From carlines to conferences, the parents' relationship to their child’s school is necessary. Though often taut with shared responsibility, there is also a reciprocal benefit when schools and parents link arms and work together toward the common goal of educating a child well.
At WonderHere, I always tell parents that we are not a “drop-off and peace out” kind of program. If you want your child to come and learn within our learning environment, it is going to be a family affair. We are upfront and transparent about this “all hands on deck” kind of education so there are no hidden expectations that slip out later.
Sure, our expectations might frighten off a family or two. But we have learned that when we are clear from the beginning, we sift out the misfits and find our just-right family partners somewhere on the other side. After a detailed family application, parent interview, and child trial days, we get to know the family unit, how the parent hopes to engage within our learning environment, and whether we are aligned.
And enrollment is just the starting line.
Once our families have enrolled, we get to do the important work of educating. But this partnership is integral not only at the start of the year, but throughout it. Parent participation is intentionally woven into the rhythm of our school life. From frequent goal-setting sessions to parent shadow days to workshops and community work days, there are countless opportunities for parents to lean in and contribute their insights and ideas to the learning process.
Because of this, we do not need report cards with averaged grades in an attempt to snapshot for parents what their child thinks, knows, or wonders. The parent already knows, because they see it in real time.
For founders and school leaders designing learning environments that truly engage families, here are a few ideas to consider.
The parent is the primary decision maker. As educators within schools, we partner with the parent, but they cannot abdicate their authority. It is the school’s responsibility to affirm this role within the parent.
Many parents have been subtly told that their involvement is unnecessary or even disruptive. Ask too many questions and you are labeled difficult. Show too much interest and you are seen as hovering. But a parent who is curious, attentive, and involved is not a problem to solve. That parent is an asset.
An expectation for parental engagement is not because we are dependent on their volunteer hours to keep the lights on. In fact, at WonderHere we intentionally renamed this expectation “involvement hours” so the language would better represent its purpose.
Language like volunteer hours can unintentionally shift the relationship between parent and school into something transactional.
That is not the goal.
The goal is connection. The goal is partnership. The goal is to invite parents into the learning environment so they can witness the growth of their child and participate in shaping it.
For some parents, asking them to return to a classroom environment can feel like inviting them back to the “scene of the crime.” It may have been the place where their confidence was shaken, where they felt misunderstood, or where their curiosity was quietly discouraged once upon a time.
Though we are actively working to reimagine how school can be done today, parents are often choosing a new kind of education for their child while still carrying the very real traumas of their personal past schooling experiences.
Part of what we get to do is to reintroduce parents to school, but in a new way. A way where they are welcome, where their voice matters, and where their presence strengthens the learning community.
Once, not so long ago, lessons were taught around dining tables, by parents, tucked between the simplicities of home and living. Over time, we began to separate learning from the home. Instead, children were bused across town, sat in rows of desks, and much of their education happened far from the sight or participation of their parents.
But the family unit is the nucleus of society, and a child’s education should never get in the way of that.
When parents return to the learning process not as customers, but as partners, something powerful happens. Children benefit. Schools benefit. And parents rediscover that education was never meant to be something outsourced, but something shared.
When that happens, school begins to feel a little more like it always should have: connected. And the child finally receives the kind of education they deserve, one rooted in belonging, where the adults in their life work in harmony to ensure they are seen, known, and well educated.