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Creating and Sustaining Family Friendly Schools

II. Involving Families and Community in the Design and Development Phase

One of the aims of the charter schools movement has been to involve parents, local organizations, and others from outside the ranks of the "education establishment." However, when new charter schools are begun, the overall design for the school is often pre-determined rather than developed with family and community input. Charter designs are usually the brainchild of a single visionary or small group. Often charter schools represent an effort to put in place an already-established curriculum model, while conversion charter schools often largely keep in place the learning program from before the conversion. Increasingly, charter schools are being started by organizations such as the Edison Project which provide a ready-made program to be implemented. Here are some thoughts on getting parents involved even when you're starting with a well-developed idea:
The authors believe that it is important to involve parents in the design phase of a new charter school. This chapter begins with a discussion of ways to learn about your prospective families' needs and expectations. Next is a discussion of involving parents and community groups in the actual process of starting up a new school.


  1. Strategies for Learning About Parent/Family Needs and Expectations About Education

    Whether a school's program is pre-determined or developed by the founders as part of the start-up process, it makes sense for charter school developers to gain an understanding of the community the school will be serving. What are families' expectations about education? Are these expectations not being met by the existing public schools? What are some of the ways a charter school can better meet family needs and expectations?

    The Charter Schools Project at Duquesne University recommends that the charter school founders have a thorough knowledge of their school community and have used it in developing their school (Duquesne University Charter Schools Project, 1998). The "Quality Indicator" for community and parent engagement states that
             Founders can demonstrate this by:
    • Sharing the school's mission and vision with the community and parents, explaining program content, achievement objectives, and the rationale for the instructional strategies selected;
    • Assessing community group, parent and general public opinion about the school through such means as surveys, public meetings and focus or study groups;
    • Engaging in coalition building and the development of collaborations;
    • Describing opportunities for community and parent engagement and participation in the design and operation of the school;
      Pursuing and securing agreements with the school district and with local businesses and agencies for services and support; and
    • Including [in the charter application] letters of support or other evidence of community, parent, and student support for the school.

    On the other hand, there is a danger that this process may lead to schools only slightly different than conventional models as that is what parents are familiar with. Sharply differing philosophies about education could become homogenized and truly unique models lost. This problem can be overcome if sufficient time is devoted to examining a range of educational models and outlying views. One of the strengths of the charter movement is that smaller based constituencies favoring models such as Waldorf, Montessori or other non-mainstream approaches have their opportunities to start charter schools without being swept aside by a more middle-of-the-road majority.

    How one Minnesota charter school researched parents' and families' educational needs and expectations prior to beginning its program

    Sojourner Truth Academy, a K-6 school in Minneapolis, which promotes academic excellence for all students through Direct Instruction and Afro centric curriculum strived to involve parents in the very beginning design process for the school. Sojourner founders did research on parent and family needs and expectations through telephone surveys and written surveys. Through this process, they discovered that 95% of the parents surveyed agreed that their school should address three need areas: (1) strong academics; (2) discipline and a safe school environment; and (3) effective communication between home and school. These three areas became the guiding principles for staff at Sojourner Truth.

    Sojourner Truth is located at 3820 Emerson Avenue North; Minneapolis, MN 55412.


    A couple specific strategies for gathering parent input are by conducting surveys of potential parents, and inviting potential parents to participate in focus groups. Processes for conducting surveys and focus groups are discussed below, in Section V.

  2. Involving Parents in Designing and Starting New Charter Schools

    This section suggests ways to vigorously involve parents in the process of designing and starting a new school. The National Study of Charter Schools recently reported that the most common reason schools are started (cited by 75.2% of charter operators surveyed as of the 1998-99 school year) is to "realize an alternative vision," while only 8.9% of the 971 charter operators surveyed cited parent involvement as a reason for creating a charter school.1 It's probably safe to say that most charter schools are started by a committed individual or very small group that has a vision for the school and then finds others to help implement it.

    Still, charter schools must attract parents to maintain enrollment. The school originators can enhance their chances of obtaining enrollment by involving parents early on.

    Several of the charter operators the authors interviewed indicated that parents and community groups were involved in starting their schools. Comments included:
    • We held meetings in the neighborhoods - talked at Boys' and Girls' Clubs;
    • We asked community members to give input though community meetings we arranged; parents were instrumental in the creation and the desire for our school; and
    • We had public meetings one year before we opened, which helped us come up with our vision.


    It makes sense for charter founders to think through the types of parent involvement desired, both in the design/start-up phase and in school operations. Kansas superintendent Rustin Clark, in a December 1999 posting to a national charter schools listserv, suggested charter school people consider the following questions about parent involvement:
    • What activities should parents be involved with in this school?
    • To what extent should parents be involved in deciding curriculum?
    • For those who feel curriculum should be left to school personnel, how do you provide for parents' input without undermining the professionalism and knowledge of the trained educators?
    • For those who feel the parents should be deciding the curriculum for their children, how do you go about doing this when parents have no professional training and have such a wide variety of desires for their students?
    • Should parents be involved in setting discipline policy for a school?
      Should parents have a say in the hiring/firing of school personnel?

    Parents, of course, have a vital interest in their child's education. Their interests range from bus schedules or lunch program to philosophical theories about learning. The more educated and successful the parent, the more insistent, even demanding, their involvement becomes. A school will be in much better shape with strong parental and community support born of early participation in the school's planning.

    Specific strategies for involving parents

    Here are some suggestions for involving parents and community in the early stages, adapted from the New Jersey Charter Schools Handbook (Charter School Resource Center, 1998, p. 28):
    • Starting a charter school is a community-building process. Community outreach and marketing must begin at conception. Cultivating a network of partners and supporters begins at the moment you decide to start a charter school and it never ends. Once you agree on a mission, this committee can create materials to "get the word out" - from posters to flyers to brochures to newsletters and beyond....;
    • A committee can be responsible for working with the media. See "Public Relations;"
    • Remember that educational jargon - like any other kind of jargon - can be off-putting. Strive for clarity and simplicity in your messages to the public;
    • Solid outreach efforts will enable you to reach a cross-section of the population and will lead to stronger commitments from those who get involved in your school; and
    • Be sure to provide refreshments at meetings.

    Minnesota Charter School Involved Parents from the Very Beginning

    Founders at Sojourner Truth Academy, an urban elementary school serving 225 students -- 99% who are students of color (primarily African-American) and 90% who are eligible for free or reduced price school meals--were serious about involving families in the design of the school. Parents were part of the original founders' group. Along with the director of the school, they visited other charter schools in Washington, D.C. and Phoenix, AZ, a year before their own school opened. Parents staffed the curriculum review committee, helped to arrange parent meetings, developed and carried out student recruitment, assisted the director in searching for a site for the school, cleaned the school and painted walls and carpeted floors. Sojourner Truth Academy parents are now employed at the school in the office, lunchroom, and as teacher assistants.


    Jerri Morrison, director of Trenton Community Charter School in New Jersey, suggests ways to recruit a broad cross-section of the community.2

    1. Advertise on large community billboards;
    2. Public service announcements on radio stations;
    3. Public service announcements on local cable TV stations;
    4. Form a committee to implement recruitment plan;
    5. Place a public service and/or paid advertisement in local newspapers;
    6. Place flyers in local supermarkets and other stores, including corner stores;
      Mail flyers to social service agencies (welfare, UPI, DYFS), sororities, fraternities, affordable housing organizations, and civic organizations, e.g. MECHA, Urban League, NAACP, and Habitat for Humanity;
    7. Mail flyers to pastors of congregations and also to the "education coordinator," Sunday school teachers, and children's choir director. Ask for message to be read aloud during services;
    8. Ask that time be allowed for a charter school representative to speak at churches (5-10 minutes);
    9. Knock on doors in pairs and be prepared to sit and "visit for a few minutes" if allowed to discuss ideas;
    10. Include teenagers in door-to-door advertisement;
    11. Place posters in bars, barber shops, beauty shops, nail salons, and laundromats;
    12. Place posters in children's clothing stores in downtown areas;
      Place posters in check-cashing centers, PSE&G, and courthouse;
    13. Visit check-cashing centers on the first of the month;
    14. Place advertisements in day care centers. Ask to meet with parents of day care children;
    15. Place flyers in hospitals and health clinics;
    16. Place flyers in after-school academic and recreational programs;
    17. Mail to each PTA/PTO organization and other parent organizations;
    18. Participate in ethnic parades (banners); and
      Visit homeless shelters.

    Once you've done the initial work of planning the school program, you'll want to recruit a cross-section of the community to support the school, participate in start-up activities and ultimately to send students. The New Jersey Charter Schools Handbook recommends establishing a community outreach and marketing committee to take charge of this process.

    With outreach efforts, an important goal is promoting an accurate understanding of what your charter school is about. It's not necessary for charter schools to be all things to all parents and the clearer you are about your program, the more likely you are to find families who will stick with the school for the long term. The lesson: be exceptionally clear about the school's mission and philosophy of education.

