ENGAGING PARENTS:HOW DO YOU MEASURE UP?

The relationship between your school district and the parent community often seems to hinge on big visible events such as the success of your football team, or the opening of your brand new

state-of-the-art makerspace. The excitement of a winning team is infectious,

and adding new technology truly can propel your students forward. But the

sad truth is that football teams don’t win forever, and the marching band

parents aren’t as happy about the new makerspace as you might have hoped

(they want new buses). Ultimately, a healthy relationship between your district

and your parents is not forged in expensive initiatives, rather formative

relationships are created from the meaningful conversations that happen

between teachers, principals, administrators and parents. It is the one-on-one

positive communication with parents that creates lasting buy-in. When

parents can truly be a part of the conversation surrounding the success of

their child, support for the district is a natural byproduct.

The following list of questions is designed to help you assess the health of

the parent communication in your school district.

1. Do your teachers communicate good news regularly? (and how would you know?)In order to foster and maintain a positive relationship between your community and your district as a whole, individual, one on one, positive conversations need to be happening between teachers and parents every single day. Parent calls regarding negative issues such as discipline or poor attendance are always going to happen. It also goes without saying that your team will contact a parent in times of emergency. But how do the frequency of these calls compare to the frequency of calls or texts regarding positive behavior? There is far less positive communication than negative currently happening in most districts today, and the two major culprits for this deficit are time and accessibility. Whether a teacher, a principal, or a SPED Director, calling and texting parents must be easy enough that communication home transcends emergency situations and begins to build strong relationships based on holistic student growth.

2. Are your non-native English speakers able to communicate with teachers easily?Remember that game of telephone you used to play as a kid? One person whispers a phrase in a friend’s ear, and then that same phrase is whispered down the line through multiple kids? By the time the phrase reached the last person, the resulting words were nothing like the original message. It was a hoot with a group of friends, but it’s not nearly as much fun when it comes to getting messages to your non-native English speaking parents. Teachers often rely on students to relay messages to parents who don’t speak English. And as we know from the telephone game, even the most well-meaning students will unintentionally modify the message. Of course, even if your message does make it home, the language barrier between teacher and parent still exists. The solution lies in easy text and email translation. When teachers can translate messages home in the same manner they communicate with other parents, and then be able to translate them back, not only will important information make it to the stakeholders, but your district is ultimately reaching a group of people who may have existed on the margins of your community.

3. Can parents reach teachers easily without bothering them in their personal time?If a parent wants to speak to a teacher in your district, what is their current method to connect? If a teacher has been so kind as to share their personal phone number, the result may be incessant calls or texts after hours or late into the night. If your teachers choose not to share their personal cell phone numbers, parents may be forced to call the school in a futile attempt to catch a teacher in his or her planning period. The long and short of it is that while teachers need to be able to contact parents, in order to foster meaningful relationships, parents also need to be able to safely and easily contact teachers.

4. Is your communication with parents sensitive towards cultural diversity?Fostering parent engagement cross culturally may seem like an overwhelming task, especially if you have a large immigrant population. Parents may speak a different language, or they may do things that seem strange to you. It may seem like they don’t care about education, or even like they are not responsible. It’s important to remember that different cultures have varying expectations of their role in their child’s education. They may have different past experiences with schools and of course individual differences in temperament and communication skills. The first step in overcoming these differences is changing communication from one-way to two-way. That means removing language barriers (see #2 above), giving parents a method to reach teachers (see #3 above), and finally, fostering an open-minded perspective within your district. This starts with believing that parents want the best for their child even if they do not agree with you. While there is no one book on cultural awareness that is going to help your teachers relate to every family, giving your teachers and principals the ability to see each student holistically is a dramatic step forward. That means that before communicating with parents, educators must be able to see the whole student. That information should include everything from test scores, to attendance and discipline, to personal student preferences and accolades. When both parents and teachers are focused on the overall journey of a student, getting on the same page is actually possible. 5. Are you hosting regular on-campus events for parents? On-campus parent involvement will always be an important part of your district’s relationship with community. Whether it’s a Family Tech Talk Night on campus or even a Family Yoga Night, when parents become familiar with the campus environment, they naturally become more connected and comfortable (read: supportive) with the district as a whole. The tricky part here is bringing in more than the usual groups of parents. Consider personally reaching out to parents beyond the usual groups. As your teachers and principals build relationships through one-on-one communication, new parent leaders have the opportunity to emerge. Inviting parents who have not previously been involved can increase the turnout at your on-campus events. And of course, take advantage of sites like www.ptotoday.com for fresh ideas for on-campus family and parent activities. Offering a variety of activities can help your schools reach a wider audience.

