Summary: Schoolwide toolkit/parent connector network

SCHOOLWIDE COMMUNICATION TOOLKIT: Parent Connector Network

Summary

HOW DO YOU KNOW IF YOUR SCHOOL COULD IMPROVE COMMUNICATION?

Questions to ask about the current system in your school:

➢ Can everyone who needs to get and share important school information, get and share it?

➢ Where do you put school information so that everyone in the school can see it?

➢ How do you share parent ideas around the school?

➢ What system do you have for translation and interpretation, in particular?

➢ How can you tap local bilingualism, either paying people to translate material or organizing bilingual volunteers to pitch in on translation and interpretation in a way that doesn't take too much of their time?

➢ How can you build on parent-parent relationships to pull all parents into school events and conversation?

➢ What tech training do parents need in order to get information? How could you help all parents get this training?

➢ Which efforts at parent information should be a task for school staff rather than volunteers?

WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO IMPROVE COMMUNICATIONS?

What we found:

• ¡Aha! Along with strong intentions to include all families, diverse schools need systems -- infrastructure -- for getting information to everyone and input from everyone.

• ¡Aha! Overall, we’ve learned that committed and diverse parents can be expert innovators of communication infrastructure for including all parents because they have a full understanding of communication barriers.

• ¡Aha! In a multilingual school and district in particular, improving communications -- and strengthening relationships between families and educators -- requires creating a standing infrastructure for effectively tapping a key local resource: bilingualism.

OUR MODEL FOR IMPROVING COMMUNICATION Parent Connector Network Model: