Getting Parents and the Community Involved - Hayhurst

Parent involvement is so important to a student’s success in school.  Schools can’t do it all, and neither can the parents.  The bridge between school and home gives students the support they need to reach their highest potential.  It has been so disheartening to see the lack of parent involvement during my student teaching and the long term sub job I just finished at the same school.  I was amazed that out of my twenty two students, only five parents showed up for the first set of parent teacher conferences; not a single parent showed up for the second.  It is a topic at every faculty senate meeting, and every weekly team meeting.  “How do we get the parents involved?”  I have seen some great ideas implemented during my time at the school.  The third grade has two school year projects that involve the parents helping their child to prepare it at home.  Then, they are invited to come and watch while their child presents it to the class. 

Another great idea, that they will begin implementing next year, is student portfolios.  The students will keep a portfolio of their goals and achievements in all the subject areas, as well as sample work.  The first parent teacher conference next year will be student led.  The student will take their portfolio and walk their parents through it, taking the lead in the conference.  I love this idea!  I believe it is a genuine way to get parents to the school.  If the student is leading the conference and excited about showing what they have done, I believe it will motivate more parents to come in.  They are doing this in other areas to; when they have an extracurricular activity they ask for students to volunteer to lead the jobs instead of adults.  Their thinking is that if their children are involved, the parents will come.  I don’t like the idea of bribing parents to get involved, such as with food or prizes, so I think this is a much better alternative.

As for community involvement, I think the community will respond if we make them actual partners in education, instead of just asking for money and expecting them to stay out of what we are doing in schools.  The book “The Leader in Me”, by Steven R. Covey, has really opened my eyes.  This program went out into the community to ask business leaders what they wanted in future employees; what skills they wanted them to have coming out of school.  From those conversations they developed “Leader in Me”, which focuses on teaching students to be responsible and proactive; to be leaders in their own lives.  I love this idea, because it is win-win for everybody.  The schools get the support they need from the community, and the business leaders get the skills they want in future employees.

Parent and community involvement will probably always be a struggle for schools.  I believe the best way we can reach them is to keep the lines of communication open; remind them how valuable their involvement is to their children.  I believe the best strategy to get them involved is to make it personal.  Get the students involved in the activities, and that will get the parents involved.