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Definitely shorter versions, or even a short email/bullets are a great communication. The shorter it is, the more likely parents will look at it.

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The shorter, the better for parents to read and receive information.

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We currently implement some of these ideas by having students sign up and check their infinite campus weekly during Tribe Time grade checks. We also do those SEL lessons during that time as well that deals with some of the topics. I think it would be good to share this information with parents, probably in a shorter version at the beginning of the school year so they are more likely to look at it. -Marco B.

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Continue to provide ongoing communication with parents on behalf of their students through social media, email/phone call blasts, Infinite Campus grade updates, and individualized communication with parents regarding student grades, attendance, behavior, and progress. Continue to establish short term goals/incentives with students in regards to classroom grades, extracurricular interests, community/work balance, and graduation plans.

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Communication with parents is key. I agree that they would prefer a concise handout as opposed to videos.

It is important that we share the need-to-know info throughout the year (and have positive contacts whenever possible). Remind, emails, social media posts, phone calls, and postcards are all ways that we currently communicate with parents and guardians. A great way to support and interact with students and their guardians is by attending their extracurricular and athletic events when possible.

Tribe Time activities help our students with goal setting and keeping up on going awareness of their progress--including graduation plans.

Natalie B

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Definitely shorter versions. They are a little redundant. We currently implement many of the strategies helpful to make high school more successful such as Tribe Time for studying and making up work; the 8th grade graduation plan; IC access for parents; sports; clubs; and encouraging parent involvement. I agree that parent involvement is a key indicator of success. It's harder to keep parents engaged at the high school level.

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Parent communication is key to any success in the school environment. Implementing strategies for parent involvement is crucial at the high school level. Providing a graduation plan to parents and all services that the school has to offer creates an engaging environment for students and parent success. The shorter bullets will give students and parents a complete understanding of all our school has to offer.

Josh Zeigler

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Parents and students will not take the time to watch the videos. Maybe the faculty could create something shorter and MORE creative to share. Give incentives for those who watch it.

We need to encourage parents to sign up for Google Classroom and connect to Infinite Campus. Emphasize this during Open House and give incentives to those whose parents sign up.

Also, there is a way to make mass contacts (phones calls, email, etc.) through Infinite Campus. This would greatly enhance communication with our school community.

D. Osborne

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There is a lot of important information that parents need to be aware of once a student enters high school. Condensing this information into a single handout that the parents can have at open house would be great. Maybe one for each grade level with relevant information for preparing them for what is coming up for their student.

Wade Owens

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We communicate with parents through the parent portal, the Remind app, social media, email, phone calls, and letters sent home. Communication is imperative for the success of students in the classroom. We use Tribe Time to help students make up or catch up on assignments, as well as offer tutoring in each subject once a week.

These videos and flyers are great information for parents. However, I do think a shortened version would be more useful and appreciated by parents, students, and staff.

Mary C.

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Communication with parents is instrumental in success of a school. The more information that we can give parents the better. The problem is length. A shortened one page version of this at open house, with access to the full version would be very useful. It could be broken down by grade level.

Wiggins

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I honestly don't believe that the parents and students will take time to watch these videos. There is not a genuineness or a community feel to them. If they were more realistic...perhaps if our own staff and students created a shorter condensed version, this community of parents and students would feel more prone to watching them.

I feel that we do implement several of the components shared in the videos.

Communication is vital and a key element in having success all around. I still think we can amp this up a lot. Finding ways to get parents more involved would help tremendously. I like the idea of what Osborne said about getting them all signed up for Google Classroom, also having them all to sign up with either a classroom Remind, Class Dojo, etc. would be great!

Shannon Asher

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Tribe Time is when we share this type of information with students. Communication with parents seems to be the best way to get this information home. These videos are kind of cheesy and could be shortened in order to make things more accessible.

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Video titles provided a good outline for a presentation to parents. Seems like it would be good to do at Open House, maybe as an option in the media center as families are touring the school. It would maybe also be good to present during Tribe Time? I do believe family engagement is important to student success. Maybe have our own students remake the videos through A/V class would be a good way to increase incentive to watch them. Kristen Milen

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I think having our students making shortened versions of these videos is an AWESOME idea. I think our kids and parents would be more receptive. I do have trouble seeing many of our students/parents taking 30'ish minutes to watch these.

Higgins

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I believe parent/teacher communication is important because it allows parents to acknowledge critical information related to their child's education.

