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As a Leader in Me School, one of our 5 Core Paradigms is that parents and teachers partner to support the whole child. What this means is that we value you as your student’s first teacher. You know your student best. Oftentimes it’s easy to assume that teachers are the only ones who are responsible for a student’s academic and social success in school. As a parent of a Leader in Me student, we believe that you are a valuable member of our Learning Team. You have an important role in the educational journey of your student. Research shows that when parents are engaged in their student’s education, the student’s success, academically and behaviorally, increases significantly. If we know this partnership is critical, what can we do to create a partnership? We would love to get your insights and feedback on what we can do to nurture this partnership as well as your ideas on what you would like to do as a partner in your student’s education.
Following are a few of our insights on working together to create a partnership: Partnering is about communication and relationships.
We want to honor your family’s culture, beliefs, and circumstances. We want to communicate with you about what is happening in school, but that’s only one part of effective communication. We encourage you to share your opinions, ideas, and background. We believe all of us have unique gifts and talents. If you are doing something at home that works well for your student, that you are proud of, or simply a fun fact about your family, share it with us. Your input and voice is so important! A partnership is not only about being physically present at the school, volunteering, or being on committees—that is only one aspect of partnership. If you’re working full time, travel for work, or simply cannot be physically present to engage that doesn’t mean you’re not our partner. There are other ways to engage such as:
• Add our school to your social media feed. • Set up regular times to check in with your student about what they enjoy at school or what is a challenge.
• Regularly check emails or other communications from your student’s teachers and respond. Ask questions when clarification is needed.
• Model a positive attitude about school. Let’s keep the communication lines open! We may have questions or concerns.
Let’s create space to ask questions and listen to each other. We want to be there for you! Just like you, we can’t do this alone. We must come together as a Learning Team to support your student and ensure they have every opportunity for success. We look forward to our partnership!
