The Principal's Handbook

Mini-Series Part #4 — 3 Things I’m Doing to Plan for Connecting with Parents
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Welcome to the podcast . In today's podcast, I'm talking about three things I'm doing to plan for connecting with parents this school year. That's all coming up next, right here on the Principal's Handbook.
Speaker: Welcome to the Principal's Handbook, your go-to resource for principals looking to revamp their leadership approach and prioritize self-care. I'm Barb Flowers, a certified life coach with eight years of experience as an elementary principal. Tune in each week as we delve into strategies for boosting mental resilience, managing time effectively, and nurturing overall wellness.
From tackling daily challenges to maintaining a healthy work life balance. We'll navigate the complexities of school leadership together. Join me in fostering your sense of purpose as a principal and reigniting your passion for the job. Welcome to a podcast where your wellbeing is the top priority.
Welcome back everyone. Today we are in part four of a miniseries.
Where I am talking about three things I'm doing to plan for connecting [00:01:00] with parents. Just a little bit of background. I have been doing this mini series as I transition into a new role as a principal. Into a new building that I thought might just be helpful for people to hear just the different ways that I am planning to prevent student behavior, how I am planning to support staff, things I'm doing to be an instructional leader and how I'm planning that, and then how I'm planning to connect with parents.
So that's all part of this mini series. You can check out those last episodes. I've been playing one each day of this week. , So go back, listen to those. And just see if you are transitioning to a new building, it might be perfect, even if you're staying in the same building. It might just be a good way to think about how you're starting the school year.
So I hope that you take some helpful tips away from this. You're probably already doing some of these things that I'm talking about, but it might just be a good refresher for you. But today we are talking about building connection with parents. So I'm just gonna give you three strategies that I'm using.
As [00:02:00] a new principal in a building, because if you've already been in a building for a long time, more than likely you have a really strong relationship with parents. That was one thing I loved about being in the last building I was for eight years, is I really built strong relationships and , it's just helpful to have that connection with parents if you're dealing with discipline or you're wanting to support their child academically. And they just know that they can trust the school and they can trust you as the leader.
So that's really important that you're part of that relationship, not just the teachers. So we're gonna go right into these three strategies. So the first one is being present and visible at key events. And this seems so obvious, but I do think it's a mistake that people make if they're not completely visible and they're not, , connecting and in really engaging with parents.
And I will say, some people are like, oh, I'm more of an introvert. I just wait for parents to say hello to me. And I just wanna say that no matter if that's your style or not, you really need to muster up the energy and just focus [00:03:00] on being as present, as visible and connecting with as many parents as possible.
Because when there is any kind of event in your building, that is the goal, is that you are constantly connecting and that people are seeing you and they're approaching you or you're approaching them and having lots of conversations. So , you want to be walking around, greeting families, answering questions, and
You want people to feel like they can come up to you and have a conversation, so plan how you're gonna be visible and approachable. You also just wanna avoid that temptation to just be in your office at any point of a family event because you wanna be engaged and people to see you and have that open body language and make eye contact so that people feel like they can come talk to you and you are approachable.
Also, if you get nervous about this or you're a new principal, just have a few conversations, starters, ready, , practice introducing yourself, learning parent names, just engaging with them.
How was your summer? What have you all been up to? I'm so [00:04:00] excited you're here. , Just having these little conversations with parents makes a huge difference. And really the goal here is just to build trust and connection with them from day one. So that's my plan is to think about, , we always do an open house at the school that I'm gonna be.
At, and so we're going to be doing an open house, and I just want parents to feel as comfortable as possible. I wanna be out there greeting them. I wanna be making connections, and I want them to know that I am approachable and they can come to me. The second thing I'm going to be doing is having clear, proactive communication about school expectations and procedures and.
I have to say, this used to be one of my weaknesses as a principal, but I think COVID helped because I had to give so many clear instructions. And then also working with another principal who's so detail oriented, really helped me as well, get better at creating clear communication with parents. You want to make sure, , that they know exactly, how to drop kids off, how to pick kids up.
I always like to [00:05:00] do a guide on. What do you do if your kid's sick? Here's the number you call. , What do you do if there's a problem at recess? You call the principal. You have to tell parents exactly what to do. Teachers don't handle recess incidents, the principal does, , things like that.
Whatever you want your communication to look like. Really being clear about what that looks like in your school. Also being clear about what your expectations are, , what consequences look like in the building your student handbook, making sure all of that goes out. It helps parents feel so much more confident.
