45 Comments
Delyn
11/21/2014 12:57:05 am
Do we have a station, like the one mentioned in the powerpoint, set up anywhere? I know that many parents are still not going to come in, but with all the resources that the center offered it might bring more in that we could get feedback from. We could ask that they fill out a questionaire/survey before they leave, but they would have internet access (if it is up), help for themselves and students finding and applying for jobs, help for students struggling academically, etc. They get help and we get feedback. I like the idea of a drop box they can just write down ideas and drop off on the way out as well. The library seems like the logical place, but who could be here and have access after hours (probably when the parents could come...after work).
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Andrea Morrow
11/21/2014 06:51:43 am
Delyn...I like the idea of a drop box. It would be difficult to have an "after hours" drop box, but we could put one in the front office. Several parents come for meetings or check out their kids - they could leave feedback at that time.
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Brittney Adams
11/21/2014 01:02:18 am
Could we set up some type of blog or discussion board and encourage parents that way? The parents wouldn't necessarily have to give their identity to give feedback or ideas. I know that I would much rather give feedback online than having to go somewhere and do it. I know not all parents have internet access but I think it would be more involvement than having them come to the school or a location.
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Terri Lynch
11/21/2014 01:28:50 am
Often, when I speak to parents, they seem very unaware of the requirements for graduation, testing, courses, etc. All of this information is provided in our individual class syllabus (syllabi!) but I think that the majority simply do not read them. They are just signing them because their children ask them to. Perhaps, during the open house/parent night we could have workshops by grade level for parents to attend.
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Angie Greeson
11/21/2014 02:51:49 am
All of the graduation requirements are listed in the Student Handbook that the parents and students have to sign to acknowledge they have read. However, I have never seen any student referencing the Student Handbook after the first week of school when we have to go over it with them in advisement. I think there needs to be a separate handbook for academic requirements, etc. that is not lumped in with dress code and discipline issues.
Andrea Morrow
11/21/2014 06:55:40 am
Terri...I like that idea as well. We could also post that type of information on the blog Brittney mentioned.
Andrea Morrow
11/21/2014 07:00:02 am
Angie...I couldn't agree more! That is something that could be discussed in the Leadership Team meetings.
Katie Lents
11/21/2014 07:42:43 am
Terri,
Delyn
11/21/2014 01:36:03 am
I think that is an excellent idea Brittney. We could use the center in the library for those who don't have internet access
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Hannah Mayo
11/21/2014 05:02:45 am
I really like this idea. I think that as many forums to have for communication helps the parents be informed and offers a way for them to ask question.
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Andrea Morrow
11/21/2014 06:53:52 am
Brittney...That's a great idea! I too would rather leave feedback online. We could set up a website similar to mine where information is posted and parents could comment on that information or post questions.
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Andrea Morrow
11/21/2014 06:56:09 am
Brittney...That's a great idea! I too would rather leave feedback online. We could set up a website similar to mine where information is posted and parents could comment on that information or post questions.
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Drew Smythe
11/21/2014 01:24:50 am
Mr. Burgueno and I were talking one day this week about a system that works with sending text reminders out to students. He and I both agreed that if we could get parents to sign up for this service then it would benefit the student significantly. All it would take is the teacher going in and typing up a reminder about anything that is due or tests/quizzes that are coming up and both the student and the parent will be notified. I do not remember what it is called.
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Will Queen
11/21/2014 01:51:02 am
The one I use is called Remind (it used to be called Remind 101). It works well as a one-way communication to send alerts to parents and students. The weakness is that they have to sign up for it, and many simply will not do so even after repeated reminders. Ironic, right?
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Andrea Morrow
11/21/2014 07:02:23 am
Will...Lol ironic...definitely. That is an option. Wonder if it would encourage parent sign-up if their kids got extra credit or some type of similar reward?
Pam Puryear
12/1/2014 06:47:47 am
I also use Remind with my WBL students and I have many parents that sign up for it during my orientation meeting before school starts.
