Cost Effective Communication with Parents...What's Your Style??

[Lisa Bradt]

Hello everyone,

This is my first post, so I hope I am doing it right. I have been mulling over ideas about how our school could create a more cost effective and environmentally friendly communication strategy with parents. Our website is in the process of being updated so this is not an option as of now but hopefully will be in the near future. I proposed a thought that I had to our principal. It was to create a database of e-mail addresses of parents so that things such as the newsletter from the school and council, reminders of upcoming events, etc. could be sent quickly and easily at the touch of the button. She is unaware of any schools in our board doing such a thing and is thinking that it might be too much of an endeavour to collect, maintain and update the e-mail list. She would prefer to purchase SynerVoice which is essentially the same thing as the e-mail thought but with phone numbers and the home receives a call from the school automatically. In addition to this, it is quite expensive...I believe over $2,000 for the hardware/data system. I do think that this is a good option as well, but lengthy newsletters could not be read over the phone so a hard copy would still need to be photocopied and dispersed. Basically it would just be for reminders of upcoming events. With the e-mail route, parents would have an electronic format readily available so that the pile of papers from school might diminish slightly (wishful thinking I think).

So, my question to you is this...Is your school utilizing a cost-effective, environmentally friendly communication system that you think would be beneficial for other schools to know about? If by chance they are using an e-mail/telephone system, have there been troubles associated with the collection of e-mail addresses or phone numbers?

Thanks for any info that you can share. I appreciate it.

[Sheila Stewart]

Good ideas, Jacqui! Sometimes I think the amount of emails can be bothersome, but the delete key is there! Some of us have to reply to many emails as part of our roles! :) We can only hope that efforts to inform will be appreciated and received, as Ross touched on.

Back to building trust. I am sure there are many good suggestions out there and individuals who have found a good place of trust to work within. I think the "road" to building trust can be short in some cases, but long in others. I think that an important starting point is having everyone being really clear of roles and responsibilities, and respecting each other for that. If the school council chair is clear on what is appropriate for communications from a school council and can work collaboratively with the principal, then the trust can go both ways. The principal needs to be included and consulted, and I would think school council guidelines would support all in these efforts and help with "grey" areas. It is easy to feel overwhelmed by what might come from information being put "out there", or by the input that may be a result, but a communciated and supported plan to help focus and receive the input and suggestions helps, as well as keeping it guided and focused in a problem-solving way. Easier said than done perhaps!

If it has become the case that the principal "approves" everything, then I would think some increased awareness and clarification of roles could help build trust. That could come about through training, team-building sessions, workshops, facilitation, etc, as many boards do support. I could understand a principal feeling the need to approve and oversee efforts if, for example, the school council is in a transition, has many new members, succession planning has been weak, or there is uncertainty if executive members have read and understood the structure. purpose, and regulations of school councils. That can seem daunting, but once you are past that, much becomes easy and the competence and confidence to manage conflict or "surprises" helps everyone involved. It's just more clear.

But for all of this to work well and for trust to grow, there needs to be a team approach and the realization that we are all working towards the same end. It might take on many different shapes and form within a solid framework and structure, but as long as there is support for those differences and we can communicate how what we are doing ultimately makes the difference for a child, or a parent of that child, or for the school and community in its efforts to do so, then maybe the trust and partnership will remain strong.

This started out as a "communication" discussion, but I think the discussion has identified that trust, barriers, and inclusiveness are all important consideratons in effective communications to parents

[Lorna Costantini]

Carmelle it is so exciting to see how you have effectively created a ning network for your school. Please share what your experience was like setting it up and getting parents involved,

[Gay Stephenson]

Thank you Sheila. Well said. Perhaps we can include your ideas/advise in our next newsletter?

[Sheila Stewart]

It might need some editing for clarification without the whole context of the discussion, but we can talk! Perhaps bits from all the input here could be combined into a theme? When does the school council survey report come out?

[Cindy Seibel]

Hi Carmelle.
Your Ning is great. I work in Calgary, and I'm doing my Master's work on parent engagement - specifically using technology to support parents building online community. I would love to point to your Ning as an example - would you be okay with that?

[Carmelle]

Actually it came from a need to have an electronic way to reach parents as the school website was... less than informing. The ning was not greeted warmly by the school principal. As the former communications staffer for the school division (they cut the job - I guess I cost too much) and the current school council chairperson of my son's school, I constantly had requests from parents for information. I needed a place to send parents to check out the calendar, and to have conversations about school activities. The format is very user-friendly and I had it pretty well set up in one night. There are 25 or so members now, but a few more new ones each month. It is something very new so I am hoping it will grow into a place for conversations between parents that have concerns or questions, but can't necessarily make it to a school council meeting.

[Carmelle]

Absolutely!! And if you get any suggestions on how to make it better, please send them my way!

[Carmelle]

In our school in rural southern Alberta, we have very few parents still on dial up, or with no internet. Out of 180 students (not sure how many families that is), maybe 2 or 3 with dial up and 4 or 5 with no internet at all. I really thinkwe make too much out of the whole dial up conversation. And as long as we aren't sending huge video files, which we rarely do...

[Gay Stephenson]

At our conference on Nov. 7th, Jan and I are giving a workshop on the topic of parents using technology to communicate. It's a hands-on session, with step by step instructions... so if you are interested in learning more about any of these topics, please come! Topics:

- How to do things like update your photo/profile page, post pictures/videos or links to other websites, adding discussions or blogs in this online community

- How to send cheap listerv messages or e-newsletters (e.g. signing up to a company, uploading email addresses to send to, formatting an email message to send out)

- How to create simple and free groups so that parents can stay connected (e.g. Google or Yahoo Groups)

- How to create a NING.com online community similar to People for Education's online community here (step by step, we will cover the basics anyway).

We may not be able to do all of the above, but we will see where the workshop group's interest lies, and cover as much as possible. Bring your laptop if you have one!

And don't worry if you can't make it to the conference this year, we are also going to start having webinars on some of these topics. Let me know if there is an area you'd like us to cover in an upcoming webinar by writing a comment on my wall or send a message to our suggestion box!

[Cathy]

Hi Gay,

Not sure if it's been mentioned or not but in addition to using the latest technologies, one method of communications that is by far the most effective is the exchange via word-of-mouth and face-to-face communication.
It's the one thing that gets lost in the eagerness to envelop technology. Parents talking to other parents and school council parents making themselves available in the flesh, and in real time to outreach and receive correspondence, to me
is the bare bones of effective councils.

One thing that has always bothered me is the hesitance of school councils to have their phone numbers or emails published. I understand the privacy issues around this, but having parents on school council elected and then sheltered by not having a contact number isn't very welcoming to parents.

Boards can set up email accounts and at the very least the chair of a council should have a number where parents can reach them and talk with them. Some boards make access very easy...others not so much.

I just wanted to chime in here Gay and remind folks that there is nothing like real-time conversation to deal with issues.
I love technology but I've seen plenty of misunderstandings between individuals using technology that wouldn't have happened in a real-time, face-to-face conversation. Often, parents are hesitant to approach a school council because it's seen as closed off. Parents shouldn't be afraid to be heard.

[Gay Stephenson]

Cathy, thanks for chiming in! I agree with you. There is nothing like a face to face conversation, or a phone call. Technology is simply a communication aid and not meant to replace real contact. And I think it's important for school council folk to be accessible too.