The Value of Utilizing Parents in a Christian School

Perhaps the main resource not being used effectively in today’s Christian schools is the parent. First, let me state that I am well aware of several schools that recognize the value of parents and include them in various opportunities, responsibilities, board positions, and committees. Many of these schools are exemplary leaders in the areas mentioned below and simply do it right. Unfortunately, many schools that the NCCSA is familiar with do not utilize parents effectively, if at all. While assisting with school consultations, helping administer strategic plans and procedures, and supervising the accreditation process at numerous schools, the NCCSA has noticed that the schools that struggle with parent morale, public relations and marketing, positive community outlook, attendance, and other enrollment issues typically do not utilize parents well. In order to understand the value of shared leadership and the important role parents play in today’s education, a Christian school educator must understand the difference between Christian education years ago and Christian education in 2015.

This article is not meant to be an exhaustive research article or a review of literature on what has been published on this topic. Rather, it is based solely on my experience and observations from the various opportunities mentioned above.

Years ago, Christian schools enrolled many students that had unsaved parents or parents who had a different life philosophy than the school. Despite their philosophical differences, however, those parents still enrolled their child(ren) in conservative Christian schools, seeking advantages such as 1) biblical worldview, 2) safety and separation, 3) prayer in schools, 4) care from teachers, and 5) quality academics. In 2015, many parents who would make up the two categories listed above no longer enroll their child(ren) in conservative Christian schools. Certainly, parents who call themselves Christian and align with the school’s overall educational philosophy and methodology are still valued parents, but many parents who do not closely align with these ideals have turned to other Christian schools, private schools (non-Christian), charter schools, or even public schools. Additionally, school choice, a legislative topic that helps provide tax benefits for groups of parents that enroll students in private schools, provides many more options for today’s parents—especially those who do not line up with the school’s overall philosophy. Unfortunately, many Christian schools lack distinction and a competitive advantage. Today’s parents want to know why they need to pay hard-earned money to send their children to Christian schools.

Regrettably, many of the methods that worked years ago simply do not work as well in 2015. While I would always agree that teaching a Christian worldview carries the majority of weight in a private Christian school, many parents (especially unsaved parents) will not enroll their child in a conservative Christian school if the Christian worldview teaching is the only distinction and competitive advantage. This is much more noticeable in communities with multiple private schools where schools must compete for student enrollment. In this highly-competitive world, a school must stand out from other Christian or private schools. Can Christian educators that work in a Christian school clearly communicate to parents the reasons parents should enroll their child(ren) in a Christian school? While a Biblical worldview is important, would any of the answers include 1) because the school produces the best academic product, 2) because the school excels in athletics and/or fine arts, 3) because the teachers are highly-qualified and competent, or 4) because the school offers technology and various learning environments that allow for personalized learning? If the only distinction between one private school and another is a) cheaper tuition or b) the most conservative alternative, then most case-studies on this topic show that these schools will ultimately be unable to remain open. An article published in the May/June 2010 NCCSA Update Newsletter discusses the Distinction Needed for Christian Education and can be downloaded by clicking here.

Eight Simple Ways to Involve Parents

Nothing says a school values its parents more than listening to them and involving them. Many times, schools do not utilize parents because they are unsure how to. Other times, schools may not use parents because the administration is intimidated by the parents’ expertise or their influence in the community. In addition, the school might be hesitant to share responsibility and leadership. Leadership is not a solo act; it is a team effort. There is value in including parents, and confident leaders include others and release authority when delegating responsibilities to others. Typically, the higher-quality school will attract more parents and students that demand high academics and other offerings typical of a top-tier school. Even with that said, schools at any level should have parents that they could utilize in various ways. Below are a few simple ideas to involve parents at your school:

  1. Provide various avenues for parents to display their satisfaction.
    1. While this is not an exhaustive article on school marketing, most education analysts and experts readily agree that there is no better marketing plan or advertisement than a satisfied parent.
    2. Perhaps the easiest and most effective marketing plan for a school is word of mouth marketing from satisfied parents.
    3. A satisfied parent is an involved parent.
      1. Rick Newberry has published a great article on the benefits of using parents as your main advocates and marketers. The article is available by clicking here.
    4. Schools should have an avenue for parents to communicate their positive experiences. This can be a letter or email that is shared with other parents or on the school’s website, a message on Facebook or Twitter, or some other type of medium that can be shared with parents and other community stakeholders.
    5. Schools should maintain an updated and high-quality Facebook and Twitter page. Whether or not schools realize it, there is probably no greater outlet to share experiences (positive or negative) than on Facebook. Along these lines, it is important that schools assign someone on staff to monitor any type of social media. Negative social media that is not quickly addressed can cause damage that may not be easily corrected.
    6. Schools should encourage parents to direct their friends to the school’s website. On this topic, make sure the school’s website is top-notch. It is valuable to have an outside consultant view the school’s website and other promotional materials to make sure the overall concepts are current. Many times schools get busy with day-to-day operations and have little time to take note of what other schools are doing or know what is current. An outdated website or a website that contains little or no information is perhaps the biggest turnoff to current and prospective parents.
  2. Communicate. Communicate. Communicate.
    1. Whether through email, a texting or phone service, or a website that clearly lists important news and calendar dates, communicating timely information to parents is essential.
    2. School administrators and teachers should show an approachable attitude toward the parents.
  3. Schools should involve approved parents on field trips, as teachers’ assistants in classrooms, and in other areas where they could add value.
    1. This collaboration speaks volumes to parents and can provide a partnership relationship that will add value for years to come.
  4. An annual anonymous parent survey provides valuable information to help the school administration regularly assess the overall parent satisfaction level. If the administrator does not know the needs and overall temperature of the school’s customers, negative issues within the school may be impossible to overcome. How can a school and an administrator fix issues if they don’t know what they are?
    1. Typically, quantitative questions that allow for a specific choice provide the administrator a snapshot view of the overall data and can be valuable information when evaluating the overall survey.
    2. Qualitative questions provide an open-ended format that allows parents to freely express their thoughts. While this may garner some negative feedback (depending upon the overall parent satisfaction), if the administrator spends time evaluating these answers, he/she can bracket the information and form major themes that can assist the administration with valuable data.
    3. Along these lines, survey results should be communicated to the school board, faculty and staff, and parents. Unfortunately, parents are typically left out. Rick Newberry from Enrollment Catalyst stated, “Parents are the most important group in which to communicate results. Parents need to know that the effort they put into completing the survey has led to action. They want to know they’ve been heard.” Newberry listed the following strategies when communicating survey results:
      1. Develop a summary document of the parent survey results for distribution to the parents, faculty, staff, and board. This summary document should include the main findings (both positive and negative) and an action plan for moving forward.
      2. Present the findings to the faculty, staff, and board prior to reporting to the parents. This can be accomplished in a special faculty/staff meeting.
      3. Mail the summary document with a personal letter to the parents and, if possible, present the findings in a parent meeting.
      4. Communicate key findings and positive quotes on your school’s website, Facebook page, and in the enrollment effort. The results from the parent satisfaction survey should provide you with some great statistics and anonymous quotes to use on your website and in your Facebook updates.
  5. Schools could use parents for an athletic booster club.
    1. Whether the school is small or large, generally the best athletic programs are from schools with successful parent groups that form the school’s athletic booster club.
    2. Athletic Booster clubs help increase interest and participation.
    3. Athletic Booster clubs help schools with supplemental income. I know of one NCCSA school whose parent-booster club brings in around $40,000 a year for the school’s athletic program.
    4. Athletic Booster clubs can help increase the relationships between parents, coaches, and student-athletes.
  6. Schools could use parents for a parent-advisory group.
    1. A parent-advisory group should be a common occurrence at any school, but, unfortunately, this is not the case. An advisory group typically does not possess the same authority or responsibility as a school board, but it does involve parents—and that’s the point. A shared leadership model is more current and utilizes a transformational or transcendental leadership approach of involving and motivating others, delegating responsibility and authority, and using parents to share the vision of the school. If parents do not buy in to the philosophy, methodology, and academic product of the school, then parent satisfaction will suffer. When parent satisfaction suffers without any recognition or adjustments from the school, the school is on its last leg.
  7. Schools could use parents as part of the official school board.
    1. Many church schools still do not utilize a school board and use their church’s deacon board instead. However, many times these deacons do not have children in the school, or their children attend other schools, or they are generally disinterested in school business. Sound familiar? In various consultative visits with private schools, the NCCSA has noticed the unfortunate trend of a huge divide between parents and the church/deacon/school board.
    2. There are various ways to include parents on the school board, and various types of authority can be given. Some schools have school boards that include parents and at least one deacon. These boards many times have committee responsibilities that may include marketing, athletics, enrollment, fundraising, etc. For example, having a parent share fundraising goals with other parents will many times provide the school a greater rate of information exchange versus the only voice being the school administrator or secretary.
  8. Schools could use parents as part of the group needed to administer a SWOT Analysis every five years.
    1. A SWOT analysis is a business term that stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats.
    2. For schools that do not utilize a parent board, this is a positive way to include parents.
    3. This small committee can produce invaluable data on various strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats that an administrator would have no way of knowing otherwise.
    4. Schools that perform a SWOT Analysis typically utilize 2-3 teachers, a few school board members, and 10-15 key parents covering every demographic. Of course the size of the school may dictate a smaller or larger SWOT committee.
    5. An administrator who does not know the strengths and opportunities of the school or properly market those strengths is not being a responsible educator.
    6. An administrator who does not know the weaknesses and threats or have a plan to address them is not being a responsible educator.
    7. A properly-planned strategic planning event will result in:
      1. A careful definition of the school’s mission, values, key result areas, critical initiatives, action steps, and accountability
      2. An analysis of the school’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats
      3. A plan of action to maximize strengths, minimize weaknesses, take advantage of opportunities, and overcome threats
    8. The benefits of a well-designed Strategic Planning Process will:
      1. Empower the school with a workable plan of action
      2. Encourage faculty, staff, and parents to engage in the plan
      3. Energize the school constituency
      4. Ensure a means of maintaining the integrity of the school’s mission
      5. Establish a framework by which the school can measure all policies and decisions