Andrea Morrow
11/21/2014 06:59:04 am
Drew...that is a good idea. It sounds similar to the School Way App that we are using to keep parents informed about athletics and school information.
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Wendy Owens
11/21/2014 07:33:53 am
Remind.com is great! It is VERY hard to get parents to sign up. No, let me rephrase that, it is VERY hard to get students to take the instructions home. I have about 130 people signed up to receive my texts, and about 20 are parents. I did try candy bribery... not very effective. I could try extra credit...
Nancy Adams
12/5/2014 07:38:16 am
Parents need to sign up for the parent section of Parent Portal as well. This provides very specific information about a child's progress in the academic areas.
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Joshua Stanley
11/21/2014 03:04:19 am
I think one thing that would help parents would be to have a site they can visit that shows how to work out math problems. If we could set of a site with links that teach parents how to workout the problems out at home they could learn the material with their student and be able to help them. YouTube has many different videos that I used in college to help explain material I did not understand. I know this would be very beneficial for parents who want to be able to help their student with homework or extra practice work.
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Andrea Morrow
11/21/2014 07:05:21 am
Josh...That's a good idea. If we had the parent website as mentioned earlier...a teacher from each department could post a short "how to" video every so often. Students could even request a certain topic for the video.
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Jeffrey Vest
11/21/2014 05:38:02 am
I agree that "text alerts" and blogs would be great methods to reach parents with the important information they need. The "text alerts' and blogs would also allow parents to access the information they need anytime and at their convenience.
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Whitney Wilkie
11/21/2014 05:53:20 am
I do not know if this would work, but we could (by department) send out a parent newsletter each month. We could offer extra credit or some other reward for students who bring it back not only signed but also with a comment attached. It would maybe eliminate the forgery of signatures and persuade parents to read it. I know they do not read the syllabi, but I wonder if a newsletter would be different?
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Andrea Morrow
11/21/2014 07:08:17 am
Whitney...I like it! We could take that idea and incorporate it on the parent website. Attach a link for each department's newsletter.
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Debbie Hahn
11/21/2014 06:37:40 am
I like a lot of the ideas being mentioned. I like what Terri Lynch and Brittney Adams suggested. I also think we need an initial assessment survey for parents so we can have them identify the greatest of their needs.
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Andrea Morrow
11/21/2014 07:10:53 am
Deb...I like the idea of a survey, but it's so difficult to get parents to participate since they already take some. Of course we could also post it on a parent website and hope for participation.
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Lori Townsend
11/22/2014 11:47:31 am
One thing we need to remember is send everything in Spanish and English!
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Lisa Winters
11/21/2014 06:39:40 am
Just from experience, I think it would be good to have a workshop on what the laws are about working while on Disability. I know a lot of our parents are afraid for their children to work because it could affect their checks, but there are a lot of things invoved.
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Andrea Morrow
11/21/2014 07:16:25 am
Lisa...I agree! That might be something to bring up at the next Leadership Meeting. We could easily arrange that in the near future - possibly?
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Anita Scott
11/30/2014 01:30:20 pm
I think this is a great idea. This happened this summer to one of our former students, and he missed a good opportunity.
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Sandra Johnston
11/21/2014 10:02:54 am
I think hosting meetings to hand out information is a great idea. If the parents do not attend or make an effort it is hard to get information to them. Also text message system and blogs are great ideas but parents may not have internet or a cell phone. Meetings would be the best idea.
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Chad Brewer
11/21/2014 10:07:50 am
Parent Resource Nights are a great idea. All we can do is offer these meetings and hopefully parents will attend. Text messaging reminders will work. Blogs will be a good idea. Some parents may not have internet/computers/mobile phones. Some may not have reliable transportation either but making the effort through these avenues is all we can do.
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Greg Linder
11/22/2014 12:22:12 pm
I agree with Coach Brewer. Parent Resource Nights are a great idea. Text messaging reminders will work but getting parents signed-up has been an issue in the past. Blogs would be a good idea. They would give parents a place to comment without having to come to school. Any way we can get the information out to parents would be great.
