Row 1: Deb Whang, Jeanne Weizeorick, and Linda Cusack. Row 2: Amy Vanderveen, Don Perry (Principal), Alison Ferwerda, Paul Shipman, Lisa Kolick, Sherri Fitzgerald, Pradnya Parulekar, Jessica Jozwiak (NNPS Key Contact), Lisa Trychta (NNPS Key Contact), Beth DeGeeter, and Lynn Gissler.
Kennedy Junior High School (KJHS), a member of NNPS since 1998 and a Partnership School Award recipient in 2001, has strengthened its partnership program every year. The School, Family, Community Partnership (SFCP) team meets quarterly and committees for particular projects meet as often as needed to complete the projects planned for the year. Leadership responsibilities are outlined in April, so that the team starts the next school year knowing what they will be working on. New members are oriented and given opportunities to work on projects in September.
The SFCP is a “subgroup” of the Home and School Association. Representatives from each group attend the others’ meetings and work with the school improvement and curriculum planning teams. The coordination across committees and groups is important. Home and School President, Tracey Cowart, praised the SFCP activities that improve partnerships, such as Character Counts, Business Partnerships, Survival Guide, Monthly Calendar, Welcome Packets, and others. Parents are welcomed and become involved through Technology Tours, Coffee with the Principal, annual surveys, Parent Huddles, and Brainstorming. Ms. Cowart stated, “SFCP is a team of parents and staff that continues to encourage, create, and produce innovative ideas and programs. Their enthusiasm and “can do” attitude is contagious.”
In 2006, Welcome Packets were designed for each grade level and distributed to all families and students who enrolled in the middle of the year. The packets included school information, calendars, addresses, community information, and a welcome letter from the principal. Another activity, Club Brochure, was developed to help parents learn about the extra-curricular clubs and to encourage them to discuss the clubs and club meetings with their children. Teacher reported more students participated in clubs this year.
SFCP organized a Tech Tour for parents at the same time as Open House night. About 150 parents toured the Tech Lab to learn about the curriculum and to see some unique technology at the school, including a flight simulator and radio station. On another evening, over 450 parents from throughout the school district attended a discussion at KJHS on the dangers of the Internet.
Each year, the SFCP team gives the principal an outline of programs and events for family involvement that need staff support. The principal, who is on the SFCP team and a strong supporter of family involvement, discusses these activities at the first staff meeting and asks teachers and staffs to support the involvement agenda. Teachers on and off the SFCP team take leadership roles for some activities.
Activities are evaluated and the information is used to improve practice. For example, feedback from parents in the prior year helped improve the Sixth Grade/New Student Survival Guide. As another example, parents were interviewed by “floating team members” for their ideas for the Club Brochure on extra curricular activities, which were, then, incorporated in the final design.
SFCP Team co-chairs may serve for more than one year. A prospective new chair will “shadow” the current leaders before taking over next year, and then will serve for two years. This system adds some stability to the leadership of the action team for partnerships.
We would tell other principals definitely to develop a program of school, family, and community partnerships and join NNPS. NNPS offers a framework for any school – elementary through high school, small or large – to have an action team for partnerships. The six types of involvement help build a complete SFCP program with many different ways to involve families. An SFCP team creates a big welcome for all families to get involved and, ultimately, all students reap the benefits.
See Kennedy’s early work in Partnership School Awards of 2001 and how they have grown over time. Also see examples of their activities in collections of Promising Partnership Practices on the website, www.partnershipschools.org, in the section Success Stories. Visit the school at www.ncusd203.org/Kennedy