"We want to create a community support system for Willow Glen Middle School," Samantha Mier said.

"This way the community can be proud to send its children there."

Mier, along with Cheryl Heiman, Vicky Malvini, and Natalie Snyder have started Parents for a Great Willow Glen Education. The group's focus is to improve the middle school's academic as well as campus environment so families select it as their first choice when reviewing middle school options.

The women said they are interested in holding fundraisers for the middle school but are also focusing on two other areas, test scores and campus safety.

"Test scores seem to be a pretty hot topic throughout the evening," Mier said after the group's first meeting on Sept. 27. "We will look into what other schools similar to Willow Glen Middle are doing to raise their scores and what we could learn from them."

More than 70 people come to the first meeting, Heiman said. The response was larger than expected.. Mier thinks the key is for parents to become involved before their children enter middle school, "making a difference now rather than later."

Approximately half of the people present were parents of either fifth-graders or preschoolers. The group is already formulating ideas that will help them determine what the next steps should be.

The parents are discussing the possibility of providing after-school tutoring to those students who need academic help, and working alongside teachers to better understand the needs of these students.

"We need to find out what's inspiring our children to learn and what's not," Mier said. "We need to get the children excited about learning again."