Promoting School Support Throughout Your Community

Promoting School Support Throughout Your Community Every school would benefit from increased community support. Research has proven that schools with a greater support system thrive compared to those who do not have such support. School support comes from a variety of places both internally and externally. An effective school leader will leverage a variety of strategies to get the entire community to support the school. The following strategies are designed to promote your school and gain more community support from a variety of stakeholder groups. Write a Weekly Newspaper Column How: It will highlight the school’s successes, focus on individual teacher’s efforts, and give student recognition. It will also deal with challenges that the school is facing and needs that it has. Why: Writing the newspaper column will allow the public the opportunity to see what is going on within the school on a weekly basis. It will allow them the opportunity to see both the successes and obstacles that the school is facing. Have a Monthly Open House/Game Night How: Every third Thursday night of each month from 6-7 p.m., have an open house/game night. Each teacher will design games or activities geared towards the particular subject area they are teaching at the time. Parents and students and students will be invited to come in and participate in the activities together. Why: This will allow parents the opportunity to come into their children’s classroom, visit with their teachers, and participate in activities about subject areas that they are currently learning. It will allow them to be more actively involved in their children’s education and allow them to have more communication with their teachers.​ Thursday Lunch With the Parents How: Each Thursday a group of 10 parents will be invited to eat lunch with the principal. They will have lunch in a conference room and talk about issues that are current with the school. Why: This allows parents the opportunity to become comfortable with the principal and to express both concerns and positives about the school. It also allows the school to be more personalized and gives them the opportunity to provide input. Implement a Greeter Program How: Each nine weeks students will be selected to participate in the greeter program. There will be two students greeting per class period. Those students will greet all visitors at the door, walk them to the office, and assist them as needed. Why: This program will make visitors seem more welcomed. It will also allow the school to have a more friendly and personalized environment. Good first impressions are important. With friendly greeters at the door, most people will come away with a good first impression. Have Monthly Potluck Lunch How: Each month the teachers will get together and bring food for a potluck lunch. There will be doors prizes at each of these lunches. Teachers are free to socialize with other teachers and staff while enjoying good food. Why: This will allow the staff to sit down together once a month and relax while they eat. It will provide an opportunity for relationships and friendships to develop. It will provide time for the staff to pull together and have some fun. Recognize Teacher of the Month How: Each month, recognize a special teacher. The teacher of the month will be voted on by the faculty. Each teacher who wins the award will receive recognition in the paper, their own personal parking space for the month, a $50 gift card to the mall, and a $25 gift card for a nice restaurant. Why: This will allow individual teachers to be recognized for their hard work and dedication to education. It will mean more to that individual since they were voted on by their peers. It will allow that teacher to feel good about themselves and the jobs that they are doing. Conduct a Yearly Business Fair How: Every April, invite several businesses in the community to participate in the annual business fair. The entire school will spend a few hours learning important things about those businesses such as what they do, how many people work there, and what skills are needed to work there. Why: This allows the business community the opportunity to come to the school and show kids what all they do. It also allows the business community the opportunity to be a part of the students’ education. It provides the students with opportunities to see if they are interested in working a particular business. Presentation by Business Professionals for Students How: About every two months guests from within the community will be invited to discuss the how’s and what’s of their particular career. People will be chosen so that their particular career relates to a specific subject area. For example, a geologist might speak in the science class or a news anchor might speak in a language arts class. Why: This allows businessmen and women from the community the opportunity to share what their career is all about with the students. It allows the students to see a variety of possible career choices, asks questions, and find out interesting things about various careers. Begin a Volunteer Reading Program How: Ask people in the community who would like to get involved with the school, but do not have children who are in school, to volunteer as part of a reading program for students with lower reading levels. The volunteers may come in as often as they wish and read books one-on-one with the students. Why: This allows people the opportunity to volunteer and get involved in the school even if they are not the parent of an individual within the school district. It also provides students the opportunity to better their reading abilities and to get to know people within the community. Start a Living History Program How: Once every three months a social studies class will be assigned an individual from the community who volunteers to be interviewed. The student will interview that person about their lives and events that have happened during their lives. The student will then write a paper about that person and give a presentation to the class over that person. The community members who have been interviewed will be invited to the classroom to hear the students’ presentations and to have a cake and ice cream party afterward. Why: This allows students the opportunity to get to know people within the community. It also allows members of the community to assist the school system and to get involved with the school. It involves people from the community that may not have been involved in the school system before.