Traci Weaver

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I have always been a strong advocate of parent/community involvement. Communication is very crucial with parents of children of all ages. We forget sometimes that high school students are not adults... especially those who appear mature. I do think we should try to reach our parents more in order to build stronger relationships. Maybe we could offer these resources to parents during Open House, parent conferences, etc. :-)

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The full length versions of these documents will not engage parents. I think creating a shorter version with key points would be more effective. Parents would be most engaged by human contact and conversation. I think using these as a resource as well as teachers and staff to engage and support parents with ways of connecting with the school would be better. It might be cool to host an event at Open House where parents come get assistance with connecting to Infinite Campus, Google Classroom, Remind, Social Media, and other types of communication.

Teachers work very hard to keep parents informed on their Student's progress. It would be so much more effective if parents felt comfortable, knowledgeable and empowered to check student progress and initiate conversations with teachers about assignments, grades and behaviors. Many working parents find time to be a limiting factor for them. I think something like Infinite Campus sending out an automated message when a student receives a grade or an alert when student grades drop would be helpful.

It might even be good to host a mid-year "open house" style dinner or event for parents to come have conversations with teachers regarding student progress and allow students to showcase what they are currently learning.

Jesse House

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So we all can help support students transitioning into high school and enhance parent involvement, we should use a combination of modern communication methods. Short videos can effectively showcase some key aspects of the transition, making the information not only at open house but a online portal allowing anytime access might help in times of need. We can always give parents handouts to also help give a physical resource at open house. The multifaceted approach ensures parents and teachers to work together to support students' success in high school.

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One thing I think parents will say is they do not know how to help their students with work at the high school level. I think we could provide families with resources that will help them help their child with learning at home. I know the DOE has published some parent-friendly unit summaries for math. I wonder about other curriculum/platforms that have built in resources for students and their families. I will look into it this summer. -Shelby White

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Without parents being involved, we are expecting the children that come to high school, and often those already enrolled, to continue doing whatever processes they learned in Middle School, which is not the case. What we are doing through Progress Reports, Tribe Time SEL assignments, contacts home when grades are very low, and even Positive Contacts are all good ways to contact parents, but just don’t reach all parents. We must continue to reach out to parents to help them stay involved with their students educations, since we have all seen how important this is to a student being successful. Social Media is great, but we must continue to find ways to reach some of the parents that are just a bit harder to stay in contact with for their students benefit.

—Tabatha Avery

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I think it would be a great idea for our A/V classes to duplicate these videos into slightly more condensed and personal versions of these videos for parents. Them offer incentives to our students if their parents will watch them and maybe leave their own video comments concerning them. The handouts are also too long, and I agree that a bulleted list would be much better received and accepted by parents and students. Any way we can motivate students and parents to be more involved in the students education if a win for all of us.

—Tabatha Avery

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I believe we implement some of these ideas by utilizing Infinite Campus where parents have the ability to monitor their student's grades throughout the year and reach out to their teachers with any questions or concerns. Also, parents have the ability to sign up for Google Classroom so that they have another opportunity to monitor progress if they desire. Emails, reminds, social media, phone calls, etc. are all other avenues of communication we can use to continually update parents on school happenings. I think a shortened version would be a good thing to share with parents. Perhaps some type of visual where they could gather the information fairly quickly rather than taking time to watch video(s). It could have the critical information in bubbles, bullets, bold font or some type of distinguishing feature with detail text smaller. Maybe even some type of brochure handout or something like that.

Chase Sanford

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Establishing communication with parents/students is vital to any school setting. Videos could be another tool we can use to help establish the gap between school systems and parent/student communication.

Kip Williams

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1. We utilize dedicated time for YouScience during Intervention and post many things on Social Media.

2. Using Social Media for more direct content and communication with parents would help. Promoting Accelerated Learning (Option B), Dual Enrollment, AP and Honors Courses would help a family prepare their children for a future that best suits them individually. Getting ALL parents on the Parent Portal of IC and the District app would facilitate communication. Infinite Campus workshops that teach all the tools built into that program would help teachers as well.

Jim Miller

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Sometimes parents feel that they are the last to know anything going on at school so any way that we can open the communication lines between the school and parents/students would be helpful. I don't think they will watch a long video at open house night but possibly a shortened version would be better. We can reach our students through Tribe Time and our google classrooms but I am not sure our parents take advantage of being able to be on google classroom and our remind texts.

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It's imperative to have parent communication throughout the entirety of the school year. Reminds, Google Classroom, and IC are great avenues to communicate. Sending out feedback to parents both positive and informative on how their child is doing is a way to see better results in class.

Condensing these videos or making videos of our own would more than likely receive better feedback.

