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The cafetorium was decked out in its holiday best for Nims' winter concert. Handmade pine-and-ribbon centerpieces topped the covered lunch tables. Poinsettias perched on top of the piano. A tree — a real live Christmas tree — perched on the stage, sparkling gold.

Nims was expecting guests. And Principal Kay Collins, clad in a white pantsuit and sanitary plastic gloves for slicing sheet cake, needed to make a good impression. Less than two weeks earlier, she had disbanded the school's anemic parent-teacher organization. The concert was a prime opportunity to connect with often elusive parents.

Collins got lucky. About 150 friends and family of Nims kids showed up that Thursday evening. They had finger sandwiches, chips and paper cups of Powerade donated by McDonald's before settling in for vocal selections by Mozart and a jazzy instrumental version of "The Christmas Song."

"On a zero-to-10 scale, it's a 9," teacher Bob Drayton said of the crowd who came to support the 80 or so chorus and concert band students. "We've been here when it was just faculty and six parents."

Parents — the majority of whom struggle to make ends meet — have long been Nims' toughest audience. While many will find a way to come to events when their kids perform, traditional involvement lags.

Collins intends to change that. Her parent coordinator, Margie Jessup, is heading a team taking a fresh look at how to get families more involved in the school. Special events are already planned for the new year.

At the concert, parents were enticed by a raffle to fill out involvement surveys. Jessup got back 44.

"I don't have to have a PTO. I'll do something different," Collins said. "What we are looking at doing is empowering parents."

Daunting challenges

By Nims standards, Richard and Mary Dixon are like Ward and June Cleaver. Married, with jobs and a supportive extended family, they're more stable than many other parents there.

Still, it's tough for them to find time to volunteer or attend parent meetings.

"With our schedule, it's really hard to be involved," said Mary Dixon, whose sixth-grader Rachel enjoys Nims so much she cried once when she missed the bus.

Richard Dixon pointed to his watch creeping close to 6:30 p.m. — the earliest he can usually get home from his job in Quincy.

"We're just trying to feed them and make sure their homework is done," he said with a laugh.

Other Nims parents face more daunting challenges. Single-parent families dominate. Of Nims' employed parents, many hold down two jobs. Families move around a lot; kids consider an "old" phone number one that lasts more than a month. Even if they had the time or inclination to volunteer or show up for a School Advisory Committee, many lack the transportation.

"Every parent cares about their child," said Assistant Principal Darren Wallace. "They are on a different wavelength when it comes to survival and how they prioritize day to day."

That doesn't mean parents have no idea what's going on. Teachers don't hesitate to pick up the phone — in class if necessary.

"They are my buddies," said Lucille Charlton, whose large Nokia cell phone hangs in a leather case over her shoulder, ever-ready. "We are partners in this; it's 'You and I have a problem.'"

Charlton, who's taught at Nims for 17 years and spent a recent Saturday calling students' homes, says parents' lack of visibility at school doesn't mean they aren't paying attention.

"They like to be involved on a private level," she said.

Physically being at the school just isn't feasible for many parents.

"We think everyone works 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Guess what? The world doesn't do that," said Merry Ortega, director of Leon County secondary schools. "Don't assume parents don't care because they don't show up."

Pulling the PTO plug

Collins was headed to lunch duty one afternoon last month when she announced midstride, "I disbanded the PTO."

Her decision came as a shock but not a surprise.

Just a few parents regularly showed up at meetings. The semester passed without their sponsoring a single fundraiser: no cookie dough, no candy bars, no wrapping paper. The tone was set in the fall, when they asked the school for money.

"By law, I have to have a functioning parent-involvement group," Collins said. "What was I going to say, 'Three parents showed up and I didn't do anything'?"

Parent-group members either declined to comment or could not be reached.

Collins said she gave them as many chances as she could but finally had it when they had a canned-food drive last month and her parent coordinator got stuck with most of the work.

"It's embarrassing," Collins said, "when I've got people from across town giving us more help than my own."

New year, new hope

Nims' new Parent Involvement Action Team has already planned a Bring Your Parents to School Day event this month; a Super Bowl party, a ladies fashion show and brunch in February; and, in March, an FCAT pep rally. A grant-writing workshop, family literacy conference and home-buying seminar all have tentative dates on the calendar during the next three months.

Jessup, a seasoned parent-involvement coordinator who worked with Collins in Jefferson County, came on board in late fall. She hopes that soliciting their opinions and providing programs targeted to their needs will get parents invested in Nims.

"We need help," she said. "This is their school, too."

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