Working Together to Create an Engaging Academic Environment
WOW! Ed (Center for Educational Improvement)

The origins of the adage, "It takes a village to raise a child," are murky, but the message is clear, especially to the Baltimore, Maryland, neighborhood of Charles Village, where the entire community--from teachers to parents to local businesses, neighborhood associations, even the venerable Johns Hopkins University--have come together to provide the best possible educational environment in the two public elementary schools serving the community.

What began as informal chats between two Charles Village moms evolved into Village Parents, a neighborhood-wide list-serve currently numbering 300 families. According to board member Stephanie Sterling, the group not only organizes social events and playgroups, but also hosts urban education discussion series; recruits volunteers (Sterling herself began volunteering in the Margaret Brent Elementary/Middle School even before her daughter became a student there); and helps families become more acquainted with the neighborhood schools (the other community school is Barclay Elementary/Middle) through tours, marketing efforts, and "old-fashioned conversations in the park."

For Sterling, whose 6-year-old daughter Chase is a first-grader at Margaret Brent, the strong partnership between the school and the community is not only "empowering" ("It feels good to know that our input matters and is valued"),  but is also creating an environment for her daughter that fosters both academic and emotional achievement.

"Everyone knows my child and what she needs," Sterling says. "She feels that everyone around her is a friendly face, and that makes for a successful educational experience."

As the Charles Village community has discovered, the benefits of family-school-community partnerships are many, reports the National Parent Teacher Association, including higher teacher morale, more parent involvement, and greater student success. The organization has even developed the National Standards for Family-School Partnerships Implementation Guide to foster these stronger relationships.

"It's essential that there is a connection between home and school," echoes Jan Lacina, PhD, Associate Dean of Graduate Studies in Texas Tech University’s College of Education, and Editor in Chief for the Journal of Research in Childhood Education. And while traditional efforts--such as volunteering at class parties or on school trips--are all well and good, Lacina would like to see schools work closely with parents in more meaningful ways as well.

"When you have families who understand what their child's school is trying to accomplish and what they need to do so, they will often come together in unexpected ways, such as raising money for additional computers or supplementing a teacher's salary. (Not all families, of course, have the economic means to make financial contributions, Lacina acknowledges, but all schools can benefit from actively engaging with families and making them feel part of the school-wide community.)

At Burgundy Farm Country Day School in Alexandria, Virginia, Assistant Head of School Kari Cafeo says there is much talk about the "triangular relationship" necessary among parents, teachers, and students to facilitate the best learning possible.

"It’s really a partnership between the school and the families," Cafeo says, "and parents are truly a critical piece of the educational journey. Their involvement provides a sense of commitment and support, and the students feel that. When the parents are involved, the students reap quite a few benefits.

"For one thing," Cafeo continues, "they know that they have more than one adult they can turn to. When parents and teachers are working together effectively, it reinforces the messages that the student is hearing in the classroom, which enhances the learning process."

Families take an active role in the educational process at Burgundy, from working in the classrooms, to volunteering in the library, assisting with the school's dramatic productions and curricular-culminating events, co-chairing committees, serving on the Board, raising money, and helping to maintain the school's main campus, and its Wildlife Center in West Virginia.

To encourage an open dialogue between the school and parents, parents receive regular communication about what is happening on campus and in their children’s classrooms, so they can anticipate how their child may be affected or how they may be able to support their child’s educational experience.

"We ask for the same level of communication from parents, so we can understand how we can support the student together," says Cafeo. Similarly, all parents are members of the Burgundy Parent Association and are encouraged to engage in regular communication with faculty, staff, and administrators.

For first grade teacher Ann Douglas, the cooperative enterprise that characterizes Burgundy Farm creates a "diverse and dynamic" partnership that benefits each child. "Parents learn from teachers, teachers learn from parents, and the children are supported and nurtured by everyone around them," she says.

Veteran teacher Faye Miller, who taught at Roosevelt Elementary School in Plover, Wisconsin, for 29 years and now supervises student teachers at the University of Wisconsin, Stevens Point, believes that creating a close-knit community among faculty, staff, students, and parents is essential, but can also be challenging, given ever-changing demographics and family dynamics.

"In most families today, both parents are working so we've had to come up with more ingenious ways to keep them involved," says Miller. To accommodate the parents' work schedules, Roosevelt began holding more of its PTO meetings in the evening. Teachers also email parents every day and produce regular newsletters. Parents are also welcome to email the teachers at any time with questions or concerns.

"Not all parents can come in to the school during the day, and this keeps the lines of communication open," says Miller, and not only between parent and teacher, but also between parent and child. Miller recalls one father who was a pilot and was frequently out of town, but because of the daily updates from the teacher he was able to ask his son specific questions about his school day and even help him with his assignments.

Through the years Roosevelt has also forged strong ties with the community at large, including organizations such as the Boys and Girls Club, and local restaurants, which sponsor "Roosevelt Nights," from which a portion of that evening's proceeds are given to the school.

At Monroe Elementary School in Monroe, Ohio, second-grade teacher Barbara Phillips serves as ambassador and lead teacher for Wonderopolis, an online initiative of the National Center for Families Learning. A daily question and answer posted on the Wonderopolis website is discussed in class but the kids are encouraged to get their parents involved as well.

"This is a wonderful way to build background knowledge," says Phillips, "and it engages the family with what their children are doing during the day." The school took the idea even further recently when it hosted Family Wonder Night, during which each second-grade science teacher chose a scientific "wonder" for families to work on together. "It was really neat to see them all learning together," says Phillips, adding, "The more involved the family, the better the child does."

For Jan Lacina, the smiles on her children's faces when they see her in school is more than worth the challenges of finding the time to be there.

"When you show your kids that their education matters to you, it will matter to them as well," she says.