At Nome Elementary School, each class has a “High Table” on one Friday each year. The High Table is an opportunity for classes to highlight the work they are doing, share assignments and projects with families, and bring families front and center within the classroom experience. The High Table is an event each year that students look forward to. It is also an event that Nome Elementary School students from the past look back at fondly.
High Table involves the class members and their families sitting on the stage above the main cafeteria. Artwork, projects, and assignments are hung throughout the stage, creating a museum-like effect for the students’ work samples. Families can walk through the “exhibit”, ask questions of their student and their student’s teacher, and get a taste of all the wonderful things happening in their child’s classroom! High Table day is beloved by Nome locals. Principal Michelle Carlson, who is new to the school this year, writes, “Honestly, I believe High Table to be one of the best family engagement practices I have seen executed.”