    Finally, two topics relevant to involving parents in the start-up phase for new charter schools are effective meeting format and the role of parents with regard to educational innovation.

    1. Effective parent meetings

      To involve parents in ways they find satisfying, you'll want to devote some thought to making the meetings as effective as possible. Teacher and curriculum developer James Vopat offers the following suggestions on making meetings, or parent "workshops" convenient and productive.3

      • Size. Workshop size can vary, but when the number of participants exceeds twenty-five, it is a good idea to split the large group into smaller groups for sharing and discussion. The smaller groups can then report to the larger group for closure and continuity.

      • Place. A stimulating, comfortable schoolroom or library is a conducive place to hold the workshops. The room should be able to accommodate participants' movement between small and large groups and needs to have seating that can be arranged in a circle....while there are great advantages to holding the workshops in a school classroom, workshops should never be conducted in a way that treats parents like students or makes them feel like they have been sent back to grade school.

      • Child care. We provide on-site childcare for children of all participants, including teachers.

      • Transportation. Naturally, the workshops cannot occur if the parents are unable to get there. We try to arrange car pools, and when this fails, we budget funds for transportation (usually by taxi).

      • Multilingual workshops. Generally, teachers and parents can handle the translation between languages. It is important that the group reflects the cultural makeup of the school population...It takes a little more time to conduct multilingual workshops, but it is entirely worth it. The added benefit is that everyone also learns to appreciate different cultures and languages.

      At Sojourner Truth Academy, founders organized parent meetings a year before the school actually opened. At one of their largest pre-opening parent meetings, 100 parents, children, and community members showed up in one of the worst snowstorms of 1999 to hear Dr. Alan Jackson, director of ATOP Academy, a charter school in Phoenix, Arizona, tell the story of his school. Parents were informed about the meeting largely through flyers, which were posted at community organization offices, barbershops, beauty shops, and churches. Parents called other parents 2 - 3 times to encourage and confirm their attendance. Sojourner Truth Academy works hard to get parents to attend meetings because they believe parent involvement happens only when schools initiate it.

    2. Parents and educational innovation

      Most charter schools are devoted to some type of reform in educational methods. The federally-funded National Study of Charter Schools found that as of the 1998-99 school year, 75% of charter schools cited "realize an alternative vision" as a reason for starting the school; 59% cited this as the most important reason. But are most parents likely to support these alternative visions? Parents are often seen as skeptical about curriculum reform, preferring traditional methods in education. The Best Practice Project in Chicago confronted this issue head-on, and succeeded in building support among parents for innovations in instruction.

      The experience of the Best Practice Project may be instructive for many charter developers seeking to build understanding and support for innovative methods. Below we quote at length from an exciting article that summarized the process used.4

      Harvey Daniels, director of the Best Practices Project, comments,

      Teachers see headlines about parent groups censoring books, protesting whole language, filing lawsuits for more phonics, and otherwise colliding with the professional educators in their community. Indeed, many otherwise reform-minded teachers see parents as a regressive force.


      "When our project staff first enter a school, many parents present us with a reactionary, back-to-basics agenda. We have come to understand, however, that often they are merely mimicking the media banalities in which we all marinate. When they stop to think seriously about their own student experience, the vast majority wants something very different and better for their children.

      To surface this latent reformist spirit, we have developed a workshop and offered it to thousands of parents. Whether it's at a school board or PTA meeting or parent council, in an affluent suburb or inner-city housing project it has never failed to build solidarity and commitment to student-centered methods and new curricula. Here's what we do.

      We begin by handing out large index cards and invite everyone to think back over their development as a reader and writer (or their growth in math, science, the arts, or other subjects). We then ask the group to take about 10 minutes to jot down words, phrases, or doodles as particular moments or events come to mind. To help, the workshop facilitator throws out lots of open-ended questions, such as:
      • What was your favorite book as a child? Who read to you?
      • What do you remember about learning to read in school?
      • Can you remember a time when you really soared as a reader?
      • What was the role of writing in your family?
      • What was the worst response you ever got to a paper you wrote?
      • Can you remember a setback or discouragement you experienced as a writer?
      • Did you ever get recognized or rewarded for your writing?
      • If you went to college, what was freshman English like?

      Next, we ask everyone to look over their notes and select the one incident they remember most vividly. We stress that this can be a good or bad experience. We then ask them to turn over their cards and take 10 minutes or so to describe this experience.

