08-18-2024 Back to School - Flipbook - Page 4
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A Special Advertising Section of Baltimore Sun Media Group | Sunday, August 18, 2024
Developing A Relationship With
Your Child’s Teacher Is More Than
Attending Back-To-School Night
By Lisa Baldino, Contributing Writer
Y
ou want to be comfortable with your
child’s teacher, right? You’d like to be
confident that the teacher will positively influence your child and motivate students in the classroom, right? After all,
your child spends five or six hours a day with this
person. You probably should have a good working relationship. You want to establish that basis
of trust to be sure he or she is an advocate for
your child – in the good times and more rocky
times. “Developing a relationship early in the
school year leads to easier conversations when
there are challenges,” says Catherine Andrade,
parent of a fifth grader at the School of the Incarnation in Gambrills, Maryland.
Here are 10 ways to be the go-to parent when
the going gets tough. Your goal is to gain the
teacher’s trust and respect.
1. Do your homework. Complete the annual
flurry of new-school-year forms. Be sure they
are accurate and return them to the teacher in a
timely fashion. (Bonus points might be available
if you get them in on the second day of school.)
Don’t make her have to call you when the forms
haven’t arrived and it’s three weeks into the
school year.
2. Attend new school year events. If your
school has a “Sneak Peek” or preview before
school starts, take advantage of it. This is a good
place to meet the teachers for the first time in a
quiet environment. Usually, this event runs similar to an open house, so parents and students can
find homerooms, navigate their way around the
school and bring in the school supply donations
for the classroom. “Sneak Peek” really benefits
your children, too. It gives them a higher level of
comfort on the first day of school.
3. Show Up at Back-to-School night. Bonus if both parents attend. “This [BTS] night is
not the right place to try to create a relationship
with the teacher. It’s more the teacher presenting
to the parents,” Andrade comments. Back-toSchool nights are usually when the teachers talk
to parents about class content, projects and grading policies. Don’t expect the teachers to remember the details of Bessie’s allergies or Tommy’s
ADHD. Make a separate appointment. “Backto-School Night might be a good introduction to
the school, but there is so much to a school that
we can’t communicate it in a single night,” says
Jon Pressimone, principal of Our Lady of Perpetual Help School in Ellicott City.
4. Volunteer, volunteer, volunteer. Not every parent can be in the classroom, and not every
parent wants to. The role of the classroom parent
is a key role in supporting the star of the show –
the teacher. Classroom parents get the chance to
interact with the teacher often, but you have to
be up to the task. You’ll be supporting the teacher with crafts, holiday celebrations, parties and
more. “There are millions of ways a parent can
get involved,” Andrade notes.
5. Chaperone a field trip. Field trips are
fun but also require a lot of pre-planning. This
means paperwork, permission slips, on-the-go
meals or snacks. Depending on the age of the
students, one chaperone is required for every six
students. “This is a great way for parents to help
the teacher and interact with the students. The
teacher also can observe the interaction between
you and your child,” Pressimone says (and vice
versa).
6. Volunteer for lunch duty or recess duty.
There are no better ways to see how your child
is doing socially. You’re right there in the thick
of the food spillage in the cafeteria or the energy
release on the playground. “You may also be relieving a teacher from these duties so she can sit
down and eat her lunch that day,” Pressimone
says.
7. Attend sporting events. Even if your child
doesn’t play but his friends do, it’s a good way to
show your support and a great way to get a conversation started with a teacher who may also be
attending the event. “Parent involvement means
a lot,” Pressimone emphasizes. It supports not
only your child, but his or her teammates.
8. Become a moderator for after-school
clubs. As children get older, their interests multiply and there are more programs available for
them. Often, students may want to start a new
club or give existing ones an overhaul. They need
an adult to help them in their tasks and keep
them on track. Teachers often need additional
help, and Pressimone says parents are a valuable
resource for after-school activities. This is also an
opportunity for parents who are working during
the school day.
9. Join your school’s PTA or HSA. These
are the organizations of parents who support
the school at large by managing the big events
or fundraisers. Become part of a committee for
school events, but Andrade says to know your
strengths and weaknesses. “I’m good at organizing. Maybe someone else is good at crafts. If
you’re interested, you can do anything and commit to as much time as you want,” she says.
10. Get to know the front office team. “It’s
important to develop a relationship with the
administrators and the assistants, as well as the
teacher,” Andrade notes. They are the gateway to
the school and the teachers.
Of course, do ask your children if they feel
comfortable with any arrangements you make to
be at school. “Especially in a K-8 setting, where
8th graders are at the top of the school, they find
it difficult to have their parents in school. They
are yearning for independence, and parents need
to respect that,” Pressimone emphasizes.
Ultimately, he says, “You want to find the balance between support and smothering” in your
parent-teacher relationship.
Above: School of the Incarnation in Gambrills, Maryland, holds several events each year that allow parents and their children to get to know the school, teachers and staff better.
