Parent Communication Plan for New Teachers

by Renée Cockrell, MAT, NBCT

To achieve our mission of empowering the whole student to profoundly impact our world truly takes a village. We all must work together. As such, engaging parents and guardians effectively in collaboration to maximize student learning is an essential part of your work as a teacher at our school.  Each of the following statements in bold is an expectation for effective communication with parents or guardians. Accompanying each expectation, you will find suggestions and resources. Remember that your mentor teacher and department chair are available to help you with any questions you may have. See your Staff Handbook for more information regarding expectations for communication in your role as a student’s advisor. 

Establish a Positive Tone – ASCD (2015) identifies sharing the positive as a powerful way to establish rapport in your communication with parents and guardians. Hammond (2015) argues that effective educators must “work on creating positive relationships with students’ families so that you are in partnership with them” (p. 154). Here are some ways to set a positive tone from the start to begin building positive and collaborative relationships that will support student learning:

Photo by Simon Ray on Unsplash

• Set aside time each week to make a few phone calls or send a few emails solely for the purpose of sharing something positive about learners in your classroom with their parents or guardians. This might take the form of sharing about a student’s high-quality work or exceptional participation in class. It might be an update on progress or improvement with attendance, behavior, or course performance. Not only will this build rapport with parents and guardians, but it might boost your mood, too! I love to end the week this way, but I’ve also been known to take the time to make some positive calls after a particularly rough day. 
• Share key resources that will help a parent or guardian support student learning in your class. Consider including the URL for your class website, ways to contact you when necessary, and a copy of the course syllabus. Take caution, however, not to overload parents or guardians with more resources than are truly helpful. Use Blackboard to send a welcome message to all contacts for students in your classes during the first week of each quarter, and include key resources in this message. Beginning by offering useful resources and encouraging communication will help set a positive tone and begin establishing trust. 
• Even when you must call to address issues that may arise regarding student attendance, behavior, or course performance, be sure to take time to share what the student is doing well. Establishing the positive by focusing on student strengths, even in the midst of struggles, is a powerful way to form positive relationships that will support student growth. 

Center Student Voices – Whenever possible, include the student, the student’s own words about his or her learning, and/or the student’s goals in your communication.

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• See your Staff Handbook for a copy of the Weekly Progress Report, which all students are expected to complete on Wednesdays in advisory period. After working closely with students on setting quality SMART goals (Yemm, 2013), you can communicate the students’ goals, in their own words, to parents and guardians. Follow up with information regarding students’ progress toward achieving their learning goals as the quarter progresses to keep parents and guardians apprised of the work students are doing in our school.
•  For certain contacts, especially positive updates, it may be appropriate to call the parent or guardian on speakerphone and have the student present in the room with you. Allowing the student to speak to his or her own progress builds ownership, confidence, and agency. This is one reason conferences at our school involve parents, teachers, and students. By directing questions about what is going well, what would help improve the situation, and how you can help to the student first, you empower that student to own his or her learning and growth. Additionally, asking the parent or guardian for input will encourage collaborative support of the student’s learning and growth.

Employ Culturally Responsive Communication & Equitable Practices – Honoring the unique backgrounds and perspectives of every family our school serves will increase student learning (Hammond, 2015), and it is an expectation of all staff. According to Linton & Davis (2013), an equitable school culture is one in which “deliberate collaborative efforts exist between staff and the community, families, parents, and caretakers of students” (p. 79). 

Photo by Rochelle Nicole on Unsplash

• By establishing a positive tone and centering the student’s voice, you should already be well on your way to establishing a learning alliance with students and their parents or guardians. According to Hammond (2015), an effective learning partnership alliance requires three components: a pact or “formal agreement… to work on a learning goal” (p. 94), teacher as ally and warm demander (see the Restorative Practices section of the Staff Handbook), and the student as the driver of his or her own learning. Engage parents as authentic members of the learning alliance partnership in giving feedback and suggestions on students’ personal learning goals and needs.
• It is of vital importance that all of our students learn and grow as much as possible. To that end, translation services are available for both written and spoken communications. See the front office for details. To be an equitable and effective teacher in our school, you must never avoid communicating with parents or guardians simply because you do not speak the same language as they do. 
• Collaborate with parents and guardians to get their voices, traditions, and values into the classroom. For example, Hammond (2015) recommends requesting that parents or guardians share “’dichos’ (proverbs and sayings) they use at home or grew up with… proverbs that guide and impart knowledge” (p. 148). Hammond (2015) suggests posting these “pithy sayings [that] express universal truths in just a few words and are easily remembered” (p. 148) around the classroom and the school. This can honor and strengthen cultural ties as well as supporting student learning and growth. 

