Reinvigorating empathy - and Vice Principals

Let’s talk about parent engagementBCPVPA President Marilyn Merler offers some practical ideasabout how to engage parents with their children’s schoolsStudent engagement is a popularexpression in the worldof education. It certainly hascome up a lot at the past few conferencesI’ve attended. So, to remaincutting edge, let’s talk about engagement,but let’s talk about parent engagement.When parents are activelyinvolved with their children’s school,students benefit. As principals andvice-principals, our role is to encouragepositive parental involvement inour schools and that is possible inmany ways. Here are some ideas onengaging parents that I have witnessedor enacted over the years.Make your schoola welcoming place for parentsStart by being visible in the hallwaysat the beginning and endof the school day, when parents maybe dropping off or picking up theirchildren. This happens more frequentlyin elementary schools, butthere are still a few parents wanderingaround middle and high schoolsat the beginning or end of the schoolday. Use the student’s name whengreeting them and if you don’t knowthe parent’s name ask the studentto introduce their parent to you. Ina large school, it would be virtuallyimpossible to remember all of theparent names, but parents appreciatethat you know their children’snames. Stand at one of the entrancesto the school every morningand greet people as they come in.At the end of the day, walk aroundthe hallways and stop to chat withparents. On the first day of school,once the students are settled intotheir new classes, invite parents tothe staffroom and offer them coffeeand snacks. This works well in theelementary setting, when you havemany parents who are worried aboutleaving their children. This way parentsare still in the school, getting toknow other parents, and the teacherscan get on with their job of gettingto know the students. The more welcomeparents feel in the school, themore time they will spend there, andthe more time they spend at school,the deeper their engagement.Have a place whereparents can congregate?Parents enjoy having a comfortableplace to sit and chat witheach other while waiting for theirchildren. Try joining them sometimeto ask their opinion aboutsomething related to the school, forexample, “How is your child enjoyingour daily physical activity (DPA)program?” Or “Are you planning oncoming to the Family Math Nighttomorrow night?” Some schoolshave established parent rooms ordesignated portions of rooms forparent use. One parent room I sawFebruary 09 • Adminfo • 2had comfortable chairs and couches,coffee, toys for preschool children,and an excellent parent referencearea with all kinds of resources, includingcopies of the IRPs, parentingbooks, videos, DVDs, CDs, children’sbooks and novels, that couldall be signed out. There was also abulletin board with the school andPAC newsletter, the School Plancontinuespage 4Board of Directors 2008–2009Ma r i l y n Merler, Presidentmmerler@bcpvpa.bc.caLes Du k o w s k i, Pa s t-Presidentldukowski@bcpvpa.bc.caDirectorsLeslie Anderssonandersson_l@sd36.bc.caJameel Azizjaziz@sd73.bc.caBr i a n Chappellbchappell@sd57.bc.caCh e r y l Dewcheryl.dew@sd27.bc.caBr i a n Ja c k s o nBrian.Jackson@sd41.bc.caCl a u d e t t e La v o i eclavoie@sd50.bc.caEl a i n e McVieemcvie@sd61.bc.caMy l e s Mo w a tMyles_Mowat@sd59.bc.caCa r l Reppcrepp@sd62.bc.caPa u l Ta y l o rtaylor_paul@sd36.bc.caISSN: 1201-4214