Parent Preferred Pre-'Parent Portal' Days at Barton Open School

In an opinion article published by the Star Tribune, Beth Ewen recalled being blissfully unaware of the daily details when her daughter attended Barton Open School, before the arrival of the Minneapolis Public Schools' Parent Portal: 

I remember well the dividing line, because that was the year my daughter went to South High. Before that, no portals, at least not at Barton Open School. After that, portals — first in high school, then middle school, and now, I’m told, all the way down to preschool. 

Before, those tardies, missed quizzes, skipped journal entries and other minor infractions were in her world. After, they were in mine, down to the grading rubric for every project and the contact info for every teacher.

Read Ewen's full op-ed at startribune.com. 

Ewen's op-ed, titled Dropping out of the Minneapolis 'parent portal', drew a counterpoint from Seth Kirk, whose children have also attended public schools in  Southwest Minneapolis, according to the website of the group he co-founded, Put Kids First Minneapolis. 

Kirk wrote about his children: 

If I can encourage them here and there and provide them lessons in how to successfully navigate the system, they will learn more and will be better equipped to navigate future systems they encounter. The parent portal online grade-reporting system provided by the Minneapolis schools is the best resource that I have to enable me to do that.

Read Kirk's full counterpoint article at startribune.com. 

What do you think about the Minneapolis Public Schools' Parent Portal? Leave a comment below.