Follow Up & Follow Through – Following up and following through is an essential element of professionalism. It also builds trust and rapport with stakeholders.

Photo by STIL on Unsplash

• Take notes when you communicate with parents or guardians, and be sure to follow up on action you say you will take. This may take the form of passing a request for communication on to the school social worker or counselor, or it may involve cc’ing a parent or guardian on an email on a follow up to another staff member, perhaps the student’s advisor or other teacher. As you are expected to follow through with what you tell parents or guardians you will do, be careful not to promise things you cannot deliver. It is always acceptable to say, “I will check on that and get back to you,” as long as you do, in fact, get back to the parent or guardian.
• As you’ll note from reading your Staff Handbook, any parent contact must be logged in the Visits module of Q. Taking notes during parent contacts will assist you with this as well. 
• Our restorative practices model involves actively working to build, repair, and sustain authentic, collaborative learning relationships. As such, in the event that you have contacted a parent or guardian regarding a student’s struggles with attendance, behavior, or course performance in one of your classes, you are expected to follow up that communication with updates on progress or growth within two-three weeks at the latest. 

Don’t Avoid Difficult Conversations, But Ask for Help When You Need It – Authentic learning and growth for our students and ourselves does not come easily. There will be times when you must engage carefully in difficult conversations with colleagues, parents or guardians, and students. By following the suggestions above, you will be on the right track. However, in the event that you need support or require a moderator when emotions run high, your administrative team is always willing to help.

Photo by sydney Rae on Unsplash

References

ASCD. (2015). Tell me about… good ways to communicate with teachers. Educational Leadership, 72(7). Retrieved from http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/apr15/vol72/num07/Good-Ways-to-Communicate-with-Teachers.aspx

Hammond, Z. (2015). Culturally responsive teaching & the brain: Promoting authentic engagement and rigor among culturally and linguistically diverse students. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.

Linton, C., & Davis, B. M. (2013). Equity 101: Culture. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.

Yemm, G. (2013). Essential guide to leading your team: How to set goals, measure performance and reward talent. New York, NY: Pearson.

New to Our School? A Family Orientation Guide

by Renée Cockrell, MAT, NBCT

This post is intended to serve as an orientation guide for parents, guardians, and families of students new to our school. It includes an introduction to the school's vision, mission, values, and history; an overview of events and opportunities to get involved; an introduction to procedures and policies; a guide to communications at our school; and an introduction to community and school partnerships.

Welcome to Our School: Mission & History

Our school dares to empower the whole child to profoundly impact our world. We do this through our small class sizes; emphasis on social-emotional learning; rigorous academic and behavioral expectations with support to help all students achieve at a high level; vibrant and unique school culture; commitment to learning and growth for students, staff, and stakeholders; restorative practices; equitable practices; and partnership with local programs that bring a multitude of post-secondary options, experiences, and support to our students and families. 

Our school was founded as an alternative for high school students who hadn't found success in the traditional high school model in the early 1970s in a storefront in downtown Colorado Springs. Since its inception, our school has served at risk youth in a setting of small class sizes and strong relationships with an "alternative" approach to credit recovery that enables students to make up credits and sometimes even graduate early. 

Photo by NeONBRAND on Unsplash

The instructional model of our school has evolved with up-to-date research-based instructional strategies and an emphasis on the art of equitable pedagogy, but the emphasis on relationships, community, and success for all remains the same. Through all the changes, the small, tight-knit sense of community and inclusion in our school has remained the same. Graduates frequently use the word "family" when describing their experience of alternative education in our school. Several of our school staff have long history with the school, including two teachers who are graduates, and three staff members who have been at our school for over twenty years. New students often come to our school because their older siblings or their friends recommended it to them. Regardless of how you found your way here, we are so happy to welcome you to the family. 

Events & Opportunities to Get Involved

Part of being a Dragon means taking part in our school's unique traditions and cultural events. Please consider the following calendar of events as a standing invitation for our families and guardians to join in on the fun. Contact the front office (information in your Student & Family Handbook) with any questions about attending or volunteering at any of these events:

August

• Restorative Practices Training Workshop - Attendees learn the ins and outs of restorative practices at our school, including the purpose, design, and implementation of weekly connection circles and team-building activities, as well as formal restorative justice circles that trained volunteers can attend to assist as community members throughout the school year. 
• Enrollment Meeting - We invite you to join us in speaking with prospective students and families as they consider whether or not our school will meet their needs for credit recovery and alternative education. We can't think of better experts to share their experiences of our school that current and past students and families!