6. Are you embracing partnerships with local community organizations? Building relationships with community and faith-based organizations outside your campus is an excellent way to strengthen and support individual partners as well as engage a larger group of parents. Partnerships can result in improved program quality and more efficient use of

resources, as well as provide parents and families with alternative entry points into the school day to support student learning. Community organizations may be able to provide access to mentors, afterschool staff, and support transitions across the school years, effectively reaching families in unique ways.

7. Are you utilizing the connections of your parent community for your students?Chances are that your parent population is made up of a wide variety of interests and careers. Whether it’s a parent that works at a cool tech company or a local healthcare facility, making the most of those connections results in stakeholder buy-in as well as community and career minded students. This might take the form of on-site visits, career fairs, or program sponsorship, but the point is to always keep an open mind to ways in which the skills and connections of your parents can be utilized for your students. In addition, parents who were otherwise unable to participate in school activities may find ways to contribute. For example, a busy, tech-savvy parent may not be able to attend campus events, but she may have equipment to donate to your new makerspace. Or a parent who owns a small business may be able to host students for internships or give a talk about being an entrepreneur. Continuing to foster one-on-one conversations with parents can help you identify where these opportunities exist. Inviting and allowing for parents to participate in ways that utilize their strengths and connections will help your parent community thrive.

8. Are you really willing to share power with parents and families?Meaningful, lasting engagement with parents and families means the sharing of power. However, sharing power must first begin with sharing knowledge. Whether it’s the negotiation of Individualized Education Programs, 504’s, or determining if AP coursework is appropriate, the responsibility is on school professionals to understand parental needs and to be cognizant of power differentials that can inhibit parent-educator relationships. This means that educators must be willing to talk like a human by avoiding education-based acronyms or overuse of education terminology. Educators must be willing to actually listen and consider the perspectives of parents. This is, of course, easier said than done if one-on-one conversations are not happening frequently. Parents who are unable to attend IEP meetings are unlikely to fully understand procedures and the ones that do may feel as though they are being treated as passive participants rather than active partners. The solution begins with cultivating a caring disposition within your district. Each family carries complexities surrounding economic situations, social justice perspectives, and the many cultural barriers we’ve discussed earlier. Recognizing shared goals and seeing eye to eye with diverse family groups begins with real conversation and mutual respect.

Reading through this list, you’ve probably noticed a common theme - removing barriers. Barriers come in many forms, but by following the guidelines above you can start to break down your unique obstacles for more meaningful relationships in your community. If you’re not sure where to start and would like help, SchoolStatus can provide you with the information you need to begin integrating communication practices that support your overall district goals. Get in touch by emailing answers@schoolstatus.com or give us a call at 1.855.9.STATUS.

The relationship between your school district and the parent community often seems to hinge on big visible events such as the success of your football team, or the opening of your brand new

state-of-the-art makerspace. The excitement of a winning team is infectious,

and adding new technology truly can propel your students forward. But the

sad truth is that football teams don’t win forever, and the marching band

parents aren’t as happy about the new makerspace as you might have hoped

(they want new buses). Ultimately, a healthy relationship between your district

and your parents is not forged in expensive initiatives, rather formative

relationships are created from the meaningful conversations that happen

between teachers, principals, administrators and parents. It is the one-on-one

positive communication with parents that creates lasting buy-in. When

parents can truly be a part of the conversation surrounding the success of

their child, support for the district is a natural byproduct.

The following list of questions is designed to help you assess the health of

the parent communication in your school district.

1. Do your teachers communicate good news regularly? (and how would you know?)In order to foster and maintain a positive relationship between your community and your district as a whole, individual, one on one, positive conversations need to be happening between teachers and parents every single day. Parent calls regarding negative issues such as discipline or poor attendance are always going to happen. It also goes without saying that your team will contact a parent in times of emergency. But how do the frequency of these calls compare to the frequency of calls or texts regarding positive behavior? There is far less positive communication than negative currently happening in most districts today, and the two major culprits for this deficit are time and accessibility. Whether a teacher, a principal, or a SPED Director, calling and texting parents must be easy enough that communication home transcends emergency situations and begins to build strong relationships based on holistic student growth.

