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In what practical ways do you and/or your school currently support parents? What benefits have you seen from this?
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Our school has a clear culture of partnering with parents to help their children achieve success. When there is a problem academically, behaviorally, or spiritually, parents are made known of the situation and invited to help develop a solution. I really appreciate this culture as I hope to have my kids attend this school one day.
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Our school has many ways that we try and support parents. First, at the beginning of the year we have numerous meet and greet opportunities. This allows for parents to meet teachers, other families, and administrators. We then have different events throughout the year for parents to attend and become quite involved in the school. These events range from BTSN, conferences, field trips, concerts, and our parent association. Teachers also communicate weekly with parents through newsletters. This past year we had a new opportunity where upper school students and parents heard more about social media and we worked with parents through that to help with discussions at home, but also internet safety.
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Our school sends out a weekly newsletter and we have conferences for every new student. We also have a call list to make sure that every parent receives a supportive phone call during the year. I think the phone calls are beneficial. Most parents are nervous when they see the school number on their phone, but are really happy to hear good things about their student.
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We offer extended care before and after school. When it’s conference time, we are sure to offer slots late in the day, and sometimes we have had video conferences instead of in-person. We offer a wide variety of ways parents can be involved with school activities, whether on campus or off. One benefit is that when parents know we support them, they support us as well when we call on them for help. It’s a positive cycle.
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Parents on our campus are welcomed to help with all types of events and activities. This has allowed families to be a part of their student’s lives on campus. I have personally worked around parents schedules whenever I need to talk with them.