September

• Back to School Open House - We hope all students, families, and guardians will attend to share hors d'oeuvres, meet staff members, and learn about the classes and concurrent enrollment options available in our school.
• Annual Campus Car Show - See our school website for details on how to get involved in this annual community event, now in its 8th year (The Bijou School, 2019).
• Quarterly Skillshare

October

• Student Led Conferences
• Post-Secondary Options and FAFSA Completion Night
• Students Vote Chili Cookoff - Every year on Halloween (or the school day closest to it), our Student Leadership hosts a chili cookoff competition wherein staff and family members enter a crockpot of their best chili. Students, families, and guardians provide sides, chips, etc., sample, and vote to see who will win the trophy. 
• Enrollment Meeting

November

• Family & Community Thanksgiving Potluck Celebration
• Quarterly Skillshare

December

• Annual Advisory Gingerbread House Competition - We invite you to our pre-semester break potluck to share food, company, admire the first semester student work on display, and to vote for the winning gingerbread house created by student advisory groups. 

January

• Enrollment Meeting
• SAT/PSAT Tutoring - Volunteer to help with free tutoring groups. We're looking for volunteers with expertise to help students hone their skills or to provide snacks/treats for each meeting. 

February

• Post-secondary Options and FAFSA Completion Night
• Quarterly Skillshare
• SAT/PSAT Tutoring

March

• Enrollment Meting
• SAT/PSAT Tutoring

April

• Post-Secondary Options and FAFSA Completion Night
• SAT/PSAT Tutoring
• Student Signing Parties, Internship and Career Entrance, and College Acceptance Celebration

May

• Annual BBQ & Luau -- Get out your Hawaiian shirt and bring a side dish or dessert to share at this annual block party. Graduates, neighbors, retires staff, school board members, and community members attend and love to meet current students and families. We have a tradition of pie-throwing, so be sure to call the office ahead of time to let us know if you want to volunteer to help out with the fun and/or cleanup. 
• Quarterly Skillshare

Procedures & Policies

Attendance. Students in our school must be present in class a minimum of 80% of the time or better in a given course in addition to completing satisfactory coursework to be able to earn a credit. See your Student & Family Handbook for specific information regarding our quarterly attendance policy and the procedures around what qualifies for an excused absence. Please also see district policies regarding secondary school attendance and truancy. Worth particular note is that students who are ten or more minutes tardy to a given class period are marked absent in that class. They should still attend if they are running late, though, so they do not also end up with missing work.

Restorative Practices. While our school follows all rules and regulations set forth by our District and Board of Education regarding disciplinary and other issues, we also make use of restorative practices. This includes but is not limited to the use of restorative dialogues, connection circles, formal restorative justice circles, and community councils (made up of staff, students, community members, and family members like you) whose aim is to build empathy and to repair the relationships and the harm done to the community when wrongdoing occurs.

Performance Contracts & Multi-Tiered Student Supports. If a student fails to meet expectations regarding attendance, behavior, and/or course performance (ABCs), that student will be referred for additional support through our multi-tiered system of student supports (MTSS) to help ensure the student's needs (academic, emotional, social, etc.) are met. As part of this system, students and guardians may be asked to sign a performance contract with stipulations crafted specific to the student. If, after multiple quarters of ongoing support, the student fails to meet the requirements of the contract, the principal and counselor may convene a meeting with the student and guardian(s) to help find a more appropriate placement for the student.

Communications

Front Office. Our school's front office is home to our staff assistant, administrative assistant, and registrar. They can help answer questions you may have about attendance, scheduling, or contacting anyone else on staff. If you have general questions or you are unsure who to ask, call the front office for assistance. See your Student & Family Handbook for a list of phone numbers and contact information.

Photo by Berkeley Communications on Unsplash

BlackBoard & School Loop. Please download the district School Loop app on your smartphone or device and enable push notifications. You'll be first informed of important updates and news from our school, campus, and district. You confirmed contact information during enrollment, but should any of this information change, please notify the front office right away. 

Teachers & Counseling. All staff members in our school maintain a "Teacher Website." Please visit these websites for important information about daily events in classes, field trips, updates, and for links to email staff members directly. Remember that you are also welcome to call the front office to leave a message for a staff member who will return your call as soon as possible. 

Community & Partnership

Our school is very lucky to reside within a campus of alternatives that all serve our district. As such, we are able to share many resources and much of our learning with other schools and groups on our campus. This increases our access to exciting instructional materials, computer and science labs, the automotive shop, a culinary arts lab, a soil science lab and greenhouses, the campus nursery and early childhood learning center, and more. One of our unique partnerships enables all of our students to pursue a career pathway, spending one class period a day downstairs in a neighboring program, working on professional certification, licensure, and skills. 