      Once they've finished, people pair up with someone nearby and share any aspect of the experience they feel comfortable disclosing. They can read what they've written, summarize it, or talk about something they've just noticed about this writing process. At this point, there's usually a swiftly rising hum as participants, first tentatively and then enthusiastically, swap stories with newfound friends.

      We then regather the group and ask a few people to share their recollections - or, with permission, their partner's - with everyone. What unfolds are two kinds of stories: accounts of positive literacy experiences, where the person was well-supported and moved ahead; and tales of very destructive experiences, which discouraged the person from reading and writing, sometimes for good. Strikingly and sadly, the hurtful experiences usually occurred in school; and the positive experiences, elsewhere.

      At some point during this sharing, we may interrupt by saying something like, "Gee, we didn't realize that you had been reading the literature on curriculum and instruction reform." As they give us a puzzled look, we hand out summaries of recent educational research on the subject being considered that evening - reading, writing, math, history, or science. We point out that most of the good experiences people recounted are reflected in the recommendations for progressive practice, whether from the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, the International Reading Association, or the Center for the Study of Writing. We note, too, that many of the not-so-pleasant experiences - that is, teaching approaches that didn't work - represent the direct opposite of the practices endorsed."

      The author goes on to describe the growing enthusiasm of parents to try new ideas - a complete reversal from when they entered the meeting.


    Parents overcome education establishment inertia to found a new school

    An early example of parent involvement in starting an innovative new school was the St. Paul Open School. A group of parents in St. Paul, Minnesota began talking about creating a new kind of school in 1970, one less structured than the straight row of desks and textbook bound schools their children attended. They visited creative schools where ever they could find them. They took photos, conducted interviews, distributed their notes, called meetings and in an ever widening circle of other parents pledged themselves to developing a new kind of school.

    They brought their ideas to school officials and were largely rebuffed. They lobbied school board members without much success. Then they asked permission to write a proposal in the name of the district to establish such a school with a federal grant. District officials agreed, thinking it would never be funded. While the federal grant was being processed the group convinced a local foundation to match the federal grant if funded. The federal grant was approved. The local foundation matched. A new St. Paul superintendent agreed and convinced the school board to approve the school.

    Thus began the K-12 St. Paul Open School, for 500 students in 1971. It became one of the most celebrated successes with over 10,000 visitors in the first ten years. It is now in its 29th year because of the continuing and zealous work of parents in establishing and guarding the program.

    The St. Paul Open School is located at 90 S. Western Street; St. Paul, MN 55102.



    Parent support vital in the creation of one of the nation's most innovative charters

    Minnesota New Country School, nestled in a small river valley in southwestern Minnesota, is a small charter school serving 150 middle school and high school students from several surrounding towns. This small technology-infused school has no classrooms and has a curriculum tightly aligned to the state standards. Students, parents, and teachers design project-based learning plans. Every six weeks students give a report or performance on their projects.

    When Minnesota New Country school developers first began talking about the vision for the school, they held information meetings around the community. They spoke to the rotary club, town meetings, etc. to get the word out far and wide. In this process, they drew in a group of parents who seven years later remain wedded to the school's vision and remain as the backbone of the school.

    New Country School can be reached at P.O. Box 488; Henderson, MN 56044.




  3. Engagement of Grassroots Community Organizations in Charter Design and Start-up

    Communities offer a wide range of resources that are valuable to schools and the families they serve. These resources include people who volunteer their time in the school, organizations that offer enrichment opportunities, businesses that offer career-related information and workplace experiences, and agencies that provide various social services for students and families.5

    Engaging community organizations in designing and starting a new school can provide many opportunities. You'll gain access to a variety of new perspectives, and staff at existing organizations may be able to provide resources that will help the school.

    At most of the charter schools contacted during the research for this project, interviewees indicated that organizations in the community had been involved in the start-up process. A wide range of organizations was cited, including the mayor and city council, the local Urban League, local universities, community-based arts organizations, the local Elks Lodge, and a local museum.

    The community supports a charter conversion

    When Nerstrand Elementary school in Nerstrand, Minnesota decided to covert from a district to charter school in 1999, they decided to hold a community celebration of place as a way to involve the entire community in this process. Children, families, and elders attended the event, which was also a celebration of the community taking back ownership of what had once been their community school.

    Every segment of the community was there to celebrate from families and their children to elders, businesses, and just interested townsfolk. The local businesses had been part of the charter school's planning meetings and had given verbal and fiscal support. When the school submitted its application for charter school authorization to the state board, the local bank and other businesses attached letters of support.