A. Pharr

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We do a great job of family engagement within our community. We post everything on social media and also invite parents to be involved with things going on in our school. We have a dedicated time for YouScience.

Austen Horn

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Parent involvement is paramount in a student's success. Sharing videos would be a better alternative than handing out papers. Parents are busy these days.

Jeff Williams

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I feel as if we implement proper communication to our parents/guardians/community. I believe that maintaining positive relationships/contacts throughout the year is the biggest factor when wanting them to understand the information we are sending out. In times where "media" is changing, the best way to spread the information that was in the videos would be to adapt to how we share information now (i.e. Instagram, Facebook, Twitter). While we know that everyone may not watch or read the information, at least we can say as a staff/faculty that we helped spread the information as best as we could. We could even remake the videos posted into condensed and updated versions, so it could be more realistic within our community. As an even more condensed version, we could create a digital handout, which could also be printable, highlighting the key points on what the students/parents/guardians need to know.

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I think creating a micro sized version of this for Open house would be a great way to get parents coached up to stay informed and plugged in. Pushing sign ups for Google Classroom and IC is another great idea.

Using these ideas and having students watch them during Tribe time during the first weeks of school. Pushing more stuff out on Social Media would help us push this message out more!

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We offer many ways for parents to communicate with teachers and vice versa. They are invited to join Google classroom and IC to keep a check on their students grades and we can communicate here as well. I do think that videos would possibly be a better alternative than handouts but at the end of the day it is still like the saying: "If it's important, you'll find a way; If it's not, you'll find an excuse." We have to find a way to make it important to parents. How that happens, I have no clue. It is society as a whole today.

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I feel we implement proper parent communication and also encourage students to participate and get involved in after and during school activities. I do feel the videos and articles need to be shortened a lot of useful information in there.

Sandra Johnston

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1.) Open line of communication is key. We are currently communicating with parents through remind, emails, google classroom, letter/postcards, phone calls, and social media.

2.) I agree that a shortened condensed handout would be a good thing to share with parents at the beginning of the school year. This allows the parents to have a paper copy to refer back to throughout the year.

Brittany Ross

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We implement the ideas presented in many ways such as IC, automated calls when students are absent, students working on YouScience, SEL, encouragement of parents to join Google Classrooms, Club Days, etc. While it is implemented, I do no necessarily believe that some of these platforms used are effective. A lot of the material does not seem engaging or genuine and students do not buy into it. It seems like another box to check off.

The handouts and videos are what teachers ideally would want parents to know and how students should expect high school to go, however, the videos are not realistic. I think sharing this with parents would be great, but again, this is not realistic. The length would also be a deterrent.

If there was a way to have parents buy into the material is some fashion, that would be great. It is important for parents to know remaining involved and staying informed is just as crucial in high school as it was in elementary and middle school years.

Katy Sane

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Communication with parents is crucial in the success of a student's education. Parents like the short, sweet version of anything. I think summarizing the information in a "one page" type of handout is the best. Giving them access to videos (if they would like to go about it that way).

I think sharing a shortened version of these videos at open house would help parents help their students!

B. Adams

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1. We implement these ideas by using infinite campus for parents to keep track of grades. The number 1 complaint by parents is they don't know how to access it. Students are highly encouraged to get involved in extracurricular activities.

2. I don't feel like parents would take the time to watch 25 minutes of these videos. A handout with the highlights would be of better use. As a parent with 4 kids open house is overwhelming with the amount of forms I have to fill out for each student more so at the elementary level.

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I think we should encourage parents more to use Infinite Campus. I have talked to several parents this year who are familiar with IC but are just not using it. I definitely think you have to shorten the videos and this information should be shared at the beginning of the year.

C. Wheeler

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I think that the videos would be best to share with students & with families. I know that the handouts are nice & succinct & should be something we send home/share, but I also feel that the videos would be a good way to establish what high school is going to be like for all involved. I think I will actually play these videos during open house as well as during the first day of school for my freshman classes.

~Z. Talley

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I think that most teachers and administrators in this building are doing a good job of trying to emphasize the points made in both the handouts & the videos. I think that, if we all agree to stick strictly to the expectations established & communicate en masse with the parents and students in some sort of required & expanded Freshman/new student orientation, it will help establish our goals early on.

~Z. Talley

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1. We implement these ideas in our school by encouraging students to get involved in clubs and extra curricular activities. We have students check their grades weekly on IC to keep them aware and accountable of their grades.