Additionally, our school partners with the local community college's Career Start program, wherein students who have distinguished themselves are able to apply to attend the community college while still enrolled at our school to earn dual credit (credits that count toward both a high school diploma and an associate's degree) and pursue vocational learning at a higher level. Please see the Career Start tab on the school counseling page of our website for specific details on the many programs available, from nursing, welding, HVAC, mass communications, fire science, to automotive and more. 

In addition to partnerships that enable our students to attend the local community college, our school partners with a local private college to bring in undergraduate students majoring in education to tutor and mentor our students here on the campus. This has resulted in the formation of powerful and transformative positive relationships, broadening horizons and opening academic pathways for students that they might not have previously sought. These tutors assist students with skill building, organization, motivation, and perseverance. 

References

The Bijou School. (2019). RJWAC car show. Retrieved from https://www.d11.org/domain/4916

Family Fun Night: A School Planning Guide

by Renée Cockrell, MAT, NBCT

This post is intended to serve as a planning guide for Family Fun Night events at school. Such events involve guardians coming to the school with students to participate in learning opportunities, collaborative activities, and sharing and interaction in order to foster and strengthen meaningful relationships between staff, students, families, and other community stakeholders.

The Planning Committee and Process

Special attention should be paid to the composition of the planning committee. Specifically, parents/guardians, staff member, and student leadership representatives should be involved in the selection of activities, planning, and communication. By including students and parents rather than simply planning with only staff members at the table, it can be ensured that the activities selected for the event will consider the unique perspectives and needs of students and their families. For instance, guardians and family members are more likely to bring up the importance of having activities for small children or of having childcare available during the event. Furthermore, by working collaboratively with students and guardians on the planning committee, staff are more likely to build meaningful relationships with those participants on the committee. Another possible bonus of including guardians and community members in the planning process is that they may have unique access to or availability of resources or knowledge that can be leveraged for a more successful event. 

In planning a Family Fun Night event, the planning team should utilize the following checklist to ensure the best possible preparation:

• Use Room Scheduler on Campus Website & Check Calendar Availability of Facilities
• Notify District Security of Evening Event on Campus
• Budget for All Expenses (Including Food, Advertising, Supplies, Staffing, etc.)
• Advertise Event to Students (Announcements During School Day, Invitations, and Posters)
• Advertise Event to Families and Community Members (Fliers, Blackboard Mass Emails, All Calls, Website Calendar, External School Sign Message) – If possible, plan ahead and advertise at Open House and Conferences.
• Solicit Volunteers and Provide Necessary Staffing for Event

Possible Family Fun Night Activities 

Each of the following ten activities could possibly take place during a Family Fun Night event. Included below is the rationale for each activity, with a brief explanation of how it can foster learning and social interaction for both students and families.

#1 - Orientation to the Climbing Wall with an Introduction to Belay and Bouldering. Physical education teachers and students will facilitate an introduction to the campus climbing wall, complete with a demonstration of safe climbing and belay technique. Participants will learn about different holds and bouldering moves then be supported in trying out a few simple bouldering routes. 

Photo by Rachel on Unsplash

This will generate interest in the variety of ways to be fit and physically active that are afforded to our students and community. By giving a demonstration of safe technique, students will be able to showcase their learning and interact with parents and community members while doing so. 

#2 – Resume Builder and Interview Roleplay Workshop. School counselors and English teachers will host a resume building workshop in the computer lab, assisting participants (both adults and students) in creating or refining resumes and cover letters for job applications, saving, emailing, printing, and uploading resumes. With the help of student leaders, staff and visitors will facilitate roleplay interviews with commonly asked interview questions, with feedback and discussion of responses. Ideally, a representative from Human Resources or the school principal will participate, sharing relevant experience from times they have been on interview committees. 

This work on resumes, cover letters, and interviewing skills will benefit students and adult stakeholders alike. It will foster meaningful social interaction and discussion that will help improve the preparedness and success rate of families and students who are currently or will soon be seeking jobs in the community. If at all possible, community stakeholders who own and operate local businesses should be invited to be part of the discussion and role play. Ideally, they will share what they’re looking for in a potential employee and participate in interview role play. They may even ask some of the participants to apply for openings in their local businesses or form connections that benefit students, families, and community stakeholders in the future. 

#3 – Voter Registration and Discussion of Upcoming Ballot Issues and Amendments. Social studies and English teachers – with help from their students – will assist with online voter registration and signing up for mail in ballots. They will facilitate a fishbowl dialogue debate on upcoming local and state ballot issues and amendments.