    Nerstrand Elementary is located at 205 S. 2nd Street; Nerstrand, MN 55053.



    First inventory local human services providers, public and private, businesses, nonprofits, and other local organizations (e.g. neighborhood associations, religious organizations, chambers of commerce), with special attention to ones people involved with in the charter start-up group have had contact with. Let them know that a new school is being developed. You can request their mentioning it at meetings or ask if they would like to be involved and to distribute information. You might ask about level of involvement, i.e. be kept informed, to participate in planning, or to form working partnerships, at least on a preliminary basis. The "Cooperating Organizations" form, immediately below, may serve as the template for a planning worksheet for tracking potential resources.


    Planning Worksheet for Tracking Potential Resources:
    XYZ Charter School Cooperating Organizations
    Name and address Contact person/phone Type of involvement desired Record of contacts
    1.      
    2.      
    3 etc.      

    When you make clear that your focus is on providing another educational option and to offer new opportunities for children, you will usually find local organizations that are supportive of the effort. Rex Brown of Denver's P.S. 1 charter school reported that during start-up the founders talked to over 200 neighborhood groups, organizations, and businesses. "They were just unsatisfied with the system, and they had a desire for better schools for their children," he added.

    "When getting organizations involved in initial meetings, you need to clearly outline what you want from the relationship - what do you expect of them? Will it be an ongoing or temporary partnership? What would be the connection between the school and the organization? These are important considerations before you begin the process of parent and community involvement in your school."
    —Paige Andrews, director of Sojourner Truth Charter School in Minneapolis.


    Here are examples of three charter schools started by community organizations:

    The Minnesota American Indian Aids Task Force (MAIATF), a Minneapolis-based AIDS prevention organization, had been operating an after-school and summer youth theater group to pitch AIDS awareness among peers for nearly 10 years when they decided to turn their successes into a full-time charter school program several years ago. This American Indian community-based group has developed the Native American Arts High School, which will serve 100 high school students from the Philips neighborhood, one of the lowest-income areas in the city. The founders' group made up of MAIATF staff members, parents, teachers, and Phillips community members developed a program based on theatrical and visual arts because they know from years of experience of running a community-based program that this approach works to motivate American Indian students to achieve academically. This unique charter school is scheduled to open in the fall of 2000. They will open in a state-owned historic site, and they will house an art gallery and gift shop, which will be student run. Visiting artists and local American Indian artists will teach classes in theater, drawing, painting, dance, and music. This community driven school plans to continue to involve community in its ongoing operations.

    Another charter school initiated by a community organization is Four Directions Charter School, a small high school located in the near north community of Minneapolis. The focus of the school is to improve academic achievement for American Indian high school students who've fallen through the cracks of the larger public school system by providing culture-rich curriculum, smaller classrooms, and caring and understanding teachers.

    Four Directions Charter School grew out of the education work of the Upper Midwest American Indian Center, a 40-year-old agency providing social services to American Indian families in Minneapolis. Upper Midwest had operated an alternative learning site for 20 American Indian students and an after-school tutoring program for elementary aged students for 10 years prior to starting the development of the charter school. They were driven to start the charter school because they had a huge waiting list for their high school alternative site - American Indian parents were hammering to get their students into this program which graduated as many students as another site serving six times as many students per year. Parent and community concerns led the board of Upper Midwest to begin work on starting the charter school that would focus on the needs of their community.

    Parents, community members, and board members of the south Minneapolis based Centro Culturo Chicano social services agency began this same journey in 1998, as well. This organization was concerned about the lack of appropriate bilingual educational services for the burgeoning Chicano/Latino school-age population in south Minneapolis. Centro Culturo Chicano had been operating a pre-school to prepare their children for kindergarten in the mainstream public schools. Parents and community members asked that they go a step further to start a school for pre-school through the third grade to prepare students to transition into the mainstream public schools.

    In answer to this parent and community request, Centro Culturo Chicano has developed, in partnership with a higher-education sponsor, the Aurora Charter School, a unique bicultural, biliteral program for K-3rd grade students. This parent and community inspired program promises to be a new voice in changing bilingual, bicultural, biliteral education to fit the needs of native speaking students.

    The Native American Arts High School is located at 1433 E. Franklin Avenue, Suite 19; Minneapolis, MN 55404.
    Four Directions Charter School is at 1035 W. Broadway Avenue; Minneapolis, MN 55411.
    Aurora Charter School can be reached at 7608 67th Avenue NW; Brooklyn Park, MN 55428.


home | table of contents
introduction | design & development | schools | parents | responsiveness | resources | appendices & references