2. I think having a place designated for IC help, log in info, and questions would be very helpful during open house. Then, hopefully more family members would be aware of the successes and struggles of their students throughout the year. I think the information in the videos and handouts are very helpful. I am just not sure of the reality of getting parents and students to listen and/or read the information in its entirety.

Jennifer Weaver

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Positive Communication with Our Parents

It is in my opinion that this information is important and if we used videos they would need to be updated from this is most definitely shortened. The hand out may be something good to give, but we give so many papers out at the beginning of the year, they may get lost.

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There are plenty of opportunities for kids to get involved here at MCHS. Perhaps we should have representatives for each activity available at tables during Open House.

Ultimately, Open House is meant to get schedules and meet teachers.

In regard to re-delivery, the handouts, coupled with a personable delivery, would be better than the videos. I might even suggest a separate date for this, but in order to get parents to attend, there needs to be food involved. A chili supper or something.

~~ Rollins

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I am not sure the parents and students would take the time at open house to watch these videos. I feel that they show up to get schedules and meet teachers. If we had an event where they could come outside of open house, maybe the participation would be better.

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The ESS department develops transition plans for each special education student every year. In the plan, the student outlines his or her plan for after graduation. Then the committee develops a series of goals and activities to help the students explore and eventually reach their career goal. The areas addressed are employment, education, and independent living. The student, parent, teacher, and outside agencies are all involved in helping the student reach their goals and complete the activities.

Making the videos available is a good idea so that the parents who want to view them will be able too.

~Rebecca Quast

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I think that shorter versions of these videos would be a great idea. I think that if we push out videos more parents would watch them instead of sending home a bunch of papers. I think that videos also allow parents to feel more connected to the school. I think we do a great job of parent communication. We are constantly sharing news letters on social media to keep everyone updated. 

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I think that shorter versions of these videos would be a great idea. I think that if we push out videos more parents would watch them instead of sending home a bunch of papers. I think that videos also allow parents to feel more connected to the school. I think we do a great job of parent communication. We are constantly sharing news letters on social media to keep everyone updated. 

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I believe we do a good job at implementing many of the key concepts presented in the videos and handouts. I think communication and consistency is key when pushing for success.

I don't think most students/ parents will watch or read these. The videos have that paid actor feeling. I think a shortened version of the videos might help.

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1. Transition ideas are implemented in the ESS department via a transition plan found in the ESS students' IEPs. We plan for a student's future by setting goals regarding their future education, their future employment, and their independent living skills. I am sure transition is frequently discussed in MCHS classrooms, having done it myself. We all talk about the importance of education and what is yet to come with the students. Sometimes, however, it falls on deaf ears. Tribe Time is also an option where students hear and prepare for transition; again, though, not all the students will fully participate. 2. The information presented in the handouts and the videos is good information. The handouts, especially, are too lengthy. They will not be fully read and will most likely wind up in the trash. The videos, singularly, are not that long, but as a whole are too long. Neither our students nor many of our parents will take the time to watch them all in their entirety.

--Joy Webb

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1. We have multiple pathways for students and parents to stay informed (IC, school website/social media, school app, Reminds, etc.).

2. In my experience, graduation requirements are still a nebulous concept for students and parents. Open House would be good time to share such information. However, if we were to do so, I believe it would be better to use something tailored to our school rather than the videos/handouts.

-Kassandra Martin

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The videos make some good points but these values should be given to students prior to entering high school. It's difficult to teach personal responsibility, work ethic, and the importance of keeping up when you have been passed along without actually earning the passing score. Again, this should be stressed in middle school and reinforced in high school. It might be good to have high school teachers/admin take time to go the the middle school and address these things ahead of their entering high school.

Garrett

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Shorter versions would be good. Maybe even spread them out through different classes/periods.

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How do we currently implement these ideas in our school?

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How do we currently implement these ideas in our school?

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The band uses Band Camp to get the students acclimated to the building and to develop working relationships with students at all grade levels. In addition, we teach the greater personal responsibility and autonomy that is expected of High School level work in a supportive, peer-centered environment.

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We currently implement these things through our Open House and Tribe Time.

I think clear communication in a concise way of all the positive things we have going on MCHS would be helpful along with these types of abbreviated videos and handouts to break the ice on some of these tougher topics.

-Kurt Napier

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I believe we do implement some of these ideas via Social Media, Remind, Phone calls, automotive messages, and email.

The information in these documents and videos provide important things parents and students need to know when entering high school. However, many parents or students are not going to take the time to read or watch them. If possible, the information would definitely need to be condensed into at least 1 page or a short 5-10 min video.

H. Ridley