Educating Parents About… Educating Parents About… * Changes to Standards (moving to the Common Core) * Moving to Smarter Balanced test and not doing OAKS anymore

Why should we educate parents? Transparency Get out ahead of any bad media or bias they might hear from others.

How should we educate parents? Newsletters (both from the school and from the classroom) A series of meetings

The demographics of Riverview 63% free/reduced lunch 1% ELL The same parents seem to be involved in everything – from being on PTC to SITE council.

The challenge… How do we reach the parents who don’t usually come in?

Things Riverview already has in place to bring community in: Back-to-School Barbque Open House Art Night OMSI Night, Author Night Bring a Special Person to Lunch (1 day per year) Carnival Egg Drop (Do we really invite the community to this?) Field Day Concert (at the River Center) Parent-Teacher Conferences One thing most of these have in common is that they are developed and run by the PTC or Title I. How can the principal and the staff (or should the staff) be involved or take ownership in bringing the community in to the school?

Idea #1 – Change the format of the Open House Day on the first day of school. Principal – Parent meetings in the library to introduce the Common Core standards and Smarter Balanced Test. Students can go to their classroom and unpack supplies with help from teacher Letters or emails can be sent home in advance, inviting parents to attend the meetings, which can happen at the top of each hour (9 am, 10 am, 11 am, etc.) Goal would be to reach 100 parents that day.

A flyer telling parents about changes to Open House day Welcome to a New Year at Riverview! Open House: Tuesday, Sept. 2, 2014 Classrooms Open from 11:00 -1:00 and 2:00 - 4:45 Come with your student and their supplies. Meet your child’s teacher, unpack supplies and get ready for learning to begin on Wednesday. Principal Pep Talks in the Library at 11:00, 12:00, 12:30, 2:00, 3:00, 4:00 and 4:30. Come and hear from the principal about new Common Core Standards, school goals and expectations of students and parents. BONUS: Free Riverview t-shirt given to any student whose parent attends the Principal Pep Talks! Riverview Community Bar-b-que is from 4:45-6:15.

Talking points for the Principal Why we have changed to the Common Core Common Core standards are internationally benchmarked Common Core standards will help students meet college and work expectations after high school Common Core standards include higher order skills students need to be successful in the work force later How instruction might look different in the classroom Larger emphasis on nonfiction reading and written response to reading. Overall school goals…

Talking points continued Expectations for Parents and Students: Attendance – 95% of higher Work completion (including homework) Read at home daily Personal goals Take 5 magnets Have some to give to parents

Follow Up Send a flyer home that reiterates Riverview’s goals and the expectations of parents and students. Continue to review Riverview’s goals and parent expectations in monthly school newsletters

What I learned this year about getting parents to come in: Send an invitation, but also call parents on the phone and personally invite them. Give food Have students perform something

Idea #2 – Have monthly Principal-Parent meetings Do monthly meetings by grade level, at the start of the school day. Give food - Donuts for Dad or Muffins for Mom. Have students do presentations of some kind (poetry recital, oral report) or just read with parent, following brief principal talking points.

A Sample Flyer to Promote the Principal-Parent Meetings 5th Grade Parents and Families are Invited! A Muffins for Mom, Donuts for Dad morning When: Sept. 28, 8:00-8:30 Where: Riverview Library Enjoy muffins, donuts, juice and coffee as you… Hear a brief Principal Pep Talk about Common Core Standards, the new Smarter Balanced test and goals for 5th graders. Talk with your 5th grade student as they show you their portfolio and explain some of the work they are doing and some of the standards they are working on mastering. See a 5th grade reading group perform a Readers Theater play.

Take attendance at the meetings. Follow up with a phone call to parents who did not attend either the meeting on the Open House day or come to the grade level Donuts for Dad, Muffins for Mom meeting. Call ahead of time to personally invite certain parents to attend the meetings (ones you think may not be coming).

Be sure the message is clear Your child is important We are going to everything we can to work with you and help your child succeed. We have a goal. We have a plan for how to get there. Keep coming back to the message every month in a monthly newsletter. Have teachers on board with the message, which they also communicate to the parents of their students.