I have been struck several times of late by the comments of former clients and colleagues regarding changes that took place at my former job, some of which occurred before I got done there. One point that has settled into my thinking consistently has been that the sense of community was significantly altered in recent years, and the feeling that the school was a "family" had been lost.
Many attempts were made over the years to promote community activities, but all the projects and events brought less than satisfactory results. It is really about relationships, and the missing piece fell into place for a couple of weeks ago. A parent was telling me her frustrations over the fact that although she had several children in the school, both she and her husband had to work in order to afford the tuition, resulting in a disconnection from the school community. She commented, in particular, on the fact that she did not even know most of the school board members, and she surmised that there are several other families with a similar experience.
The truth of the matter is that in a school that is run by a parent board, it is vital to the success of that school and its board that everyone knows each other. I believe very strongly that the board of directors of such a school would do itself a great favor by assigning each member a list of families in the school to contact each month, either in person or by phone. By creating an atmosphere of relationships with those families--and having the list change every three months or so--the board can establish a real connection with the families it is serving, greatly improving communication and reducing the likelihood for distrust. Then, when the organization undergoes a major transition of any kind, the relationships are built to withstand the splintering that often disrupts even the possibility of making the necessary changes smoothly.
Build the relationships now to create and maintain a school community.
No comments:
Post a Comment