Photo by annie bolin on Unsplash

This will serve as an opportunity for learning about how to be an engaged citizen and voter. It will also allow students to demonstrate the debate skills they have honed in their English and social studies classes. Teachers and students will present arguments for and against each ballot issue and amendment, citing evidence to support the argument. In the context of the fishbowl dialogue, guardians, family members, community members, and other visitors will be encouraged to discuss their knowledge and concerns related to each ballot issue and amendment. This will support engagement with the democratic process, be an opportunity for learning about both the process and upcoming ballot issues, and foster meaningful interaction for staff, students, and family members. 

#4 – Behind the Scenes Campus Tour & Scavenger Hunt. Building technicians and security will help out with this activity to show students, staff, guardians, and community members some of the interesting history behind the scenes of the school campus, including exploring the armory and former shooting range in the basement; the sports Hall of Fame with student athlete pictures from all graduating classes between 1959-2013, when the school was closed and repurposed as an campus for multiple alternative programs; the automotive shop; behind the stage in the auditorium. If your school doesn't have a similar history, there are likely still many interesting "behind the scenes" elements. Consider enlisting food services and security teams to show visitors their work areas and interesting tidbits about how they contribute to the mission of the school.

This tour will encourage social interaction and educate attendees about the history of the campus. Because many staff members even have not necessarily seen these interesting parts of the campus, they will connect with students, families, and community members in their discovery of some of the lesser known history of our campus. It can also allow team members (food service, building technicians, security team) to showcase their contributions. 

#5 – Budgeting and Savings Plans for Working Families. Consumer mathematics students, supported by math teachers, will present strategies for saving money (from cooking more at home and meal planning to utilizing the public library to rent DVDs instead of paying for subscription services to depositing a set amount into a savings account each pay period). They will share budgeting tips, using the envelopes model of resource allocation, for young adults just starting out living on their own and share from their own experiences about the importance of saving due to unforeseen expenses that can arise (automotive, health care, job loss, etc.).

This activity will promote interaction between students and families and support struggling families by giving them strategies for planning ahead and minimizing expenses. As students will help facilitate it, it will also highlight the learning done by students in their consumer math courses. Moreover, it will provide a spotlight for real life application of math skills and money sense! 

#6 – Affordable and Healthy Meal Preparation and Recipe Exchange. Families will be invited to bring family favorite recipes to share with the school community, perhaps even resulting in collaboration on a multi-cultural school cookbook. This event will take place in the hospitality and catering classroom kitchen. Participants will learn from hospitality and catering students and teachers how to prepare three healthy, affordable, easy-to-prepare meals for their families. In addition to working together and learning to prepare three meal options, participants will be asked to share their own favorite family recipes. Once the meals have been prepared, catering and hospitality students will act as servers, showing off the skills they have learned in their program, while families dine together.

Photo by Brandless on Unsplash

The collaboration of sharing favorite recipes as well as cooking and dining together will foster both learning and social interaction for students and families. Moreover, by sharing family recipes – some of which may be used for future events – this will provide the school community with an opportunity to celebrate and learn from our multi-cultural diversity and knowledge. 

#7 – Tie Dye School Shirts Activity. School staff and representatives from student leadership will work with parent volunteers to help attendees tie dye t-shirts to wear to future school events. They will teach several tie dye techniques and participants will be able to experiment with the techniques while interacting, having fun, and building school spirit. Having a special school tie dye t-shirt will increase the likelihood that participants will attend future school events and feel a sense of belonging. According to PTO Today (2019), gear like school t-shirts can help build pride and belonging. An added bonus is that these shirts will allow students, staff, guardians, and community members to show off their creativity while they celebrate their connection to the school (PTO Today, 2019). 

#8 – Practice Spanish Conversation Skills with Board Games. World languages staff, students, and parent volunteers will facilitate a Spanish-speaking board game fiesta, allowing those who are learning Spanish to practice their skills and make connections with Spanish-speaking members of the school community. This activity will honor the important role Spanish-speaking families, parents, and guardians play in our community while celebrating learning, language, and community interaction together. According to National PTA (2019), learning while playing games together “shows everyone that learning can and should be fun” as well as builds collaborative relationships and school community (n. p.). 