2. Are your non-native English speakers able to communicate with teachers easily?Remember that game of telephone you used to play as a kid? One person whispers a phrase in a friend’s ear, and then that same phrase is whispered down the line through multiple kids? By the time the phrase reached the last person, the resulting words were nothing like the original message. It was a hoot with a group of friends, but it’s not nearly as much fun when it comes to getting messages to your non-native English speaking parents. Teachers often rely on students to relay messages to parents who don’t speak English. And as we know from the telephone game, even the most well-meaning students will unintentionally modify the message. Of course, even if your message does make it home, the language barrier between teacher and parent still exists. The solution lies in easy text and email translation. When teachers can translate messages home in the same manner they communicate with other parents, and then be able to translate them back, not only will important information make it to the stakeholders, but your district is ultimately reaching a group of people who may have existed on the margins of your community.

3. Can parents reach teachers easily without bothering them in their personal time?If a parent wants to speak to a teacher in your district, what is their current method to connect? If a teacher has been so kind as to share their personal phone number, the result may be incessant calls or texts after hours or late into the night. If your teachers choose not to share their personal cell phone numbers, parents may be forced to call the school in a futile attempt to catch a teacher in his or her planning period. The long and short of it is that while teachers need to be able to contact parents, in order to foster meaningful relationships, parents also need to be able to safely and easily contact teachers.

4. Is your communication with parents sensitive towards cultural diversity?Fostering parent engagement cross culturally may seem like an overwhelming task, especially if you have a large immigrant population. Parents may speak a different language, or they may do things that seem strange to you. It may seem like they don’t care about education, or even like they are not responsible. It’s important to remember that different cultures have varying expectations of their role in their child’s education. They may have different past experiences with schools and of course individual differences in temperament and communication skills. The first step in overcoming these differences is changing communication from one-way to two-way. That means removing language barriers (see #2 above), giving parents a method to reach teachers (see #3 above), and finally, fostering an open-minded perspective within your district. This starts with believing that parents want the best for their child even if they do not agree with you. While there is no one book on cultural awareness that is going to help your teachers relate to every family, giving your teachers and principals the ability to see each student holistically is a dramatic step forward. That means that before communicating with parents, educators must be able to see the whole student. That information should include everything from test scores, to attendance and discipline, to personal student preferences and accolades. When both parents and teachers are focused on the overall journey of a student, getting on the same page is actually possible. 5. Are you hosting regular on-campus events for parents? On-campus parent involvement will always be an important part of your district’s relationship with community. Whether it’s a Family Tech Talk Night on campus or even a Family Yoga Night, when parents become familiar with the campus environment, they naturally become more connected and comfortable (read: supportive) with the district as a whole. The tricky part here is bringing in more than the usual groups of parents. Consider personally reaching out to parents beyond the usual groups. As your teachers and principals build relationships through one-on-one communication, new parent leaders have the opportunity to emerge. Inviting parents who have not previously been involved can increase the turnout at your on-campus events. And of course, take advantage of sites like www.ptotoday.com for fresh ideas for on-campus family and parent activities. Offering a variety of activities can help your schools reach a wider audience.

6. Are you embracing partnerships with local community organizations? Building relationships with community and faith-based organizations outside your campus is an excellent way to strengthen and support individual partners as well as engage a larger group of parents. Partnerships can result in improved program quality and more efficient use of

resources, as well as provide parents and families with alternative entry points into the school day to support student learning. Community organizations may be able to provide access to mentors, afterschool staff, and support transitions across the school years, effectively reaching families in unique ways.

7. Are you utilizing the connections of your parent community for your students?Chances are that your parent population is made up of a wide variety of interests and careers. Whether it’s a parent that works at a cool tech company or a local healthcare facility, making the most of those connections results in stakeholder buy-in as well as community and career minded students. This might take the form of on-site visits, career fairs, or program sponsorship, but the point is to always keep an open mind to ways in which the skills and connections of your parents can be utilized for your students. In addition, parents who were otherwise unable to participate in school activities may find ways to contribute. For example, a busy, tech-savvy parent may not be able to attend campus events, but she may have equipment to donate to your new makerspace. Or a parent who owns a small business may be able to host students for internships or give a talk about being an entrepreneur. Continuing to foster one-on-one conversations with parents can help you identify where these opportunities exist. Inviting and allowing for parents to participate in ways that utilize their strengths and connections will help your parent community thrive.

8. Are you really willing to share power with parents and families?Meaningful, lasting engagement with parents and families means the sharing of power. However, sharing power must first begin with sharing knowledge. Whether it’s the negotiation of Individualized Education Programs, 504’s, or determining if AP coursework is appropriate, the responsibility is on school professionals to understand parental needs and to be cognizant of power differentials that can inhibit parent-educator relationships. This means that educators must be willing to talk like a human by avoiding education-based acronyms or overuse of education terminology. Educators must be willing to actually listen and consider the perspectives of parents. This is, of course, easier said than done if one-on-one conversations are not happening frequently. Parents who are unable to attend IEP meetings are unlikely to fully understand procedures and the ones that do may feel as though they are being treated as passive participants rather than active partners. The solution begins with cultivating a caring disposition within your district. Each family carries complexities surrounding economic situations, social justice perspectives, and the many cultural barriers we’ve discussed earlier. Recognizing shared goals and seeing eye to eye with diverse family groups begins with real conversation and mutual respect.

