Introduction
However, one of the primary goals to establish a successful and dynamic school is to improve the community’s relationship with schools. This paper discusses two community support and participation strategies from the above list. We also focus on defining clear goals, time limits, and those responsible for the successful implementation. In the first plan, a monthly open house game night on Thursday nights takes place in the third week of the month, with teachers organizing subject-specific activities for parents and students. The objective is to increase parental participation by 25% during the coming school year. The second method is through Student Business People Presentations, tying the lessons to reality. Its goal is to perform two business presentations twice a year by addressing various issues. The success of such projects is based on the efficient collaboration between the school administrators, PTA, and local businesses, reinforcing relations between the school and society.
Strategy 1: Monthly Open House/Game Night
The Monthly Open House/Game Night will be held on the third Thursday of each month for one hour (6-7 p.m.), with teachers collecting subject-specific games or activities to simultaneously challenge parent and child participation. It promotes parental involvement in their children’s education, whereby parents can interact with teachers and participate in classroom activities associated with their subjects (Meador,2020). This solidifies the parent-teacher relation and enables communication on the school curriculum. The general objective is an improvement of parental involvement in Monthly Open House/Game Night by 25% in the coming academic year. This project will be implemented in the coming academic school year by weekly assessments of participation rates. This approach is realized by school officials, mainly the PTA and an event coordinator of the PTA. Their combined efforts are one of the key prerequisites for successfully implementing and realizing this community-building initiative.
Strategy 2: Presentation by Business Professionals for Students
The second type involves the organizing of presentations that are carried out by corporate executives to the students. This inclusivity also refers to having local business people come and speak with them about their careers and connect them to particular fields. For instance, a geologist could speak in the science section while an anchor from the news might talk in the language arts class. The first aim is to make students acquainted with several careers, leading them to imagine what kind of professions are and how their education may be connected with public use. The longer-term goal is to have a professional business presentation every two months on various topics and open at least eight different careers to students in an academic year. This schedule, therefore, is designed to work with the following academic semester, which will imply recurring holding of these presentations after two months. This method is carried out by the Career Counseling Department as well as teachers per subject area to ensure the effective use of this connection with local businesses in terms of invitations to speak.
The application of these measures requires communication, partnerships, and commitment from school leadership and the community. Success will be measured through parental participation but also by the amount of times students were made aware of opportunities in different professions. The work of these activities will be periodically evaluated and adapted based on the feedback received and their effect on community-school relations. Overall, creating community support requires actual actions involving parents and students. The suggested approaches, along with the goals, due dates, and personnel who will implement these initiatives, look to create a more supportive and engaged school community. Such efforts can allow the school to better relate with the community, therefore enabling it to attract good results from students.
References
Meador, Derrick. (2020, August 26). 10 Strategies to Improve Community and School Relations. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/promoting-school-support-throughout-community-3194438
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