5 Ways To Be Allies With Your Child’s School

Schools have the responsibility of providing a general education for the students in their charge, but they can do this most effectively when the have the support of parents. Parents typically want to be partners in the education of their children. Sometimes they aren’t certain how to best uphold their end of this partnership. The list below outlines some paths parents can follow to partner with their children’s schools.

1. Join a PTO or PTA – Most schools have a parent organization of some kind. These go by many names, but they tend to serve the same ends. They provide parents a venue for meeting and planning for programs to help the school community. The organizations also offer a voice within that school community, as many parents united have more force than any one alone will have. Parent organizations will do charitable work such as fundraising and enlisting volunteers to staff school events, but some also hold workshops to help parents learn about anything from education law to preparing for state assessments. By joining a parent organization, a meaningful, collaborative connection with the school community is immediately available.

2. Attend board meetings – School boards remain a common structure in school districts across the nation. Even many charter schools have a board of directors that will hold forums with parents and other stakeholders. Parents who wish to be engaged allies should attend these meetings. Simply being present is a step towards knowing more about the mission and direction of a school. Participating in the discussions at these meetings is an opportunity for parents to have a direct voice with the school’s leadership. If attending or directly participating isn’t possible, minutes from these meetings often are available. Keeping abreast of board decisions is crucial to being engaged partners.

3. Be an informed voter – Decisions at the federal, state, and local levels all affect what happens in schools. Parents can indirectly support their children’s schools by paying attention to proposed legislation, voting directly for referendums that benefit schools, and voting for candidates who are most likely favor school funding. All this requires parents to follow education-related news. Dozens of websites provide current and relevant information about education legislation. Being familiar with these sources will help parents be knowledgeable supporters.

4. Stay on top of paperwork and meetings – Parents should be sure to do their part to complete and return requisite paperwork and to attend scheduled meetings on time. Employees of some schools spend inordinate amounts of time and resources resending documents that need to be signed and returned. Failing to get these back on time to the parties who need them can slow up critical processes. Parents who are late to meetings or who continually need to reschedule meetings inadvertently hold up staff from being able to attend to their many responsibilities. School employees are on tight schedules. Waiting for late parents makes everything they’re trying to do more difficult. Understandably, parents get massive amounts of paperwork from schools. Keeping up with it can be confusing. Similarly, parents have busy lives and sometimes can’t align their schedules with what schools expect. However, making every effort to return paperwork and to attend meetings on time will be appreciated by school staff and ultimately will help a school to be more functional.

5. Say a few good words – Schools have difficult missions. They often stumble while attempting to fulfill their missions. All schools have faults. These might be readily identifiable in particular schools. Parents might be rightly justified in openly criticizing their children’s schools. Sometimes doing this might help make change happen. Other times it just perpetuates what everyone already knows: the school is struggling. Unfortunately, some schools receive criticism at every turn. Little if anything positive gets reported in public forums. Parents might not have a direct hand in being able to fix the issues that plague some schools, but they don’t necessarily have to exacerbate the issues by speaking ill of these schools to anyone who will listen. Public perception has much to do with how communities collectively choose to support or not support local schools. Taking the time to say something positive about a school during casual conversations at grocery stores, sporting events, or any other venue can be a tiny but worthwhile effort to affect prevailing public sentiment. A positive tweet, blog post, or op-ed piece can do much more.

Parents can find many ways to be allies with their children’s schools. School officials might have more opportunities to offer and parents can find out about these merely by asking. Likewise, parents can speak with one another about other avenues to helping. Schools have the same broad goals that parents have: the best education for children. Partnerships can help everyone involved better realize this goal.

Written by Jeff Hartman