Connecting with the Community
Families face many pressures that sometimes make it challenging to fully engage with their children’s school communities. Even as schools try to host meetings, set up fun events, and schedule days for parents to pick up school supplies, difficult work schedules, commitment to extracurricular activities, family life, and lack of transportation are some of the many reasons parents are not able to participate. Administrators across Virginia have found some creative solutions to draw parents in and to bring the programming to the parents.
When a principal was not able to attract a crowd to her weekly Zoom meetings, she hit the streets offering free books and popsicles. Families would come to her for conversation and to ask questions about the school year. She also found success in making connections through social media. By keeping families informed on the platforms they were already using, she was able to alleviate some stress and saw a positive response.
Another principal made the effort to contact every family in her school. This principal and a team of staff members reached out to every family over the phone, as opposed to asking them to complete a form. This opportunity helped the staff better understand each family’s situation, allowed the families to ask questions, and helped strengthen the trust between families and school administrators.
A third principal looked for a way to improve her school’s Chromebook pickup. First she made sure there were multiple pickup options for parents who were unable to leave work or find transportation. Then, she included goodies and a raffle ticket with each Chromebook, encouraging families to attend a Zoom meeting to win prizes. The principal worked with local businesses to collect big ticket donations for the raffle prizes. She found that a larger number of people attended her Zoom meeting and engaged with staff.