Goal #1: Analyze & Improve Upon Current Practices

As previously mentioned our registration currently includes our largest turnout of

parents on campus. Since this has already seen some success I would like to build upon the

success by advertising and incorporating some of the less popular programs that parents

are not active in and most likely are not aware of. In order to do this Helix must do a better

job of communicating with parents and the community. Unfortunately this is not a unique

problem to Helix as Velsor & Oroxco also argue that low SES schools encourage less

involvement than high SES schools and do not do as good of a job communicating.

- August- Talk to counselors about what registration entails, what groups are already active

in the process, and what groups have seen the most success and why.

- September- Talk to PTO, PTA, PTSA, HTA, Helix Board Members, and the teacher in

charge of Family First Thursdays about advertising and presenting in their own rooms

during registration days.

- November thru April Do a better job at advertising the Excellence in Education Tours

that are currently held on campus. Post student made flyers around the community, send

phone callers home, and send flyers to the middle schools that are feeder schools.

Increase the tours to twice a month to show the community and potential new families the

amazing things that Helix is doing (Henderson et al, 2007).

- May- Send out an email to all programs reminding them about their participation in

Summer Registration and offer any help with presentations. This should also be the time

that groups are planning any trainings, workshops, or learning opportunities they can

offer to parents.
 - June New rooms added to Registration where these groups can advertise and present

important information. Survey will also be given to parents on what workshops they

would like to see throughout the year and collect contact information for various parent

opportunities in the future. Also, have a table where there is a member of staff that will

help all parents create a parent portal for the online grading system, Canvas.

Communicate with counselors regarding what can be added

August to Registration

Communicate with new groups that will be added to

September Registration

Advertise Excellence in Education Tours

November -
April
Conduct two Excellence in Education Tours a month

Plan Registration Rooms and communicate with various

May groups that will be part of the proccess

Registration takes place

June Parent survey will be given to parents during registration

Goal #2: Break Down Barriers Keeping Parents and Community Members

Out

As previously discussed there are many barriers keeping parents and community

members away from the school. Although research points to certain reasons why the

community might stay away, I would like to further analyze why our particular community
is not as active and improve upon our practices to include these members of the

community. The parent narratives in A Cord of Three Strands show that relationships

between families and schools can only be built when the walls of mistrust and

misunderstanding are broken down (Hong, 2011).

In addition I would like to hold teachers and staff accountable for doing a better job at

reaching out to parents because most parents seem to agree that teachers should be in

charge of getting parents involved while in another study, teacher perception of good

communication with parents focused on parents reaching out (Velsor & Orozco, 2007).

- August Discuss with staff the importance of being more proactive with reaching out to

parents and building healthy relationships. Discuss the statistics mentioned previously

regarding the standstill that teachers and parents often find themselves in. Come up with

a group consensus on a goal of how many parents should be reached out to by the end of

each quarter. Create a formal reporting system where everyone in the school records

conversations with parents.

- September Have Course Level Teams create one project to give this year which

incorporates the outside community. Require each team member to implement this

project before May.

- October Look at the numbers of how many parents were reached out to during first

quarter and analyze who was reached out to, why were these parents reached out to, and

how we can better reach out to all parents.

- December Hold teachers accountable for how many parents were reached out to in the

first semester.
 - March Look at the numbers of how many parents have been reached out to during third

quarter.

- May Have Course Level Teams come together to discuss their assigned community

project. Talk to another subject area to see what they assigned and how these projects can

be broadened and improved for future use.

- June Hold teachers accountable for how many parents were reached out to in the

second semester. Also, analyze and run numbers to see if parent participation in other

ways has increased. Additionally look at if there has been any improvement with

attendance, discipline, and grades as parent participations often has a strong correlation.

Present this data to the staff in the closing presentations.

