Early in the school year we established a district-wide Home/School Relations committee. This original team stemmed from Larry Lezotte’s Correlates of Effective Schools. We began meeting in September. Our group includes community members, students, Community Education staff, retired educators, family resource personnel, parents, instructional assistants and teachers. This established team fit naturally into the strategic planning process. Thus, the correlate team evolved into the Home/School Relations Action Team for the district.
In the fall we began our work by looking at the school/district’s current policies as they relate to home/school relations and communications. From this research we identified successful practices, and we targeted gaps. We matched this information with the strategies for which our team was charged.
The strategic plans are:
I. Develop services and form partnerships in our community to improve engagement and learning.
II. Form a lasting partnership with family to continue on-going home/school relations maximizing two way communication, parental involvement and student engagement and learning.
III. Develop and implement a public relations program to share information with various publics and promote positive achievements to enhance the reputation of our school community.
From these strategies, the action plans were formulated. They include increasing public relations through such things as billboards, web page enhancement, creation of an advisory team, highlighting community members (i.e., Alumni, retired educators and business leaders) and using local media for broadcasting opportunities. Communication opportunities were also addressed through things such as an automated phone system, individual school calendars, home-visits, parent/teacher conferences, an online library and student information systems.
Through communications with other action planning teams, some overlaps were discovered. This impacted the prioritization process. The action plans that were woven throughout the other action teams’ work are as follows:
a. Home Visits
b. Web Page Development
c. Guest Speaker Resource List
d. Automated Phone System
e. Enhanced Student Information System
f. Advisory Team Development
The first two specific results listed, Webpage Maintenance and Display Boards, are currently being implemented. We recommend continuation of these actions as they have likely had a positive impact on public relations for our district. Strategy I only has one specific result attached to it; however, this strategy is embedded throughout most of the other action plans.
We appreciate your careful consideration of Boyle County’s Home/School Relations & Communication Team’s proposed Action Plans.
Sincerely,
Susan Taylor
Kristi Waters |
