Principle #9: Modern Schools encourage community wide participation in the equitable, effective, educaton of children.
I’ve mentioned the importance of getting the community in the schools and the schools in the community in a post titled Connecting to the Community to Enrich the School Narrative, so I will try not to go down that path in this post. I do think it is important to recognize that Principle #9 is the second (Principle #5) to emphasize the importance of the community and school connection.
Principle #5, which focuses on real world application, differs slightly from principle #9. Where the former focuses on young people in schools getting into the community the latter emphasizes getting the community into the schools. This is a fine line that schools must walk, but I think it boils down to communication. Most communities trust their schools and often acquiesce to the expertise of the teachers and principals as long as they are kept in the loop. It is important for schools to communicate to all parents and be sure not to listen to just the loudest parents. One way to help avoid this trap is to set up a consistent way to communicate with parents and the community as a whole. Meeting with community leaders in order to not only share the vision of the school, but to revisit it with examples from the school is important. This can be done through organizations that are already established such as Rotary, Chamber of Commerce, and Parent Teacher Organizations to name a few examples. By communicating with these groups we provided a narrative beyond the test scores and rankings which they can then share with other members of the community. These relationships also allow the schools to keep a pulse on the needs and concerns of the community. This is important because a district which has the flexibility to adapt to not only the needs of the young people in school, but the needs of the community surrounding the school will be one that will be valued and supported.
No comments:
Post a Comment