This article is not meant to be an exhaustive resource on parent involvement and is not formatted to be a review of literature on the research on this topic. However, it can assist those schools that do not utilize parents or even see the need to address the issue. We live in a different day and age, and so much has transpired in Christian education in the last ten years. If the goal is to train students in the image of Christ, to impart Christ-like character, and to make available top-tier academics, then it is possible that what worked years ago does not work as well 2015. Plus, because the downside of utilizing parents in these areas is minimal, the benefits far outweigh the disadvantages.

If you would like additional information on any of these areas, or would like us to recommend a school that is exemplary in these areas, please contact the NCCSA State Office at info@nccsa.org.

This article was written by Jason Haas. Jason Haas is the Director of Programs and Services at the North Carolina Christian School Association. Jason has a B.S. in Music Education, an M.S. in Educational Leadership, and an Ed.S. in Educational Leadership. He will complete an Ed.D. in Educational Leadership from Liberty University by the fall of 2015 and is currently researching for his dissertation entitled, “The Change Leadership Practices Utilized At Selected K-12 Schools When Alternative Breakthrough Models In Blended And Online Learning Were Effectively Implemented: A Phenomenological Study.” Mr. Haas has been researching, writing, and speaking on alternative learning models and other educational technology integration for several years. Follow him on Twitter @jasonhaas.