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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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We support parents by providing a free afterschool program. We also support parents through prayer and by reaching out to them. We ask our teachers to speak to parents regularly. The first time a parent hears from a teacher should not be when a student is having a problem.
The afterschool program has allowed families to be able to come into the school that would not have been able to attend otherwise. Having relationships with students helps us to be able to minister more effectively.
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We have a lot of open communication with the parents at our school. If a parent has concerns about their student we often meet with them to discuss it and partner with them to find solutions. This has developed a strong partnership between the school staff and families at our school and it is not uncommon to have a parent reach out to a teacher and say something like “My student is struggling in this course what can we do to help get him/her back up to where they need to be.” It is always encouraging when parents want to partner with the school.
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At our school, we provide after school care, allow parents to eat with their students at lunch, and use parent in various volunteer efforts. Without our parents support and help, I am not sure that we could have such a great school.
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We have a before and after school childcare for working parents. We also allow parents to volunteer to help build sets for school plays, and we involve them with clean the school days. It always amazes me how much community is build when people work together.
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Parents are welcomed as volunteers in the classroom. While this of course has many practical benefits to teachers, perhaps the most important result is that it is a good way to create an authentic partnership between home and school. Communicating with parents is another tangible step for involving/supporting parents. By opening up a path for communication, I often learn important information that is useful in understanding and meeting the needs of the students in the classroom.