Caregiver Communication
What you'll find here...
The guide linked above outlines the various reasons we may want to contact home: students who are
Skipping class
Chronically absent from class or school
Not engaged in class
Doing well and we want to acknowledge that with the caregiver
It will first walk through the process a teacher could take in each of the above scenarios, providing sample scripts of what could be said. The emphasis here is on “could” as this is not meant to be prescriptive in nature, but rather meant to support us in building the culture of initiating and maintaining two way communication open channels of communication with caregivers.
On the second page, you’ll find general tips for sending emails home and how to engage with a caregiver who may be upset. There are also a range of translation services listed with more specific information linked (also see Translation Services below).
This connects to Standard 3 of the Teacher Evaluation Rubric: Family and Community Engagement, “promotes the learning and growth of all students through effective partnerships with families [and] caregivers”.
Caregiver Communication Logs
It is strongly encouraged that teachers document their attempts to communicate with a caregiver regarding student progress, both successes and challenges, even if only for their own records. Below are some examples of how you can document these communications.
Communication Chart: log each time you initiate contact with a caregiver. Feel free to organize this in any way that makes sense for you!
Communication Google Form: create your own google form that only you fill out. This is an easy way to quickly document your attempts to reach a caregiver. It will also populate your responses into a spreadsheet that is easily shared/downloaded for use as evidence of Standard 3 in our Teacher Evaluation. Again, feel free to tweak the form to fit your needs!
No matter what you use to document your communication, it is a great piece of evidence for Standard 3 in our Teacher Evaluation!
This connects to Standard 3 of the Teacher Evaluation Rubric: Family and Community Engagement, “promotes the learning and growth of all students through effective partnerships with families [and] caregivers”.
The linked planner above focuses on centering the strengths and goals of our students and their caregivers when engaging in conversations with them about student progress. It is important for us to view caregivers as strong, connected, contributing educators, too. You can use this resource to help organize your thoughts regarding the purpose of the conversation (including main points to share) and general notes during your conversations with caregivers, prioritizing student assets and caregiver strengths. You’ll find helpful conversation starters on the second page that help you identify caregivers’ strengths and take a stance of curiosity, wonder, and inquiry.
This connects to Standard 3 of the Teacher Evaluation Rubric: Family and Community Engagement, “promotes the learning and growth of all students through effective partnerships with families [and] caregivers”.
There are a variety of both human resources and technological resources that can support our work with a diverse group of families that speak languages other than English.
LionBridge Translation: This district subscription allows any educator to speak with a family member in real-time with a certified translator on the line. This can be used for phone and/or in person meetings. The steps are simple. When possible this method should be prioritized over our in-house translators, so that their services can be reserved for more serious cases (IEP Meetings, Suspension Hearings, etc.).
Dial 800-444-6627
Enter PIN (7560-1995)
Select language
Connect with an interpreter who will place the call to the family with you.
RHS Translators: We are lucky to have a diverse group of staff members at RHS who can support your translation needs.
For written translation, we suggest using the translation feature built right into Google Docs. In your google doc, TOOLS>TRANSLATE DOCUMENT will make a copy of your original document and translate. It preserves all the formatting as well, better than Google Translate. To save our translators time, it is best to use this method and ask our translators to review for accuracy if you have concerns.
For in-person translation (parent meeting), please book a time by emailing the appropriate translators. State the student, meeting time and date, purpose of the meeting, and language. The translator will coordinate with the team and get back to you to confirm.
Please avoid placing our bilingual secretaries, counselors, social workers and other support staff in the awkward position of having to say no to a colleague to assist with translation. They are very generous with their time, and of course use their language skills when working with their caseload of students. However, if the meeting or conversation would not involve an English speaking colleague in the same role, it should not involve a bilingual colleague in a similar role. We should use our translation staff for this.
RHS Family Liaisons: We are lucky to have two family liaisons (Sandra Figeroa and Cynthia Roman), located in Room 221A on the second floor. Their primary role is to work with school administrators, teachers, and staff to promote family engagement activities that create strong school-family partnerships to support teaching and learning, student achievement, and school improvement. This also includes working with staff to create a welcoming environment that values parents as equal partners in their children’s education and serves as a bridge between school and home in ways that build trustful relationships, foster understanding, and address each stakeholder’s needs. Though they can support translation needs, their work should more often be actively engaging with families. For example, if you want to call a parent to tell them that their student’s grades are dropping and they need to stay after school, the family liaison should not be asked to make that call. If upon contact with the family you realize they need help setting up PowerSchool, you should connect them with the liaison. (Role Description Linked Here)
FAMILY + COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT NAVIGATION