How can PIRC Help You?
Parent involvement. You hear a lot about it. Research shows it has a strong influence on a child’s academic achievement. But what should it look like? What do you want it to mean at your school? What are your successes? And what kind of help do you need to take it to the next level?
In particular, how do we connect with parents of children that we know are least likely to enjoy school success: children living in poverty; children with social, emotional and behavioral challenges; children whose parents had negative school experiences? How do we welcome and support all parents to play a positive role in their child’s education?
Whether your interests are simple or wide ranging, PIRC Vermont can help. We can offer you the resources and support to help you clarify and address your school’s unique parent involvement goals. Offering you a combination of Vermont-grown best practices and research-driven activities, you can look to PIRC Vermont to be a real partner with you in helping children succeed in school.
Click here to visit the PIRC-VT website.
Here are just some examples of what PIRC Vermont can do with you at your school:
1. Work directly with you to craft and carry out strategic activities and plans that are responsive to your unique parent involvement needs and interests.
2. Help you to develop and/or review your Parent Involvement Policy and/or Home-School Compact, not only in preparation for Title 1 monitoring visits, but also to identify and maximize opportunities for including substantive parent involvement activities.
3. Assist you in conducting a “Family Friendly Walkthrough” and/or a Parent/Community Survey to assess the family friendliness of your school environment. Provide recommendations for enhancements and support you in making desired changes.
4. Perform or assist you in conducting a Website Review and Family/Community survey to assess the accessibility and friendliness of your school’s website for parents and families. Provide recommendations and ideas for improvement.
5. Deliver workshops to teachers, administrators, parent involvement coordinators, School Board members, parent leaders and parents on diverse topics such as: Maximizing Parent Teacher Conferences; Developing Relationships with Diverse and Hard to Reach Families; Helping Children be Ready for Kindergarten; Effective Communication: Building Home School Partnerships; and A Review of Steven M. Constantino’s book, 101 Ways to Create Real Family Engagement.
6. Assist you in setting up and planning for how to maintain a Parent Resource Center (ranging from a rack to a room) containing materials, in multiple languages and formats, for parents on relevant education topics and ways to support their child in school.
7. Help you to survey parents/community to identify what is important to them and to identify any obstacles facing them when it comes to their involvement with school.