Independent schools could not exist, much less be successful, without the support of our parents.
Obviously, we depend on your tuition to fund our operations, but that is only one way in which we rely on your support, and in some respects not even the most important one. Our success, and more importantly, a child’s success, depends on parental support for his/her education. That support takes a variety of forms beginning with actual parenting and extending to relationships with teachers and contributions to the school of time and money. As a teacher and administrator in independent schools for more than twenty years, I’d like to offer some observations on the characteristics of parents who forge the most effective partnerships with schools and therefore provide the optimal conditions (over which they have control!) of their children’s education.
Parenting
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Parents who tell their children they love them -- the most important gift parents can give them. Conveying this message through adolescence, even when parents may be highly irritated and exasperated – possibly even disappointed with a child, is just as important as when they are preschool or elementary aged.
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Parents who find the balance between protecting children and letting them go so that they develop independence and self reliance.
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Parents who let children make mistakes, deal with the consequences and learn from them.
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Parents who discover, understand and appreciate their children as individuals: encouraging their loves and passions; helping them to capitalize on their strengths while learning to work with their weaknesses; and recognizing that these passions, strengths and weaknesses may not be the same as ours, their parents.
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Parents who provide structure and expectations for their children and recognize that they are the adults with maturity and experience from which children should benefit. Whether they want to or not, children need to eat their vegetables. They need to get exercise. They need to read. They need to take math, and art, and music, and foreign languages whether they love those subjects or not. They need to be polite and respectful to others, whether they like them or not.
As a parent myself, I always say that parenting is the hardest job we do and the one for which we have the least training. Teachers, advisors, school counselors, and division directors, all of whom have watched scores if not hundreds or even thousands of children grow and develop, are terrific parenting resources who know your children well.
Partnering with the School
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Parents who understand and embrace the school’s mission and culture.
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Parents who read the materials the school sends so they and their children understand the school’s procedures and rules.
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Parents who share concerns appropriately when they have them – and before an issue becomes enormous.
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Parents who partner with their children’s teachers/advisors/coaches/directors, sharing concerns about their child or about something regarding the program with the person administering the program (the classroom teacher, the team’s coach, the play’s director, etc).
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Parents who compliment and praise when warranted.
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Parents who volunteer – our schools literally could not operate without all our parental volunteer work! And it’s a great way to get to know the school and the people in it better. Your parents association is always looking for more volunteers.
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Parents who contribute generously to the Annual Fund and, when the time comes (which it always does!), contribute to a capital campaign.
We look forward to working with you to provide the best possible educational experience for your child. Thank you on behalf of all our schools for sharing your children with us and for all you do to support them and the schools they attend.
