Back to School Night/Open House/Parent Group Meetings

Parent group meetings (usually held at the beginning of the school year) are an excellent way to convey information to parents.  Back to School Night/Open House is a time when parents come to meet you and learn about your class.  Here is an Open House invitation/reminder to send home to parents: Open House Reminder and Invitation.  This process can be nerve wracking as you want to make a good first impression with the families of your students and you want the parents to leave the Open House feeling confident in your abilities.  The key to success with Open Houses (and almost everything in education!) is preparation.  Always have handouts for parents to take home; most parents will enjoy listening to you but they’ll appreciate even more leaving with something they can take home and read at their leisure.  Handouts could include a brief overview of your class, classroom management techniques you use, classroom handbook, contact information, information about you, vocabulary and spelling lists for the year, etc. 

If a parent asks a question that challenges you, you are uncomfortable with, or you don’t know the answer to politely inform that parent that you would be happy to speak with him/her immediately after the session is over.  Don’t ever allow anyone to force you into answering something you’re not prepared for or don’t want to handle…talk in private when you are ready to answer!

It’s Your First Year Teaching, But, You Don’t Have to Act Like It (Ch. 18)

Here are some tips for parent group meetings:

1. Classroom policies, procedures, and techniques.  Early in the school year the teacher meets with parents to explain policies and procedures (classroom handbook, transportation, early dismissals, etc.).  Encourage parents to use name tags so teachers and parents can identify each other.
2. Grading procedures.  Explain the method you will be using to evaluate children and report to parents.  Discuss conferences and what they can expect in the conference and how they can prepare for it.
3. Active participation.  Encourage parent questions and comments.  Encourage them to be a part of your classroom and the students' education.
4. Introduction of specialists.  You may want to introduce as many specialists to the parents as possible to provide the parents with information who is available for assistance and to recognize the supporting personnel.
5. Related outside agencies.  Offer information about community services such as guidance centers, mental health centers, and family service centers that might provide support to children and their families.

Basically, you want to cover general school guidelines set out in the school handbook, but more specifically you want to cover your own classroom handbook together.  A parent group meeting does not only have to take place at the beginning of the school year, perhaps it would also be beneficial to offer parent group meetings at intervals over the school year to keep in touch and allow for open communication.

Here is a great checklist on how and when to prepare for Back to School Night: Scholastic Back to School Night Checklist

Here is an article for teachers and parents about how to prepare for Open House/Back to School Night: Reading Rockets Back to School Night.