Photo by Simon Ray on Unsplash

#9 – General Automotive Maintenance and Repair Workshop. Intended for adults and students alike, this workshop will cover changing a tire, changing a vehicle’s oil, jump starting a vehicle safely, and inspecting the vehicle for safety and maintenance issues. The workshop will be taught and facilitated by automotive teachers and students. This will recognize and celebrate the skills and knowledge our automotive pathway students have gained while empowering parents, students, and community members to keep themselves and their families safer and their vehicles in safe working order. The hands-on nature of the demonstration will foster social interaction and collaboration among attendees. 

Photo by NeONBRAND on Unsplash

#10 – Practice English while Playing Board Games. Students and staff will collaborate with English language learners in our school and community to host a board game bonanza designed for parents/guardians and students who are English language learners (ELLs) and who will benefit from inclusion and social interaction while practicing their English conversation skills.  

References

National PTA. (2019). Host a game night at your school with ThinkFun. Retrieved from https://www.pta.org/home/programs/stem/STEM-Families-ThinkFun-Game-Nights

PTO Today. (2019). 19 ways to use school spiritwear. Retrieved from https://www.ptotoday.com/pto-today-articles/article/8347-ways-to-use-school-spiritwear

Setting Communication Expectations

by Renée Cockrell, MAT, NBCT
This post outlines an Expectations for Electronic Communication Plan for my school. These expectations serve the following purposes:

• protecting students, staff, and the district
• raising awareness of acceptable ways to use electronic communication tools when communicating with students and parents
• raising awareness of the positive and negative outcomes that may result in using these tools with students and parents.

Safety for Electronic Communications

Electronic communications should be governed by the same rules of propriety and formality as other written communications between staff, students, parents, and other stakeholders. If a topic or interaction would make you uncomfortable to discuss alone with a student, parent, or other staff member, it is likely inappropriate for electronic communication as well. Generally, the best rule to follow is that if you feel any doubt whatsoever about whether or not something meets the expectations of formal, professional communication, you should not respond to it or send it but instead confer with a school counselor and administrator for assistance. Remember that electronic communications in all forms are legal, written records in a court of law. Assume that it is possible or even likely that the sum total of your electronic communications with parents, staff, and students may be subpoenaed in the event of a legal dispute. If you would be uncomfortable with even a single line of a single message being read aloud in a courtroom, you should not send such a message. 

If you receive electronic communications that do not meet the standards of professional communication, confer with administration before replying to them, regardless of whether these communications have been sent by staff, students, or parents. Engaging in unprofessional or inappropriate discourse, even when you have not initiated said discourse, can result in major consequences.

Photo by John Schnobrich on Unsplash

Consequences of inappropriate communication can occur for staff, students, parents/guardians and family members, and community stakeholders. While staff and students can be subject to disciplinary measures in accordance with district policy, parents/guardians, family members, and community stakeholders may face legal action if they engage in inappropriate communication, electronically or otherwise. 

Acceptable Ways to Use Electronic Communications

To communicate with parents and students via email, you should only use the email addresses listed in our online gradebook database and you should only use your assigned school district email address. There are no situations in which it would be appropriate or professional to use your personal email address for communication with staff, students, or parents. Additionally, all electronic communications must be logged in the visits folder of our computer gradebook, just as all phone calls and meetings must be logged. You should not ever text message a student or parent from your personal phone. You must use the official school district messenger service to send out such alerts. In no case should students or parents contact you on your personal cellular device. 

All of the rules that apply to other forms of communication hold true for electronic communications, including specifically the outright ban on sexual, obscene, abusive, or otherwise inappropriate content.

Possible Outcomes of Electronic Communication

There are many possible positive outcomes of appropriate and professional electronic communication. As a teacher in our school, you are expected to contact the parents or guardians of your advisees a minimum of once monthly. If an advisee is having behavioral struggles or is not passing one or more classes, you are expected to contact guardians a minimum of twice monthly. Electronic communication such as email is an appropriate and acceptable format for communicating progress updates if the parent or guardian has provided a working email address. However, for communicating serious or potentially upsetting concerns about behavior or poor academic performance, a phone call is generally best, as emails provide little opportunity for contextualizing information or establishing a warm and caring tone.

Under the right circumstances, electronic communication can be beneficial for a number of reasons: it allows you to send a message during your plan period even if it is early in the morning and it would not be appropriate to make a phone call at that time; it is relatively quick and easy, making it perfect for sending progress updates and positive feedback; and by using the Blackboard interface, it is possible to send mass emails as needed, saving a great deal of time compared with calling every parent or guardian for a given class of students. Indeed, while saving time by utilizing electronic communication when it is an appropriate mode of contacting parents or guardians, you can increase the number of times you contact home for positive reasons, which according to Aguilar (2012), has been shown to improve classroom behavior and buy in as well as to result in improvements to student culture.

