The effective school builds trust and communicates within the school, with parents and the community. Forming partnerships with the parents and community enables all stakeholders to have the same goals and expectations.

Never doubt that a small, group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.

In the second generation, the relationship between parents and the school must be an authentic partnership between the school and home. In the past when teachers said they wanted more parent involvement, more often than not they were looking for unqualified support from parents. Many teachers believed that parents, if they truly valued education, knew how to get their children to behave in the ways that the school desired. It is now clear to both teachers and parents that the parent involvement issue is not that simple. Parents are often as perplexed as the teachers about the best way to inspire students to learn what the school teaches. The best hope for effectively confronting the problem—and not each other—is to build enough trust and enough communication to realize that both teachers and parents have the same goal—an effective school and home for all children!

• Community & Government Relations / Outreach

• Reaching Out: Best Practices for Educating Mexican-Origin Children and Youth.

• Cultivating Community Relations
• Community Relations Backgrounder

Articles:

• Summary from Failure Is Not an Option
• 5 Ways to Improve your Community Relations

Books:

• School and Community Relations, The (8th Edition) (Hardcover) by Donald R. Gallagher (Author), Don Bagin (Author), Edward H. Moore (Author)
• The Administrator's Guide to School Community Relations (Paperback) by George E., Ph.D. Pawlas (Author)