Elementary Schools

Ensure all families receive a comprehensive calendar outlining events for the entire school year. We recommend schools to distribute this annual calendar during Open House to all families, have hard copies available in the Front Office, and be readily available on the school website.

• • This calendar should encompass PTSO meetings, end-of-quarter dates, parent-teacher conferences, board meetings, and other events relevant to parents or the entire school year. 

Following each event, distribute concise summaries of 5-minute and/or 15-minute durations detailing family events such as curriculum nights, PTSO meetings, and others.

Provide and ensure all families sign a Learning Compact to further ensure the collaboration of students, families, and teachers. Compact templates for families can be found here.

Understand that families may be engaging in their own ways at home. It can look like conversations about academic choices, student grades, schedules, and college prospects. (Leonard, 2013)

Encourage families to help their students succeed, provide a Weekly or Monthly Newsletter that includes:

• • Readiness timelines for all grades

  • Exam preparation resources

  • Information about learning experiences

  • Outline ways that families can be active participants in their student's academic journey. This may include:

    • • Different topics to talk about with students

      • How to start conversations with students

      • How to bring up important deadlines and check in on progress

It is essential to plan using data. Collecting data from families can help with making community connections and family-focused events. These connections and events can meet the needs highlighted by the data collected. 

Pre-Surveys

• • At the beginning of the academic year, families can receive a pre-survey that measures perception, engagement, and confidence levels regarding the relationship with the school. 

  • This pre-survey can also include a section where families can provide information on their needs. Some examples are housing, medical/mental health, workforce development, and finances. 

  • Example of a pre-survey here.

Post- Surveys

• • Post-surveys can measure changes in perception, engagement, confidence, and the impacts of community connections and family-focused events. 

  • Data collected from post-surveys can then help plan for the following academic year. 

  • Example of a post-survey here.

Families must meet their basic needs to ensure that they can engage in their students' academic success. The families you serve may need to connect with community organizations to access necessary resources. The intake form can be used to identify needs. 

• Creating a communication channel is important so families and educators can share information, learn more about one another, and establish a strong partnership. 

• During the open house or the beginning of the school year, sending a letter letting families know they can contact you if they need any resources can open up the possibility of family engagement and connection.  

• The list of relevant community organizations in Charlotte, NC, is here.

• If families have a more specific need, you can search for non-profits here.

Creating a student/family needs survey, for teachers to provide within the first day of classes, will build the relationships between staff and families and will provide teachers with an understanding of the needs of families. 

So families can submit feedback, creating an "open suggestion box for [TEACHER NAME]" or comment box that is teacher-based may help. Every teacher can provide a link or QR code that is specific to them at the beginning of the year to all parents and students.  Regardless of grade level, the goal is still for families to be involved in their child’s education. This will strengthen family engagement by empowering families to connect with teachers on their own time.  

As the student population continues to grow more diverse, it is important to target language barriers, it is recommended that teachers use the interpreter services offered through CMS. 

• Hotline Number

• When welcoming families at the beginning of the school year, teachers can use the English Learner Services Technology Support Hyperdoc. This will ensure that families have access to the necessary technology to engage with CPEC and be active in their scholar’s education. 

• Providing translation equipment at meetings and events would be inclusive of families that may be facing a language barrier. (Amaro-Jiménez et al., 2020)

The need for difficult conversations may arise throughout the school year. Hence, we strongly encourage teachers to build relationships with individual families at the beginning of the school year. Here is a tracker that teachers may find useful to track communication. Here is a list of conversation starters to encourage teachers to build relationships with individual families:

• “Thanks for talking with me.” 

• “I’d like to share something I observed during [subject/time period] to get your take on it.”  

• “I’m reaching out to ask for your help so I can better understand some challenges I’ve observed [student] having with….”

• “Today during [subject/time period], I noticed that [student] really struggled with [behavior/skill]. In the moment, we handled it by…. “

• “Recently, I’ve noticed that in class, [student] is [describe concern]. I’ve been trying some strategies to provide extra support. They include [describe specific strategies you have used and the outcome].”

• “I’ve observed a change in [student]’s behavior/progress/motivation/ability in the past [time frame]. They were [describe what was going well] and now they are [describe the change].”

Transitioning into Elementary School

• • Immunizations

    • Chronic absenteeism can be targeted at the beginning of the school year by identifying students who need to submit immunization records. 

    • Here is a list of community organizations that can help with immunizing students. 

• • Preschool

    • How to deal with separation

    • Creating a partnership with families is the most critical part of the beginning of the year. Educators can learn more about why and how to Build Partnerships with Families.

    • Addressing developmental delays

    • Because students are in a new environment, the observations and data collected by the educator can help determine whether they may need services, accommodations, or modifications.

    • Here is information about how to talk to families about developmental concerns. 

• • Kindergarten

    • Preparation for the first day of kindergarten.

    • Tips for the transition from preschool to kindergarten.

    • A transition timeline that can be shared with families.

    • Why staggered entry?

Transitioning into Middle School

• • 5th-grade tips to share with families to prepare the student for middle school.

  • Ways families can smooth the transition from elementary to middle school can be found here.

  • Guide for students and families that helps them shift into the middle school environment. 

A strong literacy transition must be in place to ensure that students are where they should be academically by third grade.

• • • Literacy resources

To remove barriers that could be related to having families show up to PTA/PTSO meetings, the PTA/PTSO can provide both in-person and virtual options for meetings. Meetings can be recorded and posted on the PTA/PTSO website so all families can access the information covered. Recordings can be provided with the meeting minutes.

Partner with the PTA/PTSO to support less involved families by establishing a mentorship program where highly engaged parents connect with them. This initiative could involve: providing updates on missed events, upcoming important dates, and sharing relevant information.