Reading through this list, you’ve probably noticed a common theme - removing barriers. Barriers come in many forms, but by following the guidelines above you can start to break down your unique obstacles for more meaningful relationships in your community. If you’re not sure where to start and would like help, SchoolStatus can provide you with the information you need to begin integrating communication practices that support your overall district goals. Get in touch by emailing answers@schoolstatus.com or give us a call at 1.855.9.STATUS.

The relationship between your school district and the parent community often seems to hinge on big visible events such as the success of your football team, or the opening of your brand new

state-of-the-art makerspace. The excitement of a winning team is infectious,

and adding new technology truly can propel your students forward. But the

sad truth is that football teams don’t win forever, and the marching band

parents aren’t as happy about the new makerspace as you might have hoped

(they want new buses). Ultimately, a healthy relationship between your district

and your parents is not forged in expensive initiatives, rather formative

relationships are created from the meaningful conversations that happen

between teachers, principals, administrators and parents. It is the one-on-one

positive communication with parents that creates lasting buy-in. When

parents can truly be a part of the conversation surrounding the success of

their child, support for the district is a natural byproduct.

The following list of questions is designed to help you assess the health of

the parent communication in your school district.

1. Do your teachers communicate good news regularly? (and how would you know?)In order to foster and maintain a positive relationship between your community and your district as a whole, individual, one on one, positive conversations need to be happening between teachers and parents every single day. Parent calls regarding negative issues such as discipline or poor attendance are always going to happen. It also goes without saying that your team will contact a parent in times of emergency. But how do the frequency of these calls compare to the frequency of calls or texts regarding positive behavior? There is far less positive communication than negative currently happening in most districts today, and the two major culprits for this deficit are time and accessibility. Whether a teacher, a principal, or a SPED Director, calling and texting parents must be easy enough that communication home transcends emergency situations and begins to build strong relationships based on holistic student growth.

2. Are your non-native English speakers able to communicate with teachers easily?Remember that game of telephone you used to play as a kid? One person whispers a phrase in a friend’s ear, and then that same phrase is whispered down the line through multiple kids? By the time the phrase reached the last person, the resulting words were nothing like the original message. It was a hoot with a group of friends, but it’s not nearly as much fun when it comes to getting messages to your non-native English speaking parents. Teachers often rely on students to relay messages to parents who don’t speak English. And as we know from the telephone game, even the most well-meaning students will unintentionally modify the message. Of course, even if your message does make it home, the language barrier between teacher and parent still exists. The solution lies in easy text and email translation. When teachers can translate messages home in the same manner they communicate with other parents, and then be able to translate them back, not only will important information make it to the stakeholders, but your district is ultimately reaching a group of people who may have existed on the margins of your community.

3. Can parents reach teachers easily without bothering them in their personal time?If a parent wants to speak to a teacher in your district, what is their current method to connect? If a teacher has been so kind as to share their personal phone number, the result may be incessant calls or texts after hours or late into the night. If your teachers choose not to share their personal cell phone numbers, parents may be forced to call the school in a futile attempt to catch a teacher in his or her planning period. The long and short of it is that while teachers need to be able to contact parents, in order to foster meaningful relationships, parents also need to be able to safely and easily contact teachers.

4. Is your communication with parents sensitive towards cultural diversity?Fostering parent engagement cross culturally may seem like an overwhelming task, especially if you have a large immigrant population. Parents may speak a different language, or they may do things that seem strange to you. It may seem like they don’t care about education, or even like they are not responsible. It’s important to remember that different cultures have varying expectations of their role in their child’s education. They may have different past experiences with schools and of course individual differences in temperament and communication skills. The first step in overcoming these differences is changing communication from one-way to two-way. That means removing language barriers (see #2 above), giving parents a method to reach teachers (see #3 above), and finally, fostering an open-minded perspective within your district. This starts with believing that parents want the best for their child even if they do not agree with you. While there is no one book on cultural awareness that is going to help your teachers relate to every family, giving your teachers and principals the ability to see each student holistically is a dramatic step forward. That means that before communicating with parents, educators must be able to see the whole student. That information should include everything from test scores, to attendance and discipline, to personal student preferences and accolades. When both parents and teachers are focused on the overall journey of a student, getting on the same page is actually possible. 5. Are you hosting regular on-campus events for parents? On-campus parent involvement will always be an important part of your district’s relationship with community. Whether it’s a Family Tech Talk Night on campus or even a Family Yoga Night, when parents become familiar with the campus environment, they naturally become more connected and comfortable (read: supportive) with the district as a whole. The tricky part here is bringing in more than the usual groups of parents. Consider personally reaching out to parents beyond the usual groups. As your teachers and principals build relationships through one-on-one communication, new parent leaders have the opportunity to emerge. Inviting parents who have not previously been involved can increase the turnout at your on-campus events. And of course, take advantage of sites like www.ptotoday.com for fresh ideas for on-campus family and parent activities. Offering a variety of activities can help your schools reach a wider audience.

