Family Forum - Student Success: The Role of Parents?

Great parenting is just as vital to a student's performance in school as the quality of the teachers in the classrooms.

In today's Family Forum, we're talking about ways parents can motivate their children to excel in school.

Tell us: How do you ensure your child completes his or her homework? Where do you draw the line at helping them and doing their work for them? And when you do take a trip up to the school, what services, improvements and other things do you advocate for on their behalf?

You'll see members of our Parents Council (formally known as the Moms Council), an advisory group comprised of smart and engaged moms from the neighborhood, responding to these questions below in the comments section and we invite you and your circle of friends to join in the discussion.

Family Forum is a feature on Patch that invites local parents to discuss issues that matter to them.

Wondering who are these local parents we tapped for our Council? Meet the members:

• Janet Grech - A Malverne mom with children enrolled at Our Lady of Lourdes School.
• Laura Murray- A Lynbrook mom who grew up in Malverne and is the current president of the Mothers of Malverne. She has two young children not in school yet.
• Gina Genti - A Malverne mom with two boys in elementary school.
• Andrea Shinsato- A West Hempstead mom with a 2-year-old and one child enrolled in Chestnut Street School.
• Theresa Walz- A West Hempstead mom whose children attend Cornwell Avenue School and West Hempstead Middle School.
• Loraine Magaraci- A West Hempstead mom with kids enrolled in West Hempstead Middle School and High School.
• Audrey Diaz Robles- A new mom to a 6-month-old baby.
• Dawn Wladyka- A Malverne mom with two students attending Our Lady of Lourdes School and one enrolled in Grace Lutheran PreSchool.
• Eileen Lynch O'Hara - A Malverne mother with three children enrolled at Saint Anne's School in Garden City and one child at the Brother Fox Latin School at Kellenberg Memorial High School.
• Maria Salcedo-Hafker - A Malverne mom who sends her children to Maurice W. Downing School and Davison Avenue School.
• Lori Lang- A Malverne native and mother of four whose children attend St. Thomas the Apostle School in West Hempstead.
• Jennifer Johnson- A West Hempstead mom with one child attending Cornwell Avenue School and another in day care.

Interested in joining? Send an e-mail to Tara.Conry@Patch.com.

Family Forum will also be the place for you to pose your questions about parenting topics and local issues that affect families. Where can we get information on local flu shot clinics for children? How do we talk to our children about peer pressure, bullying and protecting themselves online? How can we help our children's schools weather their budget cutbacks?

Voice your opinions about this week's topic in the comment section below.