Kodiak parent Beate Daily writes:
It can be hard to get robust parent participation in conferences during the middle school years. Students are craving independence and busy parents often find it difficult to find the time to connect with multiple teachers.
At Kodiak Middle School, administrators partnered with our school Parent Teacher Student Association (PTSA) to help increase family participation in our spring parent-teacher conferences. Together, we developed and promoted a survey to identify family-preferred conference formats, times, and barriers that have kept them from attending past conferences.
Administrator Judith Bruns said, “Only a few parents can attend the monthly PTSA meetings, so when the PTSA asked us to send a survey out to parents to gather input about how to improve our parent-teacher conferences, we jumped on the idea. The feedback was used immediately.”
Based on the survey results, the school and PTSA partnered to modify the existing conference structure:
- Prior to the conferences, teachers were given time to personally reach out to families of struggling students to set up private appointments.
- An open format on the second day of conferences offered more flexibility for families wanting to casually check in with teachers.
- The PTSA provided food for both staff and families in a common area, which conveyed the message: “Let’s get through the long days together.” Families were warmly greeted upon entering the school, casually chatted with, and reminded to grab a bite to eat.
- R.I.C.K. (Respect, Integrity, Citizenship, Kindness), the grizzly bear mascot, danced his way through the hallways, and a photo booth offered families a fun opportunity to capture the moment.
- At a station with this year’s School Climate and Connectedness Survey, staff shared how last year’s results shaped decisions made for the current year. Seeing how their survey responses resulted in real changes helped motivate parents to complete the SCCS this year. To make it a bit more fun, families that completed the survey at Parent Teacher Conference Night were entered into a raffle.
These small changes made all the difference in attendance and atmosphere! One parent noted, “Just went to the middle school for family conferences…holy smokes, I’ve never felt so welcomed. Great things are happening! Go, Kodiak!”