Tip 31: Organize virtual events for parents and families to increase engagement

How can K-12 schools and districts create shared experiences and deeper connection with their families without face-to-face on campus events? Live interaction is still possible with large school groups.

Here are four examples of schools and districts running large group events through virtual means.

1. Parent Q&A sessions

On an April 28th webinar, Superintendent Jenny McGown of Klein ISD in Texas described the positive results from their first Parent Q&A using Facebook Live in November, 2019. While it pre-dates school closures, it is a powerful strategy for family engagement in the current environment and in the future.

Facebook Live allowed them to engage thousands of parents both live and afterwards, something that was much more complicated to achieve with face-to-face events.

Dr. McGown shared that the Q&A session connected them with many families who had never been to a face-to-face event. Some were parents who found it tough to get to school for events due to work or various constraints. Others were parents who felt very uncomfortable at large face-to-face events at school. The virtual Q&A helped them expand connections and reach beyond core “engaged” parents already involved with their schools.

2. Parent town hall call-ins

Baltimore Design School in Maryland recently organized two group calls for parents — nothing required other than the ability to call in and join with audio! They partnered with other community organizations to explore and discuss together topics related to “life at home” including learning, health, safety and wellness.

We like that they asked for 45 minutes of parents’ time, which feels like less of a commitment than a full hour, but allows enough time for meaningful discussion. Their visual and messaging is thoughtful, as it shows empathy for their families: it mentions their children, learning, life at home, and hardly mentions the school. Clearly it’s focused on families’ needs and concerns.

3. Parent grade level meetings

We’ve also discovered interesting examples of schools organizing grade-level sessions for parents, such as this meeting for 8th Grade parents from Ocean Springs School District in Mississippi:

We like their strategy of supporting one-way school communications with a live session like this.

4. School assemblies

At the campus level, we’ve seen schools like Sandy Grade Elementary in Oregon and Fortune Schools in California transform their face-to-face daily or weekly assemblies into virtual equivalents:

Facebook Live is an accessible platform for most students and family members, as it’s easy to use — no additional login required and it’s accessible from computers or mobile phones.

If you have other examples, please let us know, so we can showcase you and your school, too!

K-12 Remote Tips

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