TOLEDO, OH (WTOL) - It's like their wall of fame, but it's photos of Robinson Elementary students and their families.
"Me, my mom, my brother and my little sister," said first-grader Paxton Hensel. Paxton showed off his family photo from his teacher's visit to his house.
"The visit with Mr. Werner was especially great," said Erin Hensel, Paxton's mom. "He's a big animal person and so is Paxton. And so he really was excited to connect with him in that way. Before they even got to school."
Months after the summer home visit by Mr. Werner, Paxton is still talking about getting to show off his pet.
"I showed him my fish, Stinger," he said with a smile.
Paxton's mom said having an informal visit gives the teachers a chance to learn about the student's home life, which can have direct impact on how they do in school. Teachers at Robinson agree.
"I think it's a great job that they are bridging home with the academics because if you have problems at home, children are going to bring it to school," said Velvet Saunders, paraprofessional at Robinson Elementary. "So it will be good for teachers to actually understand what's going on in the children's homes."
All of the staff at Robinson went through a special home-visit training. They go out on their own time and when it's convenient for the families, said Theresa Mariea who organized the new program.
"We go in with nothing in our hands," Mariea explained. "We want parents to be very comfortable that we're not there to document their life. When we leave, we do have a form through memory that we fill out. They just document the student, the parent the time of day, their hopes and dreams and any other concerns they may have."
Mariea said so far they've done 25 home visits impacting 50 students.
There are more scheduled later this month and are completely optional for parents.