met with socioeconomic challenges with high numbers of children from low-income families, Anderson said. With Parent University, he sought to challenge the perception of Title I schools as those that turn out students with low success rates.

“The assumption is that those kids can’t be successful,” he said. “We’re starting to see people changing their mind about that.”

At the beginning of each year, the school hosts a family engagement day, in which families share ideas about what they need assistance with, such as ESL instruction and parenting classes, he said.

“They give us their opinion,” Anderson said. “I’ve done this seven years, and it was not until last year when we added [requesting ideas from parents] that we started the explosion in parental involvement.”

The school also hosts classes for parents that teach college-readiness, how to manage peer pressure and technology, so parents know how to access social media.

Research shows that involved parents are one of the keys to student success, said Judy Rimato, associate superintendent for communications for KISD.

“Bob has worked tirelessly to form positive and impactful relationships with his parents,” she said. “His relationship-building efforts are paying off, and we are really proud of the work he and his team are doing.”

Anderson said understanding the community through efforts—such as offering classes and programs that parents can select and enjoy—is key to the success of Parent University.

“I believe my purpose is to ensure that all students are successful, and one way that happens is to plug students and their families into campus activities and clubs,” he said.