Family and community involvement is an important aspect of a health education program. Research is clear on the benefits of strong home and school relations. Not only do students achieve more academically when families and community members are involved, but the involved adults also report more positive feelings toward the school.

Types of Family and Community Involvement

Parenting. Offering workshops on home management, child rearing, communication, social services, and other issues benefit families. These services increase parents' self-confidence, provide them with information, and assist them in establishing home conditions that foster learning.

Communicating. Effective communication assists families in understanding school programs and policies, helps in their interaction with teachers, and enables them to monitor their children's progress. Communication includes newsletters, report cards, parent/teacher conferences, and home-and-school nights. School staff must be sensitive to the different family cultures and be prepared to communicate by using appropriate language and activities.

Home learning. Home learning involves providing families with educational activities to do at home with their children. These activities allow families to act as partners with teachers and actively participate in their children's education.

Parent Representation. Parents and other community members can serve on community advisory committees. Such committees may have a voice in school policies, curricula, and budgets. School health advisory committees focus specifically on coordinating efforts for a comprehensive school health program. Family representatives develop increased feelings of control over their children's environment and greater confidence in their ability to affect change.

Improving Your School's Family and Community Involvement Program

The first step in improving your school's program is to assess current family and community efforts. What is working well? Where are the gaps? How do staff members feel about the current level of family and community involvement?

Based on your findings, introduce activities over the next few years. Send a letter home explaining the role of the family in teaching health and other topics. Remember to develop activities for both home and school that take into account the many demands family members face. Following are some additional ideas for improving parent involvement at your school.

Making Home-and-School Nights Work

• Provide food.
  
• Offer both a day and an evening meeting time.
  
• Have a student performance.
  
• Include parents in the planning process.
  
• Phone/e-mail families prior to the meeting.
  
• Combine home-and-school night with parent conferences.
  
• Solicit help from your PTA or home-school club.
  
• Write invitations in languages family members can read.
  
• Send out flyers through several organizations, such as Migrant Education.
  
• Offer a raffle prize.
  
• Bring in a well-respected community speaker.

• Use the talents of family members (e.g., nurse, carpenter, artist) at the school.
  
• Encourage students to bring in family artifacts, pictures, etc.
  
• Invite family members to share information about their careers.
  
• Ask family members to tutor students.
  
• Ask for specific help (e.g., one field trip or party) rather than a long commitment.
  
• Ask family and community members to translate materials or interpret for others.

• Keep families informed (newsletters, bulletins, e-mails).
  
• Let students make invitations to events.
  
• Provide a preview time for parents and other community members to become acquainted with new materials.
  
• Ask for help on a personal contact level.
  
• Consider creating a position for home/community liaison.
  
• Establish an advisory committee with representatives from the community.
  
• Offer workshops that parents and other community members request.
  
• Offer your school as a community center.
  
• Be sure family and community members have a meaningful role in decision making.