Increase Parent Engagement at Your School
Looking for ways to increase parent engagement at your school? Look no further! Track it Forward is a leader in school volunteer time tracking software and is committed to helping schools improve their parent volunteer programs. We’ve done our homework and surveyed schools to find out what makes parent engagement programs successful. Learn more below, and sign up for our newsletter for access to free parent engagement resources!
Parent Engagement Programs
Parent engagement can manifest in many ways. Different schools may choose to implement different programs. For example, private schools may require a minimum number of volunteer hours for their parents and public schools may decide to form a parent association to organize volunteer opportunities.
- Required Parent Volunteer Hours
- Optional Parent Volunteer Hours
- Parent Volunteer Tuition Offset Program
- Parent-Teacher Association
What does Successful Parent Engagement look like?
A fully engaged and participating parent community can result in better outcomes for students and higher retention rates. Here are some top factors for successful parent engagement.
1. Improve Communication
It’s important to communicate regularly with parents. Ideally, the communications will be consistent and use a single platform, whether that be via email or a parent portal. Consider creating a weekly newsletter or a teacher email series. Encourage feedback and provide a way for parents to respond to messages if necessary.
2. Provide Volunteer Opportunities
Providing a robust variety of volunteer opportunities is crucial to the success of any parent engagement program. Not all parents have the ability or desire to volunteer in more traditional ways, such as being a classroom helper. Try to meet these parents where they are by providing opportunities for remote volunteering or in-kind donations!
3. Increase Transparency
Transparency is key for any family-school relationship. Creating a culture of transparency and setting expectations can help build trust and reduce friction for all stakeholders. For example, if your school requires parents to volunteer for a minimum number of hours, make sure they know the requirements and can check their progress toward completion.
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Steps for Parent Engagement
There are certain steps you should take in order to increase parent involvement and school participation. Regardless of where you are in your parent engagement program development, clarifying these steps can help improve overall participation.
Create Program Guidelines
If you’re creating a new parent program or improving an existing one, make sure you’ve decided on a program type and have guidelines in place.
Communicate with Parents
Be sure to have a communication strategy in place and communicate with parents ahead of launching a new program or making changes to an existing one.
Provide Robust Opportunities
Provide a variety of different in-person, remote or virtual, and in-kind volunteer opportunities to meet parents where they’re at.
Create an Event Calendar
Create an calendar for parent volunteers to sign up for events. This can include recurring shifts or parent-teacher meetings.
Be Transparent
Create a transparent environment where parents can view requirements, opportunities, and progress.
Track Volunteer Hours
Implement a time tracking system for parents to record their volunteer hours and admins to pull reports and measure program success.
Parent Engagement Resources
Check out these free resources on improving parent engagement at your school! For the full list, sign up for our Parent Engagement Newsletter!
Parent Engagement Strategy Webinar
billed annually
Explore effective strategies for parent engagement in this on-demand webinar!
How to Start a Parent Engagement Program
billed annually
Comprehensive article complete with steps on starting a parent program at your school
Guide to Parental Involvement in Schools
billed annually
Guide on types of parental involvement and how to get your parents more involved!
How To Track Parent Engagement in Your School
billed annually
Detailed guide on how to track parent volunteer hours at your school
See how Track it Forward can help improve parent engagement at your school by tracking volunteer hours, events, and more!
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