Give presentation on Importance of Parent Communication in all staff meeting

Create goals for parent communication for the school
August Create formal reporting system

Create CLT project which integrates parents and the community

September

Look at reports from first quarter to see if goals were met

October

Come back to discuss goals and how they were met or not. Should they be altered or should we hold people more accountable?
December

Look at reports from third quarter to see if goals were met

March

Have CLT's come together to discuss projects and make changes as necessary
May

Analyze if parent goals were met and if parent participation increased overall
Present data to all staff
June
Goal #3: Add New Programs to Increase Parent and Community Involvement

As noted in the previous sections there are significant leaps we still need to make

with getting more parents and community members involved with Helix Charter. In order

to do this I offer a timeline to add more feedback, a community and family center on

campus, adding a TIPS homework system, and implementation of a home visitation

program.

Surveys are particularly important to constantly receive feedback from parents and

the community. Strategies for parent engagement are proven more effective when families

and schools design them together in conversation and collaboration (Hong, 30). I also

argue that if we begin increasing participation that focus groups created through the

parent and community center would be of great value.

The family and community center would be a great addition to the campus because

these centers can have many functions - providing a place for parents to informally meet

staff, take classes, or use computers (Henderson et al., 2007). Some parent centers have a

family liaison who are recognized as a bridge between parents and the school or a family

service coordinator who refer families to counseling or other services. In a district serving

students from low-SES families, a parent center provided tutoring, a library, and weekly

medical services (Velsor & Orozco, 2007).

TIPS: Teachers Involve Parents in Schoolwork is a program that I have asked parents

of my high schoolers about and 1 in 5 parents said that they would like something like this
implemented. Parents would like to be involved with their childs homework and there are

many benefits to the program as well (Henderson et al., 2007).

The home visits are of particular importance because reaching out to parents by having

counselors and teachers visit student homes would provide a more comfortable

environment for parents to openly talk about their child. In one study low-income parents

who were hard to reach began dropping by or calling the school after receiving home visits

by school representatives (Velsor & Orozco, 2007).

- August

o Conduct a survey to parents and the surrounding community to see what services

can be offered at Helix to get more parents and community members involved on

Helixs campus.

o Beginning collaboration with parents and community members on working

definition and mission of what we want our community and family resource

center on campus look like. Talk to the administration and ask about budget,

location, and policies needed to be put in place.

- September Train teachers on the TIPS homework method. Show teachers at a faculty

meeting why there is a need for this program, the fact that we currently have low parent

participation, low homework completion, and parents have said that this is a system they

would be interested on implementing.

- October

o Collect resource items for the community and family center. Hold book drives,

clothing drives, food drives, and game drives.

 o Train counselors and/or teachers on how to conduct home visits. Offer staff

professional development and find budget for ongoing support.

- November

o Begin advertising the community and family center to the community and parents,

as well as students to prepare for the Grand Opening in December.

o Have every staff member do at least one home visit in November so that we can

debrief how they went, ways to improve how they went, and share out the results.

- December Open the new community and family resource center in time for the

holidays. This might be a positive place where families and communities can come to get

food and presents for the holidays. Also classes for adults can be advertised at this time

for the New Year!

- January Begin adult classes at the community and family center. Include classes that

parents requested at times that most parents and community members could attend. These

classes may include English, Common Core guidance, GED classes, budgeting classes,

ect.

- February thru May Counselors and/or teachers should conduct a required number of

home visits by end of May

- May Come together to debrief on the home visits. How did they go? Are there any data

that supports this activity? How did the parents, kids, and staff feel about this activity?

- June Evaluate the:

o TIPS Program by giving parents and teachers surveys and collecting homework

percentages from this year and previous years. Has participation increased? Do

parents feel more involved?

 o Family and Community Resource Center by surveying the attendees and non-

attendees of the center. Inquire about wanted classes or items for the following

year. Also, inquire about future volunteers for the program to continue to expand.

Conduct and analyze parent and community survey

August Create working definition of the parent and community resource center

Train teachers on TIPS program

September

Collect items for resource center

October Train couselors and additional faculty on how to conduct home visits

Begin advertising the family and community resource center

November Share out about first home visit

Open Family and Community Resource Center

December Advertise adult and famliy classes beginning in the new year

Begin Adult classes

January

February
Conduct home visits
May

Conduct Family and Community Resource Center Survey

June Collect data on TIPS program and share with faculty