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Scott Martin
11/28/2014 07:48:16 am
Does our school have its own Facebook page where parents could "friend" us, and we could post important Title I information (along with other school info)? It seems that a lot of parents have FB, even though they may be reluctant to start up with Twitter, Instagram, etc. Also, we may could explore ways to "take the information to people" if they don't come to us - i.e. information tables at football games, basketball games, soccer matches, etc.; they may not come in sometimes just for a Title I night, but when they show up for other things we may could use those opportunities to disseminate info. Lastly, I've heard the question asked "Do parents have access to their student's data in SLDS?" ... I'm not sure. Would it be possible to grant this access, similar to having access to grades in Infinite Campus (do you think it would be beneficial?)?
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Bill Steele
12/1/2014 04:32:25 am
Sounds like a great way to communicate all the programs the school has to offer.
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Linda Dotson
12/1/2014 05:03:37 am
An important aspect that stood out to me was the need to have a multilingual format. I think that offering more information written or spoken in Spanish would go a long way in keeping a significant segment of our community informed. I think that the upcoming parent meeting specifically for Hispanic students is a great step the right direction, but I would like to see us do these meetings in a unified setting.
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Brooke Young
12/3/2014 11:52:16 pm
I'm so glad we're having this meeting for Hispanic students. I'm hoping we can have a similar meeting that includes their parents.
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Pam Puryear
12/1/2014 06:50:47 am
I agree with Coach Brewer in that all we can do is offer options for parents and hope they take advantage of it. Many are not going to take advantage of anything we offer but will be the first and loudest to complain about not knowing about something even when the resources were available. Just saying.
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melissa Adams
12/2/2014 12:56:51 am
We may have already said this, but to avoid so many meetings, perhaps we could combine these Title I meetings with the meetings the counselors have periodically with parents from each grade. Kill 2 birds and all that......... :-)
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Randy Baggett
12/2/2014 11:39:40 pm
I don't know the answer, but we need a way to communicate with parents that isn't so dependent on the initial information being delivered by the students. They many times don't share it with parents.
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Brooke Young
12/3/2014 11:58:07 pm
I recently taught a class for Hispanic parents through Community Christmas. It was about success in schools. Many who attended were MCHS parents. They had sooooo many questions. They were also very interested in learning how to use Infinite Campus Parent Portal to check up on their students. Very few spoke English and even fewer had internet at home. Many did have it on their phones. I am hoping to offer a training on IC in Spanish for these MCHS parents and parents from our feeder schools.
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Nancy Adams
12/5/2014 07:47:06 am
A computer class offered by the system may help parents learn about the available technology. In every school, teachers are required to complete duties beyond the school day. A teacher might volunteer for this in instead of other duties.
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Christina O'Dell
12/5/2014 03:21:26 am
Great idea but not sure this will get the parents here. We can offer it but that doesn't mean they will come.
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Nancy Adams
12/5/2014 08:00:47 am
I think that we "lose" many of these kids between the ages 0-4 when they enter school. Parents are not prepared for the responsibility of parenthood. I am pleased that we offer great courses about child care and psychology. With each new generation and year of students, we are trying to better prepare them. Sometimes though, parents need a reminder about "age level appropriate" responsibility. Parents need an understanding and a reminder of this beginning in the elementary school. This can be part of every parent meeting that is scheduled by us or requested by the parent. Like it or not, they are the parent/adult in the family.
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Zach Talley
12/5/2014 07:04:02 am
I agree with the idea of having a parent resource night & I really like the idea of the drop-box for communication/feedback to us. IF we can get the parents to come to the resource nights, it would be much more effective in getting that info TO them rather than HOPING it gets to them through the kids. The blog idea is a great way to share info and get feedback, but "How can we incentivize so that we could get more participation," is the next logical question to me.
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