Ideal Elementary is a family-friendly and welcoming school, designed to encourage and foster high levels of family involvement both within and outside of the school day.
Most importantly, families are strong educational advocates for their children.
- They are shared decision-makers in the design of individual learning goals for their children.
- They communicate regularly with faculty and school leadership about children’s learning goals and accomplishments, and
- They extend the work of the school by fostering learning at home, and
- They act as community collaborators and ambassadors, and are advocates for high-quality public education.
The Ideal Elementary Team works hard to make sure that parents are actively engaged by providing:
- Parenting skills training, including Pre-K and early childhood via our Family Resource Center.
- One-to-one communication between highly-involved teachers and parents/caregivers that focus on student’s success and achievement.
- Regular phone calls by school staff and/or parent-volunteers.
- Parent/caregiver activities that appeal to the individual interests and skills of all parents.
- A culture of interaction; a positive warm environment where parents and extended family feel welcome.
- Personalized invitations to monthly or more frequent opportunities for parent activities on school grounds, designed in collaboration with parents.
- Information and skills training designed to increase learning at home.
- Parent recognition integrated with student recognition.
Parent/Family Programs Include:
- Parent Visitation and Observation Days where parents are encouraged to join the classroom and participate in activities alonside their children.
- Parent Volunteer Programs including career/hobby days, school fun days, fundraisers, field trips chaperoning, and help with assemblies and special holiday events.
- Award Assemblies designed to recognize students for citizenship, achievement, attendance, school or community services, and more.
- Curriculum-Based Fairs like Science Fair, Math Fair, and Art Exhibitions.
- Principal Coffee Hours for drop-in, informal conversations.
- Parent Education Workshops and Classes
- Regular Parent/Teacher Conferences
References
Alameda-Lawson, T., Lawson, M. A., & Lawson, H. A. (2010). Social Workers’ Roles in Facilitating the Collective Involvement of Low-Income, Culturally Diverse Parents in an Elementary School. Children & Schools, 32(3), 172-182. (abstract only).
El Nokali, N. E., Bachman, H. J., & Votruba-Drzal, E. (2010). Parent Involvement and Children’s Academic and Social Development in Elementary School. Child Development, 81(3), 988-1005. (abstract only).
Green, Christa et al. Parents’ Motivations for Involvement in Children’s Education (2007): An Empirical Test of a Theoretical Model of Parental Involvement, Journal of Educational Psychology; Vol. 99 Issue 3, p532-544 (abstract only.)
National PTA’s National Standards for Family-School Partnerships, last accessed 3/2/2011.
Benson, F., & Martin, S. (2003). ORGANIZING SUCCESSFUL PARENT INVOLVEMENT IN URBAN SCHOOLS. Child Study Journal, 33(3), 187-193. (not available online)