How does your preschool increase parent involvement & interaction with each other?

[ilovetivo]

I'm one of our parent committee co-chairs this year and the preschool really wants to increase parent interaction with each other and involvement with the school. It's a fantastic preschool and dd loves it. I'm just wondering what you all, or your school, does to increase parent involvement and interaction?

Thanks!

[jhrabosk]

Do mean having the parents interact with each other?

This past year, our daycare classroom had a parent pot luck breakfast once a month during dropoff time (say 7-9 AM). Most parents would try to come a little early and stay a little longer than usual so that we could socialize and hang out with all the kids. Everyone would volunteer to bring something (after the first couple times, we each sort of had a "default" item that we were responsible for...i.e., I always picked up a Box of Joe from Dunkin').

The school also has assorted other family events during the year.

Independently, within our classroom, I also started coordinating periodic nights out for the moms...we'd hit a local bar and hang out for a few hours. The husbands were totally into it too, so my DH (by default) started organinzing dads nights as well.

Oh, and we've had a few group birthday parties. There were 7-8 kids who all turned 2 in October/November, so we planned one party, invited all the kids from our class, and split the cost. The families with birthdays in other months followed suit. It was a great, fun way to hang out with friends on the weekend.

We have a particularly tight-knit class now, so it was definitely worth all the effort!

[ilovetivo]

Thanks Jessica!

Yes, I mean parents interacting with each other

- and -

getting parents involved with the school more: going to parent committee meetings, helping with school functions, sharing ideas and feelings and feedback etc. i'm not even sure what else. I have my first meeting with the other co-chair and the director in 1 hour :)

[niccig]

Babysitting for PTO meetings. I would like to go to PTO meetings, but meetings start at 6.30pm. DH isn't home from work until 8pm. To go, I have to hire a babysitter. My friend's preschool has babysitting for the meetings, they hold them at the school. I've been to to other parenting classes where babysitting was provided - a few dollars per child. Much easier to attend if I don't have to find a babysitter.

[kayte]

Th school we have chosen for DD (she's not old enough yet) requires family volunteer hours each semester. That is to say that the whole family works on a volunteer project (although there is often care for the smaller children as the school goes form age 3-12) and it is sometimes onsite and sometimes off, sometimes it is for the school (make supplies) or sometimes for the community. The director (and a mom of a current student) said that has made the biggest difference in parents-- their involvement with the school and getting to know each other.

[StantonHyde]

We do our Parent Advisory Meetings at 5 and the center doesn't close till 6 so there is automatic baby sitting.

We do a summer picnic/fundraising auction every summer. Families bring food, school provides drinks and popsicles and activities for kids. Each child does an art project (they have done some very creative and meaningful items that really are keepsakes) and you "bid" on them. There is a suggested minimum of $20 for each piece. Then each of the older classes makes a class project--one was a giant flower pot with all the kids handprints on it. Another was a really lovely photo album with b/w pix of the kids at play etc. That bidding does really well. This fundraiser is actually not for our center but for "Bright Spaces" which is a non-profit arm of Bright Horizons that provides child care in homeless shelters.

We do a winter holiday potluck. We ask parents to donate money or gift cards for the annual teacher appreciation baskets. We have quarterly open forum meetings which the regional director attends, we do bi-monthly parenting classes which are really good, we do "parents night out" fundraisers (again for non-profits) where you pay about the going rate that you would for a sitter ($10+ an hour in our area) and the kids do activities, eat pizza and watch a movie. I know another school that does a monthly or quarterly parents night at a bar.

It is very hard to get parent involvement at our center. We are attached to a major medical center and people have crazy schedules. Once the kids hit 3, people start doing big birthday parties where they invite everybody and it is a lot of fun.

[jhrabosk]

A thought about sharing ideas/feelings/feedback...

In my center, many parents don't feel that they can freely give feedback to the director. She has a pretty nasty reputation (with reason) for not taking criticism well. Each class has a representative (which it sounds like you kind of are and I was). I would solicit their input and present it to the director in an anonymous, constructive way. Made everyone feel a little "safer."

[SnuggleBuggles]

Our preschool had a lounge where parents could hang out while their dcs were in school. It was nice to show up to get ds a bit early then sit and the lounge, eat lunch and chat if other parents were around.

Beth