Parent Circles Implementation Guide 

What's Needed:

Successful programming depends on thoughtful planning centered on clarity, collaboration, and logistics from the start.

1. Participation: Determine if Parent Circles will be a self-select, opt-in offering or a universal, opt-out offering. Schools should consider a signed participation agreement that outlines expectations. This agreement does not need to be enforced punitively to have value. It can be a helpful bridge to conversations that help facilitators ensure Parent Circles deliver value to parents. The conversation may be co-creating solutions to obstacles a parent may experience with consistent engagement / attendance (transportation, time management, accessing support system, etc) or may lead to realistic accommodations a facilitator can make to increase value for that parent (supporting more connection to other parents, changing groups, calling on them more / less, etc.). 

2. Staff norms and expectations: Establish staff norms and expectations for how other teams should expect to work with Parent Wellness Coaches, what they should expect to share with coaches, etc and the same for coaches with other teams. Parent-oriented programming will be unlike any other collaboration instructional staff have experienced, as it exists to serve academics indirectly through parents. This creates a distinct difference in priorities that is valuable, but uncommon in school settings. It merits investing time to support a shared understanding of roles for a cohesive relationship between these teams early on.

3. Information rollout: Provide information to staff and families to set expectations. Consider an orientation session for families and consider a PD session for staff.

4. Invest in logistics: Hire/re-allocate staff, allocate meeting space for groups (furnish if needed), establish materials budget, and survey family availability to establish a calendar for the year. Early investment in these activities will make the rollout smoother.

5. Group goal reflection: Self-reflection is a learned skill that develops over time and flourishes in environments built on trust and safety. For schools that are newer to engaging parents in goal setting and reflection, beginning with individual reflection in 1:1 coaching rather than during Parent Circles allows families to build confidence and comfort with the process. As parents gain experience and trust through this practice, schools can thoughtfully expand these activities into group reflection within Parent Circles.

Resources:

All of the Parent Circles resources referenced in this implementation guide are available inside of these folders.

• Parent Circles - Admin - A folder of documents useful for understanding and implementing Parent Circles at all stages of development.

• Parent Circles - P0 - Early Childhood - A folder of slide decks, handouts, and facilitator prep for Parent Circles for children ages 0-5.

• Parent Circles - P1 - Early Elementary - A folder of slide decks and handouts for Parent Circles for children in grades PK3-2.

• Parent Circles - P2 - Early Adolescence - A folder of slide decks and handouts for Parent Circles for children in grades 3-8.

What's Needed:

By design, Parent Circles require the establishment of a safe space for connection and self-exploration. Fundamentally, these activities are rooted in vulnerability, universal acceptance, and a people-over-program mentality. Maintaining the culture is key to attaining both short-term and long-term success. The Primary School's culture was a commitment to:

• Being open, vulnerable, and nonjudgmental

• Bringing your full self and accepting others as they are

• Managing coaches with the same coaching partnership stance taken with families

• Creating a warm, welcoming, and growth-focused community

• Having leadership that prioritizes culture

• Embracing parents' whole identity—as parents and people

Before designing and implementing Parent Circles that work for your school context, it is important to evaluate your own school culture. If your school does not currently demonstrate a commitment to creating a culture of trust, growth, psychological safety, and universal acceptance, we recommend that you invest time in cultivating that space before inviting families to join Parent Circles. Alternatively, if your school does not yet have this fully trusting and growth-oriented climate but school leadership and staff are committed to cultivating it, Parent Circles could be a strategy in building this culture.

What's Needed:

Parent Circles require the use of slide decks, handouts, and exit tickets that support the facilitation of each session.

Design & Implementation Tips:

While The Primary School has developed content that you may choose to use in your school (see below), there's considerable flexibility to design a curriculum that works for your school community. Materials should reflect needs and direct input from parents. Program leaders should select, adapt, and/or create content on an annual basis based on this knowledge. Even within the available materials individual schools and/or facilitators have the opportunity to choose the general topic category (e.g., Thriving Wellbeing: Navigating Stress or Relational Skills: Activating Agency), but Parent Circle decks within the category should be followed in order to help the content flow naturally and allow for progressive skill building.

Key Resources:

There are approximately 50 content decks and prep guides built out and ready to implement. They are accessible within the available Parent Circle resources and you may refer to the Parent Circle Use Cases to see suggested monthly or weekly topic arcs for programming.

Facilitation Materials:

With a brief survey you can immediately gauge the value of the experience for participants to inform future group facilitation.

• Parent Circles Content Master - Access to all of the Parent Circles slide decks and handouts, grouped by child ages.

  • • P0 Early Childhood Parent Circles Facilitation Materials - A folder containing all of the Parent Circles slide decks and handouts for children ages 0-5.

    • P1 Early Elementary Parent Circles Facilitation Materials - A folder containing all of the Parent Circles slide decks and handouts for children in grades PK3-2.

    • P2 Early Adolescence Parent Circles Facilitation Materials - A folder containing all of the Parent Circles slide decks and handouts for children in grades 3-8.

• Parent Circle Use Cases - A sample use cases to help schools in planning and envisioning possible schedule and topic roadmaps.

Exit Tickets:

Exit tickets can be completed virtually on tablets, if available, or printed handouts.

• • Parent feedback survey sample 1 - A sample exit ticket for Facilitators to administer at the end of a session.

  • Parent feedback survey sample 2 - A sample exit ticket for Facilitators to administer at the end of a session.

What's Needed

To implement Parent Circles, schools need trained facilitators -- enough to allow for co-facilitators if possible -- and managers. These roles can be full-time or scoped appropriately into existing roles as new responsibilities. These staff members will take on the responsibilities of facilitating circles, including engaging the group and the logistics of sessions, as well as training and observation of the facilitators and co-facilitators.

