LEAP usually meets on the second Wednesday of each month. An exception to this schedule will be the first meeting of the year, which has been shifted to Sept. 16 to accommodate the opening of school.

Following are the LEAP topics for the coming school year:

September 16: "Volunteers Wanted: Your School Needs You" Learn ways to recruit and retain parent volunteers.

October 14: "TextED: What You and Your Child Need to Know" This program will address the issue of inappropriate cell phone use in school.

November 11: "Moving the Mountain -- How to Motivate Your Child" Learn strategies that leverage your child's motivational style and how to encourage effective study skills from elementary school onward.

December 9: "Innovation Nation: STEM Education" What is the impact of STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) education on our schools?

January 13: "How to Close the SOL Achievement Gap" Learn about LCPS' efforts to close the achievement gap.

February 10: "Film for Thought" LEAP will screen "Making Schools Work with Hedrick Smith," a PBS documentary.

March 10: "Math Madness" This will be an all things math program that will include Standards of Learning for math.

April 14: "Moving Beyond Boundaries" LEAP will explore the issues surrounding the changing of school attendance boundaries and the selection of school sites.

May 12: "Annual Town Hall Meeting"

The Loudoun Education Alliance of Parents (LEAP) is a non-partisan network that promotes interaction between parents, teachers, School Board members and members of Loudoun County Public Schools administrative team.

LEAP meets at the School Administration Building, 21000 Education Court, Ashburn. Each two-hour program features a panel discussion on topics of interest to parents and members of the community at-large and an update from LCPS Superintendent Edgar B. Hatrick III.

Each LCPS school elects a delegate from its PTA or PTO to attend LEAP meetings. However, members of the public are always welcome to attend.

LEAP was founded in 1989 with 20th Judicial Circuit Chief Judge Thomas D. Horne serving as its first president.