Welcome Back!

Posted on July 28, 2023, by GAPMP

Whether you are a brand new parent mentor, or a seasoned one like me, here are some practices and ideas to help you get revved up and ready for a brand new school year!

Got Questions or Suggestions? Send them to me, Jane Grillo GaPMP Communication Coach

I’m Back Social Media post

This is Amy Ambrose from Effingham County’s Facebook post. This one is great because it touches on her experience AND, shows off her smiling face.

Handwritten Notes Get Noticed

Whether you want to introduce yourself for the first time, or reconnect with someone you worked with last year, a little handwritten note is just the personal touch that helps people remember you.

Keep Track of Important Dates, Times and Contacts

I discovered that having an old school paper calendar is a great place to put all my parent contact notes and pencil in training dates and meetings in addition to having a personal online or shared calendar with school staff or groups.

Don’t forget to include Kickoff and Region meeting dates!

Plan with Student Outcomes in Mind

For new mentors: Take some time to look at the FE Framework Toolkit on the Learning Curve. These planning tools will help you keep on track through the whole year and work towards your family engagement training goals.

For seasoned mentors: Review your End of Year Report and evaluate if that target group, VBs and Learning Targets are what you will continue to work on this year.

Where do you want to get to by the end of the year and go backwards from there

Some questions you might ask:

Where are the families in my target group now?

What training should I provide to get them there?

What data can I collect to show that student outcomes were impacted by the work I did with families?

Connect with people

Share the great work you are doing. We know that directors are very busy people. Even if the only thing you do is share your reports, keep your director or supervisor up to date with the work you are doing.

Share what you are working on in department/staff meetings when appropriate. (When they go around the room asking everyone to tell who they are etc)

Look for opportunities to share in community groups, parent groups and disability organizations.

Need Ideas?

See what other parent mentors have done by going to the Parent Mentors in Action page.

New mentor?

Focus on developing relationships with people in your department:

Ask what performance goals they are focusing on this year

Ask about Family Engagement strategies and, if you can assist.

Work on builing relationships with families in your district and community members who can help.