There are, unfortunately, also many potential negative outcomes of engaging in inappropriate or unprofessional electronic communications, including but not limited to the following: formal censure, termination, and legal action. Even when an electronic communication is intended in the most positive and professional possible way, it can be misinterpreted more easily than a conversation face-to-face or over the phone, so it is always best to have potentially inflammatory or difficult conversations with the added element of verbal tone, ability to respond immediately, and even with other staff members (such as a counselor or administrator) present as necessary. 

References

Aguilar, E. (2012, August 20). The power of the positive phone call home: Calling students’ parents or guardians with good news encourages more good behavior and creates strong teacher-student bonds.” Edutopia. Retrieved from https://www.edutopia.org/blog/power-positive-phone-call-home-elena-aguilar

Colorado Springs School District 11. (2016). Appropriate use of technology resources and internet safety. Retrieved from https://www.d11.org/cms/lib/CO02201641/Centricity/Domain/816/Student%20Technology%20User%20Agreement.pdf

The Bijou School. (2016). Staff handbook: Social media/personal email access. (p. 13). Retrieved from http://intranet.d11.org/k12/bijou/Shared%20Documents/Handbooks/Bijou%20Staff%20Handbook%202015-2016%20klp.pdf

Parental Involvement Plan

by Renée Cockrell, MAT, NBCT

This post outlines the beginning framework of our high school's parental involvement plan in seven key areas.

Area 1: Parent Support for Classroom Instruction

(Photo by Nicole Honeywill / Sincerely Media on Unsplash)

At our school, every full time teacher teaches an advisory period during second period. The advisory period is 26 minutes long, while all other periods are 91 minute blocks. During this time, students develop executive skill building, organization, social emotional learning, and they track their progress toward graduation. The advisory teacher is responsible for conferencing individually about a student's attendance, behavior, and course performance (ABCs), once every week and for contacting the student's guardian(s) regarding progress on the ABCs at least once a month. If a student is not passing all of his or her classes, the advisor is expected to contact guardians every two weeks at a minimum. 

If a parent or guardian has questions for a classroom teacher or a meeting is required to problem solve issues or make an action plan to help the student be more successful, the advisor makes the necessary phone calls and involves the school counselor, administration, and the front office for scheduling and communication. By keeping guardians informed and by regularly communicating progress for both problems as well as positive progress updates, our school's staff all play an integral part in securing guardian support for classroom instruction. Moreover, according to Aguilar (2012), "Calling students’ parents or guardians with good news encourages more good behavior and creates strong teacher-student bonds” (n. p.). Beyond increasing guardian support for instructional practices, the expectation of regular positive phone calls and progress updates can lead to improved behavior and relationships in the classroom as well. 

Area 2: Parent Meetings, Conferences, and Activities

Currently, our staff tend to reserve parent meetings and conferences as a tier III intervention for students who do not otherwise succeed – a sort of last ditch effort to get effective interventions in place for a student. This is not effective external development leadership and it does not result in meaningful collaboration of all stakeholders to achieve the best possible student outcomes for all. Unfortunately, the beginning of year open house and requisite conferences have historically been poorly attended, or even barely attended. This has been due, in part, to a lack of unified and aligned effort to meaningfully engage and welcome parents. The first step to remedying this is to cultivate a welcoming atmosphere in our school. CSU-Global (2019) argues the importance of addressing the comfort of all of those being served by the school, stating that when school staff “greet all parents and visitors as if they were members of the school board, this goes a long way in making sure that all feel comfortable being served by your school” (p. 2). Beyond establishing a welcoming environment, meaningfully engaging guardians and other stakeholders in collaborative work while cultivating relationships that help students succeed will be an ongoing process. 

Area 3: Parent Volunteer Opportunities

There are not currently parent volunteer opportunities in our school. However, that is about to change as follows. We plan to send home a brief weekly newsletter with opportunities for volunteering, including chaperoning for field trips and activity days, helping out in the Library Media Center, helping students one-on-one in the GradPoint lab, helping with setup and cleanup for events, and classroom help with basic tasks like making copies, and helping support teachers as needed. Furthermore, our hope of establishing a monthly open house skill-share, wherein community members visit the campus to learn and take part in activities would be a perfect time to collaboratively develop and share opportunities for volunteering on campus. 

