Nervous. Excited. Cautiously Optimistic. These Sentiments Encapsulate the Range of Emotions Parents and Educators Share as They Prepare for the Coming School Year.

On July 28, Parent Teacher Home Visits welcomed parents, educators, and family engagement advocates to engage in a candid conversation about gains, losses, and lessons learned during the pandemic.  The interactive webinar was designed to not only jumpstart healing but allow space to process our collective experiences and encourage thoughtful reflection on the best path toward recovery.   

Panelists and attendees generated a list of ideas and actions that they plan to focus on in the coming school year.  Frequently cited suggestions included: 

• Advocate for the use of more sustainable and stable general funds to support family engagement practices instead of grant funding 
• Embed family engagement practices into daily routines instead of viewing them as an add-on 
• Ensure strong, two-way communication  
• Start Now! Don’t wait until school has started to nurture relationships with your students and their families.  

Throughout the session, we heard stories of incredible resilience in the face of adversity and a deeply held desire to make the most of this monumental moment. A key theme that threaded the discussion was that relationships lay at the center of everyone’s pandemic experience. The protective power of caring relationships supported parents, teachers, and others through the pain of loss and the physical distance imposed by the pandemic and shutdown of schools. 

With the recent Delta variant-fueled spike in coronavirus spread, uncertainties remain about the coming school year.  However, the lessons learned over the last year and a half provide a growing clarity and confidence to focus on what matters most.  Building trust, through high-impact family engagement strategies such as Parent Teacher Home Visits, overwhelmingly topped panelist and attendee priority lists.   

We encourage you to reflect – preferably as a mixed group of families and educators – on the same questions asked during the webinar.   

• What have you gained, lost, and learned during the pandemic?   
• What specific steps will you take to promote healing and recovery?   

Leverage your learning and work in productive partnership to give rise to a school community committed and prepared to ensure the post-pandemic success of all students. 

Check out a recording of our webinar as well as the recommendations and resources outlined in our Back to School toolkit, Trusting Relationships First, to support your local efforts.