NSPRA's Communication Audit Report - Harford County Public ...

Recommendation 6: Expand opportunities for parent/community
communication and involvement.
No single channel of communication reaches every member of the public. The challenge
is making sure interesting and important information is regularly available in convenient formats
and ensuring that people know where to find it. According to the focus groups, parents and
community members receive their information primarily through district and school publications,
the web site and ALERTNOW, The Aegis, and personal contacts.
The non-parent population in most school districts today constitutes a majority of the
community, and HCPS, while growing, is no exception. So it is vital that the district also develop
communication strategies for reaching “empty nesters.”
The level of interaction that parents and community members have with the Harford
County schools creates many opportunities to communicate the district’s mission. However, it is
important to create involvement opportunities that are meaningful to people in order to sustain
their active participation. It is also important to give people choices that allow them to connect
with the schools in ways that best fit their interests and personal schedules. Some people enjoy
fundraising, others may prefer committee work, and some may want to work directly with
children in the classroom. It is important to recognize that in every community there are people
who would like to be involved but don’t know what steps to take or who to contact. Additional
suggestions for expanding communication with parents and the community include:
• Review effectiveness of parent/community involvement programs. We suggest HCPS
review current involvement opportunities open to parents and community members to
determine which are working well and whether some may need to be revamped or
eliminated due to lack of participation. In addition to existing committees and events,
some other possibilities to consider include:
Offering workshops for parents on how to help students apply for college and find
college scholarships (focus group participants expressed strong interest in this);
Providing refresher courses for parents to help their children with homework;
Organizing a quarterly school orientation session for non-English speaking
parents;
Offering parenting skills training (particularly helpful at middle school level);
Organizing a cadre of parents whose children are grown to serve as resource
contacts and advisors to parents of young children new to the school system.
Expand tutoring/mentoring programs to involve businesses and community
groups.
• Consider creating an e-newsletter for parents and community. An option worth
serious consideration is the creation of an e-newsletter for parents and community
members. HCPS introduced eSchoolnewsletter this year, an online publication for
individual school use which targets parents, but there is also a need to develop a
communication vehicle for the general public that delivers information and key messages
in a more timely manner than the Harford Schools newspaper.
NSPRA Communication Audit 29 Harford County Public Schools