Area 4: School-Parent Compact

(Photo by Cytonn Photography on Unsplash)

We do not yet have a school-parent compact in place, though we do have a parent and student handbook that is in need of an update. The process of updating that handbook is a perfect time to introduce and include the school-parent compact. In developing our school-parent compact, our leadership team must facilitate collaboration with community stakeholders, guardians, staff, and students. It is advisable for administration to play the role of facilitator of collaborative development of a parent-school compact because, according to Hord, Roussin, and Hall (2013), “change is a process of cultivating relationships” (p. 9). The process of collaboration itself can help feed the cultivation of meaningful relationships between guardians, other stakeholders, and staff and students. Furthermore, Bambrick-Santoyo and Peiser (2012) argue that when people are involved in the development of expectations, they are more willing to be held accountable for meeting those expectations in the future. 

 Area 5: Parental Involvement in Decision-Making

By developing a guardian advisory committee comprised of engaged and interested guardians, staff, administration, and community members, our school can collaboratively engage guardians and other stakeholders in the ongoing development, implementation, and evaluation of our school-wide implementation of positive behavior supports and interventions as well as our action plan for the revised Unified Improvement Plan (UIP) as it reflects Colorado Springs School District 11’s newly adopted mission: “We dare to empower the whole child to profoundly impact our world” (CSSD 11, 2019, n.p.). By cultivating a robust and collaborative guardian advisory committee and communicating effectively about the progress and decisions made by the committee, we can ensure an ongoing process of guardian involvement in decision-making. 

Area 6: Parent Resources

As mentioned above, guardians should have an up-to-date, relevant, and helpful handbook that directs them to all available resources and explains helpful policies and procedures in a concise manner. Furthermore, guardians should be equipped with information as to how to contact teachers and staff with questions or concerns. Guardians should also know how to log into the online gradebook and school website to monitor their child’s progress, grades, and attendance. However, beyond the resources guardians should have to be able to play an active, informed, and supportive role in their child’s education, our school can take steps to reinvent itself as a partnership school as identified by Henderson, Mapp, Johnson, and Davies (2007), a school with the viewpoint that families and communities have worth and are able to positively impact the education of students in our school while also themselves being positively impacted by the school and the opportunities for learning and collaboration it presents. 

Area 7: Parent Interest Survey

When parents, guardians, family members, and other stakeholders visit the Library Media Center to meet and mingle with their student’s teachers on Open House night, they will see a large display with visuals and brief descriptions of possible on campus activities out school is considering hosting this year for community and family stakeholders, students, and staff to attend. Guardians and family members will receive small stickers with which to vote on the items that interest them most. The purpose of voting is to get parent feedback about interests for future events, activities, volunteering, and opportunities. This is the beginning of the process of shifting from being an alternative school in the community to being the community’s alternative school.

There will also be a poster for visitors to add their own suggestions, and these suggestions are fair game for the voting of others as well. Some of the options included will be as follows:

• Automotive shop clinic – learn to change your tire and perform basic automotive maintenance with automotive students and teachers.
• Career readiness workshop – resume fine tuning, cover letter writing, and interview practice/coaching with school counselors and English teachers.
• Conversational Spanish practice session with world languages teachers and students.
• Conversational English practice session with world languages and English teachers and students.
• Introduction to the climbing wall with PE teachers and students, including harnesses, belaying, safety, and introduction to bouldering and ropes.
• Saving and spending workshop – consumer mathematics students and teachers present budget basics and strategies for saving.
• Introduction to restorative practices – student leaders and staff share an introduction to our school's approach to the connection circle and the restorative justice circle, including role play, teambuilding activities, and opportunities for future volunteering in real restorative justice circles on campus.

In addition to this initial survey, the new guardian advisory committee will work together

to collaboratively advise the principal on suggestions for a parent interest survey to build future and ongoing engagement. Future events will also present opportunities for further surveying and engagement of this kind. 

References

Aguilar, E. (2012, August 20). The power of the positive phone call home: Calling students’ parents or guardians with good news encourages more good behavior and creates strong teacher-student bonds.” Edutopia. Retrieved from https://www.edutopia.org/blog/power-positive-phone-call-home-elena-aguilar

Bambrick-Santoyo, P., & Peiser, B. (2012). Leverage leadership: A practical guide to building exceptional schools. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Colorado Springs School District 11. (2019). Strategic plan. Retrieved from https://www.d11.org/cms/lib/CO02201641/Centricity/Domain/67/StrategicPlan.pdf

Colorado State University-Global. (2019). Module I: Engaging parents/communities part I, welcoming practices. EDL 560.

Henderson, A., Mapp, K., Johnson, V., & Davies, D. (2007). Beyond the bake sale: The essential guide to family-school partnerships. New York, NY: The New Press.

Hord, S., Roussin, J., & Hall, G. (2013). Implementing change through learning: Concerns-based concepts, tolls, and strategies for guiding change. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.