• Program Manager - This person is responsible for training Facilitators and coordinating The Parent Program with other operations of the school and school leadership. Schools have the flexibility to identify who will supervise and occasionally observe Facilitators. Possible fits for this role could include school counselors, former administrators, family engagement coordinators, school nurses with interest in family wellbeing, or teachers in non-instructional roles. The profile fit for a Program Manager is flexible as long as their written role is clearly defined and the candidate is committed to a coaching and partnership mindset instead of a case-working or clinical mindset.

• Trained Lead Facilitators - This role is critical to the success of Parent Circles. Facilitators are typically Parent Wellness Coaches or Family Engagement Staff. Many staff, including leadership and school counselors, can step into the facilitator role if trained on group wellness coaching. Generally, it is not recommended that instructional staff take on facilitation responsibilities. If unavoidable, do not pair parents with their students' teacher. 

• Co-Facilitators - It is strongly recommended to have co-facilitator where possible. This allows the lead to focus on group dynamics and engagement, while the co-facilitator handles logistics (e.g., technology, handouts). The co-facilitator does not need to be a trained coach, unless they are taking on any of the lead facilitation responsibilities.

Key Resources:

• Facilitator Responsibilities -  Description and delineation of Facilitator and co-Facilitator responsibilities.

• Facilitator Relational Best Practices -  Recommended best practices for the relational facilitation of Parent Circles.

• Facilitator Logistical Best Practices - Recommended best practices for the logistical implementation of Parent Circles.

• Facilitation Rubric -  A useful tool for managers to use while observing Coaches in action.

• Training Videos - links to come.

What's Needed

To implement Parent Circles, schools should be prepared to reasonably invest in the personnel and materials that bring the programming to life.

Recurring items to budget for include:

• Facilitators' time

• Implementation materials, including:

  • Printing/handouts

  • Beverages (coffee, tea, water, etc)

  • Snacks

• Childcare

Some larger items that may require initial upfront costs, but can be re-used, including:

• Technology for presenting (e.g., facilitator computer, TV/projector and HDMI cable, clicker, etc.)

• Rented space (offsite meeting locations)

• Furnishings (unfurnished meeting locations)

Key Resources:

Parent Wellness Coaching Budgeting Tool - A budgeting tool that helps schools plan for the necessary annual costs for implementation. 

What's Needed

Schools have the flexibility to run Parent Circles with the cadence that works best for their communities, whether that is monthly across a full year, semester/trimester, or even weekly depending on the program and parent preference. Sessions are typically 60-90 minutes long. Parents are required to attend each Parent Circle. If they miss a session, the facilitator(s) should work with the parent to schedule an individual or small group makeup session.

Design & Implementation Tips

• For parent predictability purposes, it is not recommended to make significant changes in the program's cadence from year to year. However, surveying cadence and interest can help schools to adjust to a rhythm that feels manageable to parents.

• The Primary School found that meeting weekly has more easily and quickly led to foundational trust and group cohesion. Whereas meeting monthly has been more practical for balancing demand on families’ time. We advise choosing the cadence that you identify if most desired by your community of parents.

Key Resources:

• Parent Circle Use Cases: sample use cases help schools in planning and envisioning possible schedule and topic roadmaps.

• Sample Calendars: sample calendars to help visualize the scope and scheduling for Parent Circles depending on student age

  • P0 Early Childhood Parent Circles Sample Calendar

  • P1 Early Elementary Parent Circles Sample Calendar

  • P2 Early Adolescence Parent Circles Sample Calendar

What's Needed

Building relationships with community resource organizations, such as after-school programs, job programs, child care providers, food programs, or legal aid will enrich the content and support that you're able to offer participants. These relationships are most easily established when a Parent Coach or Manager connects with a manager at community organizations to frame the benefit of expanding each teams reach as supports to the families of their community by working as collaborators. Parent Circle programming occasionally includes "Ask a Specialist," where subject matter experts from local organizations are brought in to talk with families about specific topics. Having established relationships with these specialists will likely make programming smoother.

Design & Implementation Tips

Schools should plan for integration of Parent Program communications into other school-wide communications to more easily manage the volume and align the content of messages parents receive across the board.

What's Needed

To implement Parent Circles well, schools should be continuously asking participants for feedback. Each lesson ends with an exit ticket for parents to fill out before they leave and generally asks participants if they felt that the session was worth their time.

Additionally, as a part of developing a culture of continuous improvement, schools should consider engaging in monthly data stepbacks conversations, which help Facilitators see broader trends and meet parents at their level. Understanding data allows Parents and Coaches to make joint informed commitments about how to proceed with actions that support them in reaching their goals. 

Design & Implementation Tips

• Data stepbacks are not overly prescriptive by design. In addition to the Parent Circle exit ticket data, schools can analyze and reflect on data they are already collecting and determine if there are opportunities to improve Parent Circle practices reflected by data.

• Data sources could include group attendance, exit ticket responses, previously-determined metrics in alignment with a school's key performance indicators (e.g., parent well-being indicators).

• Schools should leverage their existing capacity and practices to collect, analyze, and review data rather than attempting to develop and add significant data practices unless they have a dedicated data team to support.

Key Resources:

Exit tickets can be completed virtually on tablets, if available, or printed handouts.

• Parent feedback survey sample 1 - A sample exit ticket for Facilitators to administer at the end of a session.

• Parent feedback survey sample 2 - A sample exit ticket for Facilitators to administer at the end of a session.