Koser, Contacting Parents

My school policy is to contact parents if students have failing grades and if there are continued behavioral problems . The teacher is to contact the parent via email, phone call or schedule a parent/teacher conference. I had one student that was so disruptive in all of his classes, that there was a conference scheduled with all teachers and his parents. On the morning of the conference, the only ones that showed up were his teachers. The counselor put in a "conference call" to the dad with all of the teachers. This was different. The dad told us to do what we needed to do, because he had little success with cooperation either. The student eventually withdrew. I like that our school counselors are very active and interactive with both teachers and parents. Counselors document everything, and the teachers are supposed to document interaction. One varied idea that my school has incorporated has been very successful. The school has pre-printed nice looking postcards. Teachers can write positive comments or successes about a particular student, and the school mails them to the parents. I like this positive reinforcement, and it is a good reflection on the school. There are so many criticisms about some students today and it is voiced to their parents. This old fashioned thought of taking time to send a letter .... has been a great tool. It has done wonders for student and parent esteem and morale.