From the Chair: Bridging School and Home

Working with students is at the core of what we do, but other stakeholders require our attention as school counselors, especially parents and families. Elementary schools often have a large parent presence; however, as students progress through school, parent engagement in schools slowly starts to decline. Perhaps parents want to give their children space and an opportunity for autonomy and independence, or it could be that parents feel less welcome in middle school and high school environments. Although schools may not intend to make parents feel less welcome, a lack of parent programs, invitations and communication with and for parents may be partly to blame. School counselors can play an important role in engaging parents in their child’s learning, extra-curricular activities and future goal planning.
 
As counselors with unmanageable caseloads, adding yet another task – finding ways to engage parents in the work that we do – sometimes feels impossible. However, parents can be a large key to a student’s success at school. Students spend seven-plus hours per day with us and just as much time at home with their families. Research has shown that parent engagement can improve student success, so how can we capitalize on that and incorporate parent engagement in our school counseling programs?
 
For any level, one idea is to make sure to have a parent or two on your school counseling program’s Advisory Council. Even if you’re not looking to become a RAMP school, an advisory council can be an incredibly beneficial part of your program. Parents can offer fresh perspective on the activities that are part of the counseling program. With so much of the work we do focusing on students being college and career ready, how about inviting parents to do career presentations with your students, or asking them to be a part of your school career fair? If you’re taking your students on a college field trip, invite parents to chaperone.
 
Another aspect of parent engagement where school counselors can help is working with your new student families. Spend time talking to them about the ways that parents can get involved with the school, including your school’s parent-teacher organization. Provide them with literature about the PTO and school programs, including contact information, so that parents feel comfortable reaching out.
 
Also keep your school counseling website up to date. If you don’t have a website, then you need to get one up and running! Communicating regularly with parents via newsletters, websites, phone calls and emails is important to keep your students’ families up to speed with what is going on and makes them feel a part of your school community. Although parents in upper grades may not be volunteering in the classroom and providing snack for the kids, you can encourage them to be involved by being aware of their child’s social media presence and digital footprint, talking with their children about school and school-related activities and asking them to work with their child on developing future goals. Get together with other school counselors and brainstorm innovative ideas to get parents and families engaged in their children’s learning.   
 
CSCA recently met with Commissioner Wentzell at the state Department of Education, and we had a great discussion about the importance of the work that school counselors do and how we are directly linked to parent engagement. We are looking forward to participating in the Commissioner's Roundtable for Family & Community Engagement so that we may further these discussion with key stakeholders.
 
Our role as school counselors is so multifaceted. This is just another layer of the work that we do to help all of our students to succeed in school. While engaging families in their children’s education can be challenging at times, it is essential that school counselors use our skills to bridge the gap between school and home. 
 
Contact Virginia A. DeLong, CSCA Board chair, at cscachairman@gmail.com.