6. Are you embracing partnerships with local community organizations? Building relationships with community and faith-based organizations outside your campus is an excellent way to strengthen and support individual partners as well as engage a larger group of parents. Partnerships can result in improved program quality and more efficient use of

resources, as well as provide parents and families with alternative entry points into the school day to support student learning. Community organizations may be able to provide access to mentors, afterschool staff, and support transitions across the school years, effectively reaching families in unique ways.

7. Are you utilizing the connections of your parent community for your students?Chances are that your parent population is made up of a wide variety of interests and careers. Whether it’s a parent that works at a cool tech company or a local healthcare facility, making the most of those connections results in stakeholder buy-in as well as community and career minded students. This might take the form of on-site visits, career fairs, or program sponsorship, but the point is to always keep an open mind to ways in which the skills and connections of your parents can be utilized for your students. In addition, parents who were otherwise unable to participate in school activities may find ways to contribute. For example, a busy, tech-savvy parent may not be able to attend campus events, but she may have equipment to donate to your new makerspace. Or a parent who owns a small business may be able to host students for internships or give a talk about being an entrepreneur. Continuing to foster one-on-one conversations with parents can help you identify where these opportunities exist. Inviting and allowing for parents to participate in ways that utilize their strengths and connections will help your parent community thrive.

8. Are you really willing to share power with parents and families?Meaningful, lasting engagement with parents and families means the sharing of power. However, sharing power must first begin with sharing knowledge. Whether it’s the negotiation of Individualized Education Programs, 504’s, or determining if AP coursework is appropriate, the responsibility is on school professionals to understand parental needs and to be cognizant of power differentials that can inhibit parent-educator relationships. This means that educators must be willing to talk like a human by avoiding education-based acronyms or overuse of education terminology. Educators must be willing to actually listen and consider the perspectives of parents. This is, of course, easier said than done if one-on-one conversations are not happening frequently. Parents who are unable to attend IEP meetings are unlikely to fully understand procedures and the ones that do may feel as though they are being treated as passive participants rather than active partners. The solution begins with cultivating a caring disposition within your district. Each family carries complexities surrounding economic situations, social justice perspectives, and the many cultural barriers we’ve discussed earlier. Recognizing shared goals and seeing eye to eye with diverse family groups begins with real conversation and mutual respect.

Reading through this list, you’ve probably noticed a common theme - removing barriers. Barriers come in many forms, but by following the guidelines above you can start to break down your unique obstacles for more meaningful relationships in your community. If you’re not sure where to start and would like help, SchoolStatus can provide you with the information you need to begin integrating communication practices that support your overall district goals. Get in touch by emailing answers@schoolstatus.com or give us a call at 1.855.9.STATUS.

The relationship between your school district and the parent community often seems to hinge on big visible events such as the success of your football team, or the opening of your brand new

state-of-the-art makerspace. The excitement of a winning team is infectious,

and adding new technology truly can propel your students forward. But the

sad truth is that football teams don’t win forever, and the marching band

parents aren’t as happy about the new makerspace as you might have hoped

(they want new buses). Ultimately, a healthy relationship between your district

and your parents is not forged in expensive initiatives, rather formative

relationships are created from the meaningful conversations that happen

between teachers, principals, administrators and parents. It is the one-on-one

positive communication with parents that creates lasting buy-in. When

parents can truly be a part of the conversation surrounding the success of

their child, support for the district is a natural byproduct.

The following list of questions is designed to help you assess the health of

the parent communication in your school district.

1. Do your teachers communicate good news regularly? (and how would you know?)In order to foster and maintain a positive relationship between your community and your district as a whole, individual, one on one, positive conversations need to be happening between teachers and parents every single day. Parent calls regarding negative issues such as discipline or poor attendance are always going to happen. It also goes without saying that your team will contact a parent in times of emergency. But how do the frequency of these calls compare to the frequency of calls or texts regarding positive behavior? There is far less positive communication than negative currently happening in most districts today, and the two major culprits for this deficit are time and accessibility. Whether a teacher, a principal, or a SPED Director, calling and texting parents must be easy enough that communication home transcends emergency situations and begins to build strong relationships based on holistic student growth.

2. Are your non-native English speakers able to communicate with teachers easily?Remember that game of telephone you used to play as a kid? One person whispers a phrase in a friend’s ear, and then that same phrase is whispered down the line through multiple kids? By the time the phrase reached the last person, the resulting words were nothing like the original message. It was a hoot with a group of friends, but it’s not nearly as much fun when it comes to getting messages to your non-native English speaking parents. Teachers often rely on students to relay messages to parents who don’t speak English. And as we know from the telephone game, even the most well-meaning students will unintentionally modify the message. Of course, even if your message does make it home, the language barrier between teacher and parent still exists. The solution lies in easy text and email translation. When teachers can translate messages home in the same manner they communicate with other parents, and then be able to translate them back, not only will important information make it to the stakeholders, but your district is ultimately reaching a group of people who may have existed on the margins of your community.

3. Can parents reach teachers easily without bothering them in their personal time?If a parent wants to speak to a teacher in your district, what is their current method to connect? If a teacher has been so kind as to share their personal phone number, the result may be incessant calls or texts after hours or late into the night. If your teachers choose not to share their personal cell phone numbers, parents may be forced to call the school in a futile attempt to catch a teacher in his or her planning period. The long and short of it is that while teachers need to be able to contact parents, in order to foster meaningful relationships, parents also need to be able to safely and easily contact teachers.

4. Is your communication with parents sensitive towards cultural diversity?Fostering parent engagement cross culturally may seem like an overwhelming task, especially if you have a large immigrant population. Parents may speak a different language, or they may do things that seem strange to you. It may seem like they don’t care about education, or even like they are not responsible. It’s important to remember that different cultures have varying expectations of their role in their child’s education. They may have different past experiences with schools and of course individual differences in temperament and communication skills. The first step in overcoming these differences is changing communication from one-way to two-way. That means removing language barriers (see #2 above), giving parents a method to reach teachers (see #3 above), and finally, fostering an open-minded perspective within your district. This starts with believing that parents want the best for their child even if they do not agree with you. While there is no one book on cultural awareness that is going to help your teachers relate to every family, giving your teachers and principals the ability to see each student holistically is a dramatic step forward. That means that before communicating with parents, educators must be able to see the whole student. That information should include everything from test scores, to attendance and discipline, to personal student preferences and accolades. When both parents and teachers are focused on the overall journey of a student, getting on the same page is actually possible. 5. Are you hosting regular on-campus events for parents? On-campus parent involvement will always be an important part of your district’s relationship with community. Whether it’s a Family Tech Talk Night on campus or even a Family Yoga Night, when parents become familiar with the campus environment, they naturally become more connected and comfortable (read: supportive) with the district as a whole. The tricky part here is bringing in more than the usual groups of parents. Consider personally reaching out to parents beyond the usual groups. As your teachers and principals build relationships through one-on-one communication, new parent leaders have the opportunity to emerge. Inviting parents who have not previously been involved can increase the turnout at your on-campus events. And of course, take advantage of sites like www.ptotoday.com for fresh ideas for on-campus family and parent activities. Offering a variety of activities can help your schools reach a wider audience.

6. Are you embracing partnerships with local community organizations? Building relationships with community and faith-based organizations outside your campus is an excellent way to strengthen and support individual partners as well as engage a larger group of parents. Partnerships can result in improved program quality and more efficient use of

resources, as well as provide parents and families with alternative entry points into the school day to support student learning. Community organizations may be able to provide access to mentors, afterschool staff, and support transitions across the school years, effectively reaching families in unique ways.

7. Are you utilizing the connections of your parent community for your students?Chances are that your parent population is made up of a wide variety of interests and careers. Whether it’s a parent that works at a cool tech company or a local healthcare facility, making the most of those connections results in stakeholder buy-in as well as community and career minded students. This might take the form of on-site visits, career fairs, or program sponsorship, but the point is to always keep an open mind to ways in which the skills and connections of your parents can be utilized for your students. In addition, parents who were otherwise unable to participate in school activities may find ways to contribute. For example, a busy, tech-savvy parent may not be able to attend campus events, but she may have equipment to donate to your new makerspace. Or a parent who owns a small business may be able to host students for internships or give a talk about being an entrepreneur. Continuing to foster one-on-one conversations with parents can help you identify where these opportunities exist. Inviting and allowing for parents to participate in ways that utilize their strengths and connections will help your parent community thrive.

