Family/Teacher Communication Policy

Introductory Statement:

The purpose of this statement is to provide information and guidelines to parents and teachers on Family/Teacher Meetings and Family/Teacher Communication at St. Peter School. The school and the family strive to be mutually supportive of each other so that the child’s education can be effective.

Parents/Guardians are encouraged to:

• Develop close links with the school.
• Collaborate with the school in developing the full potential of their children.
• Share the responsibility of seeing that the school remains true to its ethos, values, and distinctive character.
• Become actively involved with the PTO (Parent Teacher Organization).
• Participate in policy- and decision-making processes affecting them.
• Utilize school structures in place to facilitate Parent/School Communication.

St. Peter School will have:

• Informational meetings for all returning parents/guardians at the beginning of the school year.
• 2 new parent/guardian meetings at the beginning of the school year.
• A Welcome Back Open House for parents and children to visit the school and meet with each student's new teacher in the classroom.
• Family/Teacher Conferences(one-to-one with the parents, children, and teacher) for the whole school in November.
• Meetings for classes preparing for the sacraments of Penance, First Communion, and Confirmation.
• Meetings between families, teachers, and Special Educational Mobile Unit Staff.
• Staff email addresses to facilitate communication.
• Appointment with a class teacher at an agreed appointed time (must be scheduled in advance via email or phone).
• School handbook to inform families about school matters, policies, and procedures.
• Occasional online surveys to track progress of the school.
• An up-to-date website to facilitate learning and link information.
• An up-to-date Online Gradebook (Plus Portal).
• Website posts and emails regarding school activities.
• Remind Text System for important notifications about the school.
• Newsletter to keep parents up-to-date with school events/activities.
• Letters from school to keep parents updated on all school matters.
• Letters and notes from the classroom teachers.
• Homework Planner to facilitate short messages between parents and teachers.
• Invitations to parents to all school activities & celebrations e.g. concerts/plays/Book Fair.

Email Communication:

Email communication is probably the quickest way to reach a teacher. All St. Peter School teachers have an email address that is used for school communication. Click here for a list of staff members' email addresses. Teachers check their email at least once daily on school days.

Students in Grades 4-8 have their own school-issued email address. It is up to the individual teacher whether or not they allow students to submit work via email or to send emails to the teacher. This email address belongs to St. Peter School and can be reviewed anytime. It will be deleted when the student leaves St. Peter School.

Office/Phone Communication:

The Office phone is 440.282.9909. The school secretary will only take messages for the principal and teachers. The message will be delivered, and then the teacher can return the call. Teachers are able to get phone messages at lunch and after school. The office will not interrupt teaching to get a message to a teacher.

The Office email address is [email protected]. Messages sent to this email will be answered promptly and forwarded as needed.

The family email address that is provided at Registration will be added to an email distribution list that will receive important updates from the school office via option C.

If parents wish to drop off lunches, sports gear, etc., or a message, this can be done through the office as it is important to keep class interruptions down to a minimum. A student will not be pulled out of class to communicate with a parent.

Formal Parent/Teacher Meetings:

Aims:

• Inform parents of their children’s progress at school.
• Inform teachers how children are coping outside school.
• Establish an on-going relationship between home and school.
• Help children realize that home and school work together for their benefit.

Procedures

• This is a required event. Families need to meet with their homeroom teacher. (Other teachers and Special Teachers are optional.)
• Formal meetings take place in November.
• Each meeting will be of fifteen minutes duration.
• A scheduling form will be sent out, and families will mark available times on the conference day.
• A schedule for each teacher will be created, and families will be informed of their times.
• Every effort will be made to facilitate a suitable time (especially for families with multiple children).
• Optional: You may meet with the specials teachers (Art, Technology, Library, Music, and Physical Education) at once or separately.
• In cases of an urgent nature, meetings will also be facilitated at other times at the discretion of the teacher.

Informal Parent/Teacher Meetings:

Communication between parents and teachers is to be encouraged.

Arranging parent/teacher meetings within the school day while children are in school is difficult. The best time would be before school 7:45 AM - 8:00 AM or after school 2:45 PM - 3:15 PM. Other times are at the teacher’s discretion. All informal meetings must be arranged in advance. This can be done via email or phone. Meetings with the Principal are also possible and can be scheduled through the school office in advance.

Coming into the school without an advanced appointment to have meetings with class teachers at the classroom door to discuss a child’s concerns/progress is discouraged on a number of grounds:

A teacher cannot adequately supervise their class while at the same time speaking to a parent.

It is difficult to be discreet when so many children are nearby.

It can be embarrassing for a child when her parent is talking to the teacher at a classroom door.

It is acknowledged that a parent may need to speak with a teacher urgently. Sometimes such a meeting may need to take place without prior notice. The main office will make every effort to facilitate these meetings while at the same time making every effort to ensure that children in the class do not lose out on any of the teaching/learning time to which they are entitled.