How PTAs Can Better Support Suburban Families
Every Child in Focus
How PTAs Can Better Support Suburban Families
National PTA’s Every Child in Focus is centered on strengthening family engagement in schools by celebrating important cultural distinctions and achievements, while highlighting solutions to potential educational issues. This January, we turn our focus to suburban families and the unique challenges they face in supporting student success. Based on National PTA’s Standards for Family-School Partnerships, let’s explore ways PTAs can welcome and support suburban families in the school community.
Standard 1: Welcoming All Families into the School Community
Standard 2: Communicating Effectively
Standard 3: Supporting Student Success
• Develop a proactive • Work to develop an • Organize a database of parent and family outreach strategy that agenda for small-group skills, expertise and considers other challeng- dialogues to be held in es and different neighborhoods backgrounds through which teachers can find barriers to participation on issues such as school resources. in the school community security or homework (e.g., poverty, language, expectations. • Collaborate with school cultural barriers). leadership to hold • Build a diverse team of regular family learning • Recruit family volunteers families and PTA leaders events at workplaces and from different neighborto meet monthly with community locations. hoods and train them to the school leadership serve as mentors to other and address school wide • Work with the school to identify local community families to help them issues and appropriate partners who provide become more engaged responses. after-school programs for in the school. children and families and then help to distribute the information school wide.
Standard 4: Speaking Up for Every Child
Standard 5: Sharing Power
Standard 6: Collaborating with Community
• Work with the district • Work with the school • Work with school staff to host workshops and improvement team to to create a comfortable, meetings for families adopt effective strategies inviting family resource about school and district to engage families in center. Staff and parent programs, policies and reducing achievement volunteers should use resources. Be sure to gaps between groups the center to inform famprovide the events in of students. ilies about services, make various languages and referrals to programs and locations throughout • Build the PTA’s effective- plan activities. the community. ness by recruiting and maintaining a leadership • Work with community • Work with families team that reflects the and business represenwhose children are school and community tatives to assess school underrepresented in and by aligning all needs, develop programs advanced classes to programs and practices to support student encourage their sons with PTA’s National success and find creative and daughters to take Standards for Famiways to provide funding higher level courses. ly-School Partnerships. and staff.
How PTAs Can Better Support Suburban Families
National PTA’s Every Child in Focus is centered on strengthening family engagement in schools by celebrating important cultural distinctions and achievements, while highlighting solutions to potential educational issues. This January, we turn our focus to suburban families and the unique challenges they face in supporting student success. Based on National PTA’s Standards for Family-School Partnerships, let’s explore ways PTAs can welcome and support suburban families in the school community.
Standard 1: Welcoming All Families into the School Community
Standard 2: Communicating Effectively
Standard 3: Supporting Student Success
• Develop a proactive • Work to develop an • Organize a database of parent and family outreach strategy that agenda for small-group skills, expertise and considers other challeng- dialogues to be held in es and different neighborhoods backgrounds through which teachers can find barriers to participation on issues such as school resources. in the school community security or homework (e.g., poverty, language, expectations. • Collaborate with school cultural barriers). leadership to hold • Build a diverse team of regular family learning • Recruit family volunteers families and PTA leaders events at workplaces and from different neighborto meet monthly with community locations. hoods and train them to the school leadership serve as mentors to other and address school wide • Work with the school to identify local community families to help them issues and appropriate partners who provide become more engaged responses. after-school programs for in the school. children and families and then help to distribute the information school wide.
Standard 4: Speaking Up for Every Child
Standard 5: Sharing Power
Standard 6: Collaborating with Community
• Work with the district • Work with the school • Work with school staff to host workshops and improvement team to to create a comfortable, meetings for families adopt effective strategies inviting family resource about school and district to engage families in center. Staff and parent programs, policies and reducing achievement volunteers should use resources. Be sure to gaps between groups the center to inform famprovide the events in of students. ilies about services, make various languages and referrals to programs and locations throughout • Build the PTA’s effective- plan activities. the community. ness by recruiting and maintaining a leadership • Work with community • Work with families team that reflects the and business represenwhose children are school and community tatives to assess school underrepresented in and by aligning all needs, develop programs advanced classes to programs and practices to support student encourage their sons with PTA’s National success and find creative and daughters to take Standards for Famiways to provide funding higher level courses. ly-School Partnerships. and staff.