I was on the PTA of my own kids' school and I have to say the complaints that I heard about the building and. The superintendent did a talk where parents could share, concerns and questions and things going well and. And I will say that the biggest complaints that I heard were really just not enough communication upfront and they were nervous or anxious because they were a new parent.
So those are just some things to think about. We want them to have that clarity. Clarity [00:06:00] reduces anxiety and worry for people. So as much clarity as possible. So again, how I'm planning communication, I always do a welcome letter to families that I send before school starts typically with a map of the school of where.
, Parents, pull in where they drop off, those types of things. , I like to let them know a little bit about myself. I like to let them know how they're going to receive ongoing communication. I do a weekly, some more newsletters. So letting them know that, to letting them know about our website, any free things that they can get on and work on with their students educationally is important.
, I think it's important to let parents know about. Attendance policies, your safety protocols, those types of things, and then just upcoming events. That's a huge one. Parents wanna know upcoming events. I'm a person who schedules way in advance, so like I don't like it if the school doesn't give me dates way in advance.
So I try to think about that with parents. How can I let them know as far in advance as possible? And then again, making communication just [00:07:00] clear, concise. Easy to understand, easy to read. A lot of times I send out like a one pager with bullet points because we know so many people are skimmers me as well.
So just knowing what you want your communication to look like. If you're hand, if you're giving a big handbook, you might want that for reference and you could have that online, but. Just little clean papers that, , are easy for people to read. And I know you might say, why would you do anything in Paper?
It totally depends on your district. The district I'm going in, I think needs both., Most people have their phones that they can look at, but there are still some parents that will only get it if you do paper. So know what works for you. Know what works for your, know what works for you, and know what works for your school.
, Another thing you could do is provide an FAQ sheet. , Frequently asked questions that you get. Common questions, contact information. Like I said, I like to send a lot of reminders before major events so that people know and no matter what it feels like they don't, some people don't know, but just as much [00:08:00] communication as possible.
And then the third thing I'm doing is thinking about opportunities for ongoing parent engagement throughout the year. Now. At this point, I'm not going crazy on planning, but I'm just starting to think about it, starting to think about how I wanna engage teachers in this, because we want parents to feel connected and involved in the school, and that engagement builds community and it strengthens our home.
It strengthens our homeschool partnerships and those relationships that we have. And so I'm trying to think about ways that I wanna engage parents. So I'm thinking about things I did in my last building and how that could look in this building. , For example, we did a math night.
That was a game night where families can come play math games, but there were even board games and ways that parents could, , , integrate these board games at home to learn math. We also have done curriculum nights and literacy workshops where each room a teacher presents on a different.
A curriculum that we're using or a topic that we're teaching and that was helpful for parents [00:09:00] doing cultural celebrations. My kids' school did that. They always have a cultural night or something, , where they integrate culture, having family fun nights where we just get families into the building.
And then different volunteer opportunities. We always, at my last school had lots of opportunities for parents to volunteer and so if we have those parents interested, that'll be really helpful. , But using teacher, like collaborating with your teachers, your PTO or PTA to plan these events is gonna really be helpful.
I found with curriculum and math nights, having teachers for that is really helpful because parents like hearing this information from the teachers. , So those are just some different ways that you can engage parents, and that's just what I'm thinking about is no, I'm not planning the event right now, but in the future, , even early fall, these are things I'm thinking about and would like to do.
And then the other thing you could even think about is creating a parent advisory group or have a parent on your. Building leadership team or instructional leadership team to give voice to build that leadership within [00:10:00] the parents. But again, if you do that, you have to be really careful that you have a parent that you know is good with confidentiality and will be a good asset to that team.
So those are the three things I'm doing. I'm just gonna recap. I'm really focusing on that first open house, being visible and present and connecting with as many families as possible. I'm already thinking about the clear, proactive communication I'm sending at the beginning of the year about. School expectations and procedures, and I'm creating opportunities for ongoing parent engagement throughout the year.
So those are the three strategies I'm using to build parent connections and to engage parents. I would love to hear the strategies that you use. If you have anything different, email me at barb@barbflowerscoaching.com. I would love to hear the things that you try in your building.
If you love the show, if you're listening on Apple, scroll down in your app and leave a review. Keep in mind you have the power to shape your life according to the mindset you choose. I hope you have a great week, and I will see you back here next [00:11:00] time.