"The COVID-19 pandemic has wrought devastation across the globe, but it has also demonstrated the best of humanity: Billions of people have taken measures to slow the spread of the virus, protect the most vulnerable members of society, and ensure that those who need medical care are able to access it. The pandemic has shown, that in a crisis, we are perfectly capable of acting selflessly. We understand the value of working together and the power we can have when we do so successfully." - Dr. Robin Bell
One of the most important lessons I learned as a brand new teacher was the value of parent partnerships. By the time I became a teacher, I was already a parent of school-aged children and I knew how much I valued teachers connecting with me whenever one of my children needed a nudge or a reminder, or their class needed a volunteer for a field trip or in-school event. I loved the feeling of being linked to my children's hours spent in school and of being aware of what was going on during their time away from home. When I became a teacher, most of the volunteer activities had to be set aside since I was now spending the day time hours in my own classroom with other people's children, so I volunteered for the School Council instead. And, as a teacher, it did not take me long to figure out that building partnerships with parents helped me both in the classroom and with a myriad of student-centered issues - everything from lost forms to incomplete homework to bake sales!
It has been over thirty years since I was a brand new teacher - although the nature of parent partnerships has changed somewhat over the years, their value has not. Fundraising has taken on greater importance over the years and parents have been invaluable in supporting these efforts. Support for field trips and as school volunteers continue to be key and we have so appreciated the support of our parents in these important areas through the first four years of our school being open!
This school year parent partnerships with the school have taken on a whole new level of importance that cannot be emphasized enough, however. We will need to work together as the children re-gather in school to assess and support learning that was interrupted for almost six months from what would normally be expected - with parent help, we will be able to create deep understandings of what our students have been able to accomplish over the six months when we did not see them, as well as what their challenges were. This will help all of us to ensure students experience their own, personalized next best steps in learning in the coming months of the 2020-21 school year.
Parents will also need to be our partners as we potentially move in and out of a blended learning environment. Should we move to a Scenario 2 or 3 organization, or should your child be home sick or quarantined for an extended period of time, we will have temporary online learning opportunities available for them through Google Classroom and Google Meets. Our Hub online learning students are already exercising the power of parent partnerships as they move into a completely online learning environment. Blended learning - a mix of in-class and virtual - will be available for anyone who is not well enough to attend school by September 27, 2020. This means every student will have the opportunity to continue to grow in learning regardless of what this crazy year offers in terms of health, exposure to COVID-19 or even an influenza outbreak. Should we need to move from a face-to-face to an online environment - as a whole school or just as a family - this will require a strong partnership between school and parents to ensure students continue to grow in learning.
We have taken a strong stance as a school towards building independence with students focused on using the 'healthy triad' of pandemic health practices. This is another area where a strong partnership with parents will help children build their independence with practicing appropriate handwashing and sanitizing, maintaining an appropriate physical distance and wearing masks when distance cannot be sustained. We have developed posters and bookmarks as reminders for the students, and are creating in-house video shorts to demonstrate appropriate, safe pandemic practices. When parents support us by encouraging children to build these healthy skills at home as well, students quickly move to employing strong, independent pandemic health routines.
Another key parent partnership we would like to promote is role-modeling the pandemic health routines everywhere, everyday, as well as practicing them at home. As we try to help students develop greater awareness of what physical distancing is, when we should wear masks and to wash our hands in a particular way for at least 25 seconds, we know students are watching to see if we, their teachers, are practicing these strategies as well. Although this is still a new experience for us, staff are all trying hard to be strong role models of these three pandemic health routines every day to help our students appreciate the importance of following these practices and developing strong, consistent pandemic healthy habits themselves. We really appreciate seeing parents employ these practices to demonstrate and role model for their children what 'keeping each other safe' really looks and sounds like.
We know parents are our strongest partners and we are all in this together, walking each other home through this extraordinary and truly bizarre time in history. As Dr. Deena Hinshaw says, "If we all keep washing our hands, staying home when sick and taking all the other small but crucial measures to prevent COVID-19 from spreading, we can and will come through this together." Whether we are sharing information about student learning, supporting learners in a blended environment, encouraging students to practice the 'healthy triad' successfully and independently every day or demonstrating to our children the importance of consistently demonstrating these behaviours through role modeling, our partnerships with parents will carry us strongly into the healthy future we are all looking forward to with the greatest anticipation!
Lorraine Kinsman, Principal
Eric Harvie School
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