We wanted to engage the parents who had struggled in school themselves, and perhaps now saw their child having some of the same challenges. There was the need to create more options for these and all parents to be positively involved in their children’s school lives and build relationships. Our hack focused on sending the message: Things have changed - for the better. Join us.
We wanted to create an event that was welcoming, easy to attend and purely social. “Donuts with Grownups” fit the bill. This was a casual event on a weekday morning that invited a student to bring a parent or another caregiver and have breakfast with the child’s teacher. We were intentional about “Grownups” rather than “Parents.” Some students brought an older sibling or a guardian or someone else, while others invited a mom or dad.
In this relaxed way, the grownups could get to know teachers “on a human level" .. get to see them as a person, not just a name or a role. Parents could also meet other parents and begin building relationships within the school community. Another bonus: Since this was begun very early in the school year, these seeds of relationships between parents and teachers were a starting point and especially helpful if the teacher needed to get in touch later about a concern. Relationship building had begun, laying the groundwork for trust building.
To scale more broadly, we had a few smaller events: A “date night” for parent and child around Valentine’s Day for students in grades 3-5, and two Bingo Night events. Events were fun and relatively brief (less than two hours) and were a small commitment for parents and easy to do at the school. The Valentine’s Day event welcomed participants to dress up and dance, enjoy food and craft projects. On Bingo Night, we invited parents in the ESL population since this game is easily do-able for non-English speaking families. We offered useful prizes like flash cards and books. At year's end in the spring, we partnered with a local business called Off the Wall Arts. Families had a tree-themed canvas to paint and include names of all the family members.
We found that all parents want to be there for their kids, but they don’t necessarily know how. Knowing that, our team planned low-barrier events like painting or Bingo that everyone can do and enjoy. Even if you're brand new to a country or … maybe you've struggled academically yourself, these are activities that are easy to do and that connect your family to the school community.