8. Are you really willing to share power with parents and families?Meaningful, lasting engagement with parents and families means the sharing of power. However, sharing power must first begin with sharing knowledge. Whether it’s the negotiation of Individualized Education Programs, 504’s, or determining if AP coursework is appropriate, the responsibility is on school professionals to understand parental needs and to be cognizant of power differentials that can inhibit parent-educator relationships. This means that educators must be willing to talk like a human by avoiding education-based acronyms or overuse of education terminology. Educators must be willing to actually listen and consider the perspectives of parents. This is, of course, easier said than done if one-on-one conversations are not happening frequently. Parents who are unable to attend IEP meetings are unlikely to fully understand procedures and the ones that do may feel as though they are being treated as passive participants rather than active partners. The solution begins with cultivating a caring disposition within your district. Each family carries complexities surrounding economic situations, social justice perspectives, and the many cultural barriers we’ve discussed earlier. Recognizing shared goals and seeing eye to eye with diverse family groups begins with real conversation and mutual respect.

Reading through this list, you’ve probably noticed a common theme - removing barriers. Barriers come in many forms, but by following the guidelines above you can start to break down your unique obstacles for more meaningful relationships in your community. If you’re not sure where to start and would like help, SchoolStatus can provide you with the information you need to begin integrating communication practices that support your overall district goals. Get in touch by emailing answers@schoolstatus.com or give us a call at 1.855.9.STATUS.

Ellen Lee is the Marketing Communications Manager for SchoolStatus. Her background and experience as an Anthropologist gives her a keen eye and unique perspective on how to help our Educator partners reach out to and truly connect with parents. Ellen is passionate about improving relationships in Education between teachers, parents, and all key stakeholders in a position to improve the educational experience for each and every child.

The relationship between your school district and the parent community often seems to hinge on big visible events such as the success of your football team, or the opening of your brand new

state-of-the-art makerspace. The excitement of a winning team is infectious,

and adding new technology truly can propel your students forward. But the

sad truth is that football teams don’t win forever, and the marching band

parents aren’t as happy about the new makerspace as you might have hoped

(they want new buses). Ultimately, a healthy relationship between your district

and your parents is not forged in expensive initiatives, rather formative

relationships are created from the meaningful conversations that happen

between teachers, principals, administrators and parents. It is the one-on-one

positive communication with parents that creates lasting buy-in. When

parents can truly be a part of the conversation surrounding the success of

their child, support for the district is a natural byproduct.

The following list of questions is designed to help you assess the health of

the parent communication in your school district.

1. Do your teachers communicate good news regularly? (and how would you know?)In order to foster and maintain a positive relationship between your community and your district as a whole, individual, one on one, positive conversations need to be happening between teachers and parents every single day. Parent calls regarding negative issues such as discipline or poor attendance are always going to happen. It also goes without saying that your team will contact a parent in times of emergency. But how do the frequency of these calls compare to the frequency of calls or texts regarding positive behavior? There is far less positive communication than negative currently happening in most districts today, and the two major culprits for this deficit are time and accessibility. Whether a teacher, a principal, or a SPED Director, calling and texting parents must be easy enough that communication home transcends emergency situations and begins to build strong relationships based on holistic student growth.

2. Are your non-native English speakers able to communicate with teachers easily?Remember that game of telephone you used to play as a kid? One person whispers a phrase in a friend’s ear, and then that same phrase is whispered down the line through multiple kids? By the time the phrase reached the last person, the resulting words were nothing like the original message. It was a hoot with a group of friends, but it’s not nearly as much fun when it comes to getting messages to your non-native English speaking parents. Teachers often rely on students to relay messages to parents who don’t speak English. And as we know from the telephone game, even the most well-meaning students will unintentionally modify the message. Of course, even if your message does make it home, the language barrier between teacher and parent still exists. The solution lies in easy text and email translation. When teachers can translate messages home in the same manner they communicate with other parents, and then be able to translate them back, not only will important information make it to the stakeholders, but your district is ultimately reaching a group of people who may have existed on the margins of your community.

3. Can parents reach teachers easily without bothering them in their personal time?If a parent wants to speak to a teacher in your district, what is their current method to connect? If a teacher has been so kind as to share their personal phone number, the result may be incessant calls or texts after hours or late into the night. If your teachers choose not to share their personal cell phone numbers, parents may be forced to call the school in a futile attempt to catch a teacher in his or her planning period. The long and short of it is that while teachers need to be able to contact parents, in order to foster meaningful relationships, parents also need to be able to safely and easily contact teachers.

