4 Effective Ways to Boost Family Involvement at Your School

Engaging families today has become simpler, thanks to the variety of communication tools at your disposal. In this post, we’ll explore these channels and how you can maximize them to drive family involvement in your school community.

When families are actively engaged in their child’s education, students tend to perform better. Research from the Southwest Education Development Laboratory (SEDL) shows that increased parental involvement leads to higher grades, better attendance, and stronger social skills. Additionally, family-school partnerships are more important than ever for student success.

Joyce Epstein’s Framework provides six areas where schools can involve families:

1. Parenting: Help families support learning at home with resources and guidance on child development.
2. Communicating: Share important school updates through accessible channels.
3. Volunteering: Invite parents to contribute time at school events and in classrooms.
4. Learning at Home: Offer insights on how families can reinforce classroom learning.
5. Decision-Making: Encourage participation in school decisions through surveys, PTO meetings, and more.
6. Community Collaboration: Develop partnerships with local businesses to support school initiatives.

If you’re already working on these fronts but want to improve, let’s discuss four practical ways to enhance your family engagement strategy.

1. Develop a Mobile-First Family Engagement Strategy

Modern families are always on the go, and they expect information at their fingertips. Creating a mobile-first strategy helps you meet them where they are.

Start with a responsive website that works seamlessly on any device. Include mobile notifications that alert parents of important updates through text, email, social media, and your website. Consider implementing a branded mobile app that integrates all your school’s communication efforts, giving parents a convenient, central hub for accessing their child’s assignments, grades, and upcoming events.

2. Encourage Family-Generated Content

One of the most effective ways to promote engagement is by letting families share their stories. Feature content from involved parents—like testimonials, blog posts, or newsletter contributions—to showcase the benefits of engagement.

For example, ask a parent volunteer to write about their experience helping in the classroom. This content can inspire other families to get involved, highlighting what they and their children gain from participation. Additionally, work with your PTO to maintain a dedicated family-run website or section on your school’s site for these stories. Just ensure all content is approved and aligns with your school’s communication strategy.

3. Embrace Social Media for Broader Reach

Parents are active on social media, which makes it a valuable platform for engagement. Use Facebook or Instagram to post event updates, student achievements, and school news. Social media is also an excellent way to share visuals from school events, making parents feel more connected even if they couldn’t attend.

Leverage tools like SchoolStatus’ built-in social media features to ensure your content is consistent across platforms, and track engagement metrics to see what resonates most with your audience.

4. Conduct Parent Surveys for Input

Want parent input on important school decisions? Get them involved early through online surveys. You can use a service like SurveyMonkey or Google Forms to create and distribute online surveys to parents. The outreach can be done through email, social media, and even on the school website.

A short, five-question survey could be enough to pique a parent’s interest in a particular menu or to spark some online conversation. For example, assume you send out a survey on changes to the school’s art program. A parent may complete the survey and immediately become more interested in the outcome. That could drive them to attend meetings, become involved in planning committees, and help formulate the school’s decision-making.

Project Appleseed, a non-profit organization dedicated to public school improvement, has assembled a cool parent involvement survey/report card. Even if you’re a private or charter school, this survey is still a good one to use as a model if you’re serious about assessing parent involvement at your school.

Some content management systems have survey capabilities built right into their software, so the ability to measure opinion or start some healthy dialogue with parents is just a link away.

Family Engagement is the Key to Student Success

Building strong partnerships with families can dramatically improve student outcomes. By adopting a mobile-first strategy, encouraging family-created content, leveraging social media, and using surveys to foster dialogue, your school can enhance family involvement and, by extension, student achievement.

If you’re ready to improve how your school engages families, explore SchoolStatus, a K-12 suite of solutions designed to help schools connect with families, simplify communication, and track engagement for better outcomes.