King’s Fork High families will have the chance to chat with the school’s relatively new principal, during an event next week organized by the PTSA.

Coffee with the Principal will be held Monday at the East Suffolk Recreation Center, 138 S. Sixth St., from 7:30 to 9:30 a.m.

It’s a chance for parents and other family members to meet with Dr. Stenette Byrd III, who started as King’s Fork High’s principal this instructional year, in an environment other than his office, quipped Molly Crow, president of the Parent-Teacher-Student Association.

“Sixth Street has three or four neighborhoods around it where King’s Fork High students come from,” Crow said. “Instead of making people drive all the way to King’s Fork High School, we will be in their neighborhood, to make it easier to come and meet your new principal.”

The event, which Crow said could be repeated later in other neighborhoods zoned for the school, will include — of course — coffee, plus hopefully also a small sweet for everyone, though Crow said this could depend on how many show up.

The PTSA was excited to partner with Suffolk Parks and Recreation to offer the event, she said, adding it will be open to anyone with a student attending King’s Fork High, with no need for pre-registering.

According to Crow, involvement by parents in PTSAs drops off by the time their students are in high school. But at a juncture when students are getting ready to go to college or their first real jobs, she said, it’s critical that parents remain involved.

Crow also said the morning event will be a good opportunity to find out more about Byrd’s approach to his role. “He has some different ideas to our previous principal,” she said.

“He wants to have a personal connection with the parents. He wants to be involved, (and) he wants to parents to be involved with the school.”

Crow said the timing of the event would be convenient for parents to attend before taking children to school or driving to work.

Byrd, she said, who was unavailable with Monday’s winter storm to comment himself, was enthusiastic about the idea.

“He said, ‘It sounds like a great idea,’” Crow said.

The event will also be a prime chance for parents to ask Byrd how they can better prepare their teens for Standards of Learning examinations, according to Crow, as well as what lies in store for them beyond school.

“There are some students that are not going to go to college,” she said. “What’s out there for them?”