The superintendent volunteered us to participate in the Parents as Allies initiative. The district was growing and the superintendent wanted “welcoming” to be the theme. His specific ideas for making that happen didn’t fully align with the team’s iterative and evolving ideas. To his credit, once he understood the compelling nature of the team’s journey, he was on board with the team’s approach.
We wanted to work together with students, families, and school personnel to create an environment in which feedback had the chance to enhance future engagement and transition strategies for new students and families. We also wanted our newest families to feel welcome and establish new connections with current district members. A welcoming dinner included new students and families, student ambassadors, and team members (established parents and school personnel).
At this dinner, we were seated at small group tables, shared a meal together and engaged in meaningful conversation. We not only wanted to establish connections and make new families feel welcome, we also wanted to hear their stories about their move-in and transition into our school district. We were able to gather some insight into what our district does well and what we can improve upon for future families, answer some lingering questions the families had, as well as overall just have a really nice evening.
FASD continues to incorporate the New Student Ambassador program into various events. The program will continue and evolve, and will be extended to the elementary schools. It was school leaders who selected the student ambassadors, the “silent leaders” in the classroom who are benefitting from the opportunity to lead and connect. That was an unexpected and positive outcome.
We hope to make a fall welcoming event a yearly occurrence - whether it is a dinner as we did or something a bit different. We also plan to use our data to put together welcoming packets for new move-in families to help ease their transitions.
The superintendent was on board from the start and works with us if our directions diverge. That is a huge asset.
Be ready to adjust as conditions change. We didn’t get the response we wanted to our welcome dinner but organization of the space using small tables, led to an even better outcome. Also, you have a team: listen, and draw on their experience. A team, made up of parents and school personnel, puts the right voices in the room. Don’t forget about students and the resource they represent!