4. Is your communication with parents sensitive towards cultural diversity?Fostering parent engagement cross culturally may seem like an overwhelming task, especially if you have a large immigrant population. Parents may speak a different language, or they may do things that seem strange to you. It may seem like they don’t care about education, or even like they are not responsible. It’s important to remember that different cultures have varying expectations of their role in their child’s education. They may have different past experiences with schools and of course individual differences in temperament and communication skills. The first step in overcoming these differences is changing communication from one-way to two-way. That means removing language barriers (see #2 above), giving parents a method to reach teachers (see #3 above), and finally, fostering an open-minded perspective within your district. This starts with believing that parents want the best for their child even if they do not agree with you. While there is no one book on cultural awareness that is going to help your teachers relate to every family, giving your teachers and principals the ability to see each student holistically is a dramatic step forward. That means that before communicating with parents, educators must be able to see the whole student. That information should include everything from test scores, to attendance and discipline, to personal student preferences and accolades. When both parents and teachers are focused on the overall journey of a student, getting on the same page is actually possible. 5. Are you hosting regular on-campus events for parents? On-campus parent involvement will always be an important part of your district’s relationship with community. Whether it’s a Family Tech Talk Night on campus or even a Family Yoga Night, when parents become familiar with the campus environment, they naturally become more connected and comfortable (read: supportive) with the district as a whole. The tricky part here is bringing in more than the usual groups of parents. Consider personally reaching out to parents beyond the usual groups. As your teachers and principals build relationships through one-on-one communication, new parent leaders have the opportunity to emerge. Inviting parents who have not previously been involved can increase the turnout at your on-campus events. And of course, take advantage of sites like www.ptotoday.com for fresh ideas for on-campus family and parent activities. Offering a variety of activities can help your schools reach a wider audience.

6. Are you embracing partnerships with local community organizations? Building relationships with community and faith-based organizations outside your campus is an excellent way to strengthen and support individual partners as well as engage a larger group of parents. Partnerships can result in improved program quality and more efficient use of CHECK US OUT:

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resources, as well as provide parents and families with alternative entry points into the school day to support student learning. Community organizations may be able to provide access to mentors, afterschool staff, and support transitions across the school years, effectively reaching families in unique ways.

7. Are you utilizing the connections of your parent community for your students?Chances are that your parent population is made up of a wide variety of interests and careers. Whether it’s a parent that works at a cool tech company or a local healthcare facility, making the most of those connections results in stakeholder buy-in as well as community and career minded students. This might take the form of on-site visits, career fairs, or program sponsorship, but the point is to always keep an open mind to ways in which the skills and connections of your parents can be utilized for your students. In addition, parents who were otherwise unable to participate in school activities may find ways to contribute. For example, a busy, tech-savvy parent may not be able to attend campus events, but she may have equipment to donate to your new makerspace. Or a parent who owns a small business may be able to host students for internships or give a talk about being an entrepreneur. Continuing to foster one-on-one conversations with parents can help you identify where these opportunities exist. Inviting and allowing for parents to participate in ways that utilize their strengths and connections will help your parent community thrive.

8. Are you really willing to share power with parents and families?Meaningful, lasting engagement with parents and families means the sharing of power. However, sharing power must first begin with sharing knowledge. Whether it’s the negotiation of Individualized Education Programs, 504’s, or determining if AP coursework is appropriate, the responsibility is on school professionals to understand parental needs and to be cognizant of power differentials that can inhibit parent-educator relationships. This means that educators must be willing to talk like a human by avoiding education-based acronyms or overuse of education terminology. Educators must be willing to actually listen and consider the perspectives of parents. This is, of course, easier said than done if one-on-one conversations are not happening frequently. Parents who are unable to attend IEP meetings are unlikely to fully understand procedures and the ones that do may feel as though they are being treated as passive participants rather than active partners. The solution begins with cultivating a caring disposition within your district. Each family carries complexities surrounding economic situations, social justice perspectives, and the many cultural barriers we’ve discussed earlier. Recognizing shared goals and seeing eye to eye with diverse family groups begins with real conversation and mutual respect.

Reading through this list, you’ve probably noticed a common theme - removing barriers. Barriers come in many forms, but by following the guidelines above you can start to break down your unique obstacles for more meaningful relationships in your community. If you’re not sure where to start and would like help, SchoolStatus can provide you with the information you need to begin integrating communication practices that support your overall district goals. Get in touch by emailing answers@schoolstatus.com or give us a call at 1.855.9.STATUS.