Improving Communications

It has been half a school year already and we have been taking stock of how things are going. One area we can certainly improve is how we are utilizing the communication systems already in place. Look for these good changes in the New Year.

Room Parents Unite to Better Inform Community
If you have a request, question, suggestion or anything else, these will be the people to ask first. If they can’t direct you where you need to go, they can find out and let you know. Also, starting in January, these parents will have an opportunity to meet monthly with Sarah to share how this system is working. Be nice to your room parents, they are communication liaisons, not decision makers, and I hope we can view them as impartial vectors for information.
WE NEED two or three parents of middle school students to be these room parents for the middle school. Please don’t add too much to your plate. Mostly these positions require an email address to direct communications to/from, the desire if not ability to attend most of the monthly meetings with Sarah and to be occasionally available to parents on campus.

Desperately Seeking Secretaries
Second, the website is another source of underutilized communication. Look soon for committee meeting minutes and contact information as well as the school calendar on the website.
WE NEED a cadre of note takers and transcribers to help make this happen. You don’t need to join a committee; you just need to be a parent who compulsively takes notes at meetings of interest to you. We also need people who have an occasional half an hour to turn a pile of these notes into readable minutes and newsletter/website articles. This is the perfect opportunity for parents who can’t be on campus to volunteer.

Student Voices Need Expression
Third, all this work is for nothing if we do not teach our children the importance of communication. Creating our stories is something that can bring us together even faster and more profoundly than simply attending the same school. As well as hearing their voice about the experience of environmental education we can encourage cross-generational teaching.
WE NEED some parents and/or staff that can help coordinate the students in creating their own student page of the website and possible student newspaper. This should be a K-8 experience where the older students can help the younger with the writing. This should be their place at the table and they should be encouraged to work out the details themselves.

If you want to talk about any of these topics in greater detail, please contact Heather Lee. I am the coordinator for the Room Parents and for the Secretary Pool. I really wanted to work on the newspaper, but I was the worst reporter on staff for my high school newspaper. The articles are still an embarrassment to me today.