Communication is at the root of any successful program. Many issues can be avoided through clear lines of communication with administration, parents and students.
A few ideas:
- Send out weekly reminders to parents and students. Most schools have a data bass of parent / student emails. When communicating with parents and students through email, use your school email, not your personal email.
- Check school and district guidelines before asking for student cell numbers. Many districts have rules against communicating with students through their personal cell phones (and from your personal cell phone).
- Consider setting up a Remind 101 account. It is safe and easy to communicate with students and parents to their personal phones.
- If you have an organization website, make sure it is updated often.
- Establish a routine for announcements (announcement board, announcements on board, announcements at end of class and etc).
- When in doubt, call home. Most parents want to hear from the school. A quick call with a concern can prevent a much more awkward situation down the road.
- Consider social media communication systems, but be careful! If the group is going to have a Facebook page, it must be monitored by a trusted adult.