Working with Your Principal Catharine Chamberlain, Chair, School Council, John Fraser S.S. Mary Nanavati, Principal, John Fraser S.S.

It Begins with a Mindset Principals understand that students, parents/guardians, and school staff form an important partnership that supports student achievement and well- being. STUDENTS PARENTS/GUARDIANS STAFF

What Mindset? A mindset that values the three Cs: Communication, Collaboration, and Celebration A mindset that respects the principal-parent foundation Understanding and respecting roles of administration and School Council a mindset that sees parents as a valuable (often UNTAPPED) resource and administration as wanting the best for their schools Keeping an open door to parents and listening deeply

Communication Regular communication by email, phone and face-to-face between Chair and Principal Synervoice to parents Upgrading of school web site and promotion of subscriptions to web site news Integration of communication (work together to keep parent community informed) Email marketing platform for Council news Council web site

Communication Creation of school promotional materials eg. flyers, banners, brochures etc. (PDSB Communications department an excellent support) School promotional video New electronic sign Over time, more parents are becoming engaged as a result of better, more frequent communication and not hesitating to ask for what the school needs

Through a Parents Reaching Out Grant, we produced a parent/guardian handbook to help new families, particularly those with Grade 9 children, acclimatize to our high school and its routines. A copy of the handbook is posted on the school’s website: jfss.ca

Collaboration Whole-school events eg. Prom, AP testing, Me to We Speaker (Marc Kielburger) Process: Convene a team and include parent representation Involve parents whenever possible to assist with whole-school events (mindset that values parent participation and assistance) Providing parents with a range of volunteer opportunities eg. Meetings, committees, one time event (eg. gardening on a Saturday morning), ongoing series of meetings culminating in a larger event (eg. school anniversary celebration)

Collaboration Addition of new programs to the school as a direct result of parents’ requests eg. Advanced Placement regional program, two Specialist High Skills Major programs (Arts and Culture; Health and Wellness) Speakers for parents (evening events) Merging the lens of parents and their perspective and the lens of educators and their view of student needs Examples: Marian Small and Today’s Math Classroom (Ministry PRO Grant 2014 and 2016); Financing Your Child’s Post-Secondary Education (York University); Advanced Placement Update (Lynda Robinson from AP Ontario/AP Canada) Parents as speakers at key school events eg. Grade 8 Parents’ Night Mindset that parents and educators form a partnership that leads to better outcomes for students and schools

Celebration Graduations (Council Chair always brings greetings from the Parent Community) Awards Ceremony (John Fraser himself attends either Commencement or the Awards Ceremony) School Events: eg. Arts Nights, Health Care Evening, Athletic Banquet etc. 25th Anniversary (Parent Council Community Representative and former Council Chair as one of the speakers)

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