An insightful read from Jorden Jones, who served as a Principal in Baltimore and Wilmington, Delaware, on how she as a school leader connected with families to build a positive school community.
This post covers how family engagement and school culture are strengthened by
- Committing to consistent and accessible school communication to keep families informed and connected,
- Making parent–teacher conferences easier to attend by introducing online scheduling and personal outreach,
- Redesigning conferences for deeper collaboration by enabling families to meet with multiple teachers in one visit,
- Elevating student voice through student-led conferences that gave students an active role in conferences, and
- Building trust through community-centered initiatives by partnering with local organizations and inclusive school traditions.
Table of Contents
Introduction: Why Family Engagement Matters
During my time as a school leader, family engagement was a consistent priority. My team and I always wanted to “boost” family engagement. This goal sprang from an understanding that engaged families help to foster a positive school community, support students in the classroom, and students’ academic success. New Leaders’ shared research that, “…building your school community’s capacity to engage is critical to creating a shared vision and increasing student learning outcomes.”
Building a Supportive Learning Community for Students
My primary goal was always ensuring that students were making learning gains. To do that, students needed to feel welcome and supported in both their classrooms and overall community. I sought to build community for our students by forging relationships with our staff, families, and local organizations.
We relied on common family engagement opportunities such as Back to School Night, Report Card Conferences, and Parent University. Additionally, we implemented text blasts for routine communication.
We also cultivated unique engagements with an annual Adopt a Family initiative during the holidays and partnerships with arts groups in the area. There were many bright spots in our family engagement, but there remained a myriad of opportunities to make it even stronger and increase our impact.
Strengthening Family Engagement Through Communication
Every educator knows the value of parent communication in the classroom.
Every educator knows the value of parent communication in the classroom. We want to ensure that those closest to our students are aware of their challenges and their triumphs. The options for parent communication through the phone are many; text messages, voice notes, phone calls, FaceTime conferences, email, etc.
In my experience, school communication apps and platforms are useful. Parents and teachers maintained the privacy. Teachers can post updates and link classroom assignments. Parents have quick and easy access to student due dates, assignments, and teacher messages. Quick and accessible contact is a victory for both the school and families.
Centering Communication on Student Progress
In addition to frequent family communication, progress monitoring is hugely beneficial to family engagement. A majority of my school sites utilized traditional back to school nights and report card conferences. Families received invitations via email, flyer, and text blasts. They visited student classrooms and heard from teachers and moved on to the next teacher.
Expanding Access Through Online Conference Scheduling
As a result of the COVID Pandemic, schools had to adjust for virtual conferences. These required advanced scheduling to provide links. On one campus, we enlisted online conference sign-ups and encouraged teachers to personally call families to sign up. This was a huge boost to family attendance and conversation quality. More importantly, families appreciated the personal communication. It sent the message that, “your child’s progress matters to me and it is important that you are here to discuss.”
Creating Comprehensive Family–Teacher Conversations
Families no longer had to wait in a line to speak with the Math teacher. They were able to join a Zoom call with all their child’s teachers or meet in person and get a comprehensive update. It was an added benefit to teachers as well because now they could establish working plans for a student with their family and all of their teachers.
Elevating Student Voice Through Student-Led Conferences
I have seen this method implemented in various schools with the added input of student voice. With enough time to plan ahead, students can speak to their own progress with their parents/guardians. Through these opportunities, students are able to build independence and collaboration!
When caregivers are dialed into their students’ classrooms and progress, they are much more receptive to support the school mission.
When caregivers are dialed into their students’ classrooms and progress, they are much more receptive to support the school mission. In doing so, they are in a better position to reinforce teacher goals such as homework completion, behavioral systems, and study skills. When students know that expectations are consistent at home and in school, they often yield better performances.
Building Meaningful Community Partnerships
I always sought out community partnerships.
In each school that I had the privilege to lead, I always sought out community partnerships. Schools are very often the hub for young people and their families to find resources, fellowship, friendship, networking, and opportunity. In seeking partnerships, we considered need and opportunity.
Responding to Need: An Annual Holiday Drive
A tragic need arose during an early holiday season. One of our student families suffered a devastating house fire. The team organized a drive to help the family supply their essentials. The elders mentioned that the holiday gifts had also burned in the fire. I connected with our operations manager and organized a fundraiser to replace those lost gifts. We decided to add other families in need and establish an annual holiday drive. That first year, we raised over $1,000 and provided gifts for 3 families. We continued this tradition for the next 5 years. Not only did we build community for our families in need, but many families donated money or provided their time in helping us purchase and sort gifts.
Supporting Families Through Local Business Partnerships
We also established connections with local grocery stores as we provided holiday meals and gift cards. It was a wonderful time for community building and connections across local businesses and families.
Partnering With the Arts to Expand Student Expression
We saw previously shy and closed off students beautifully open up on stage. Many parents expressed their deep appreciation for the classes and the performance.
Opportunities that presented themselves involved arts and finances. A local African dance and cultural arts center offered to provide classes to all of our 6th graders! Over the course of 3 months, students learned capoeira, drumming, and rhythmic dance.
The partnership involved a field trip for the entire school where older students benefited from watching professional dancers and trying out the instruments on stage! For a culminating performance, several students were invited to perform a routine for the Black History Month presentation. We saw previously shy and closed off students beautifully open up on stage. Many parents expressed their deep appreciation for the classes and the performance. The center had a rise in enrollment and students discovered a new passion!
Supporting Families Beyond the Classroom
It was tremendous for community building as families knew we cared about them just as much as we care about their students.
For families, a local accounting agency offered to lead a workshop on tax preparation. We advertised through our newsletter and text blasts. Admittedly, we did not get a huge turnout on the first foray. However, the appreciation at the end of the session was truly powerful. Each family member expressed how beneficial the workshop was for their time and finances. Tax preparation can be quite costly and families received a free option! While this may not seem to connect to education, families were notably more bought into the school mission and prepared to support their students. It was tremendous for community building as families knew we cared about them just as much as we care about their students. Our school culture thrived when families felt welcomed and supported.
Opportunities for Growth: Deepening Collaboration
If parents led the initiative, we may have elicited more buy-in.
While I am largely very proud of our family and community engagement initiatives, I would be remiss not to note the several opportunities to take engagement even further. Many schools enlist Parent-Teacher organizations (PTO), as did we. However, participation remained low on both sides.
In the future, I would enlist more participant buy-in for meetings, events, and expectations. If parents led the initiative, we may have elicited more buy-in. From observations of highly successful PTOs, parents/guardians are the main drivers of meetings and organizing. That’s a great opportunity for delegation and participant voice.
Similarly, there are missed opportunities for families driving additional school events. I would offer more collaborative planning for events such as Back to School Night. Families and community members can share what info they want on Back to School Night or host a table to recruit more participants or promote a local business.
Collaboration almost always yields greater results and participation in my experience. Everyone has the same goal to see students succeed, and working together helps that happen even more effectively!
