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Every Minneapolis parent with kids in fifth grade to eighth grade receives Middle School Connection at home. This six-times-a-year newsletter provides information and tools to help parents navigate the web of school choices and become advocates for their kids. Written by parents for parents, the newsletter is widely accepted by school administrators. Included: Advice for school administrators -- from parents -- on communicating with parents!

The middle-school years can be difficult for students and for parents. Students have usually moved on to larger schools -- schools that are often outside their immediate neighborhoods, schools where they have a number of teachers rather than a single teacher. It's only natural for parents to feel less a part of the larger middle schools than they felt in the schools that nurtured their children from kindergarten!

TWO MINNEAPOLIS MOMS HELP FILL THE GAP

"We are two parents who have felt that the information the district provided to middle-school parents was not always complete, often not in parent-friendly language, and sometimes vague," said Linda Jury.

"We found that many parents were getting information about choosing a high school for their students in eighth grade, which is a little late," echoed Bev Prawalsky.

Together, the like-thinking Minneapolis moms hatched a plan. The result was a newsletter, Middle School Connection, that is mailed six times each year to the parents of more than 10,000 Minneapolis kids in fifth grade to eighth grade.

"Much of the information in our newsletter is focused on what parents are doing with, or need to do for, their children," Prawalsky told Education World. "For example, we walk parents through the steps they must take to help their children select a middle school or high school. We provide a time line of those steps for parents. We also suggest questions parents should be asking along the way."

The goal of Middle School Connection is to help parents become advocates for their kids, said the two moms. Both have "been there, done that," and both hold full-time jobs outside the home! "The fact that we've been there adds to our credibility," noted Prawalsky.

"Bev and Linda provide a service that has more credibility and impact than if the school system provided it," said Hayes Mizell, director of middle grades reform efforts for the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation. The foundation has funded Middle School Connection for three years. "The foundation has supported Middle School Connection because Bev and Linda know what parents need, not only to survive the middle school years but also to make the most of them.

"Schools bemoan the lack of 'parent involvement,' but most schools are terrible at knowing how to communicate with and help parents," Mizell told Education World. He added, "Middle schools won't improve if only educators understand what the schools are doing, and why."

HELPING SCHOOL WORK BETTER FOR EVERYONE

Although their newsletter remains "absolutely loyal to the parent community," Jury and Prawalsky firmly believe in public education when it works well. They think they have something to contribute to ensure that it does work well for all parents -- and students.

"Because we are both gutsy and tenacious, we have made sure the system has been maximized for our own kids," Jury told Education World. "But we have always been uncomfortable that it isn't successful for all kids -- largely because they don't have a parent in there working the system for them, finding excellent teachers and looking for the best fit in terms of program, classroom atmosphere, personality match, and so on.

"We try to do our part to encourage parents to advocate for their kids by giving them the tools to do so," added Jury. "At the same time, we can pressure the system to improve so that kids without advocates still get a decent education."

WHAT DO SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS THINK ABOUT MSC?

Do school administrators think that Middle School Connection steps over the boundary onto their turf? Not at all, says Shannen Griffen, principal at Minneapolis's Olson Middle School. She thinks MSC is a great tool because "parents collect and disseminate information to parents from a parent's point of view.

"Educators can speak a language -- full of words such as standards and locators and blocks -- that can be a like foreign language to parents," said Griffen. A newsletter written for parents by parents defines those same concepts without the "education-ese," she explained. That way, it doesn't come off sounding like district propaganda.

"We are trying to reform middle schools," said Kay Bonczek, principal at Franklin Middle School, "and I think Middle School Connection offers all parents a consistent message that can help strengthen our effort. The newsletter can also help alleviate some of the anxiety parents have about their children's schools because the parents will have a better understanding of the schools."

"It also gets the message out that there are many ways -- besides their presence in schools -- for parents to be involved in their children's education," Bonczek added. "I've been enriched by the discussions that the newsletter has started."

WHAT DOES MIDDLE SCHOOL CONNECTION OFFER PARENTS?

Middle School Connection has gained wide acceptance in Minneapolis. Browse through some back issues of Middle School Connection and you'll see why the Minneapolis Star-Tribune calls it "part news guide, part counselor." Among the stories published in recent issues to help parents navigate the web of school information were these:

• In one issue, a checklist-grid compares 24 middle-school programs in the city. Does the school you're interested in sending your students to have a homework hotline? Does it offer transportation to parent-teacher conferences? Does the school have a school-family liaison? Does it have a school newsletter that is mailed to parents? The simple checklist shows at a glance the answers to those questions and many others.

• Another issue offers a glossary of terms that middle-school parents should be familiar with -- terms such as pre-IB (International Baccalaureate), open programs, core classes, magnet programs, comprehensive programs, and more.

• Have your children expressed any fears or reservations about the new school they'll be attending in September? A story in one summer issue of MSC offers quotes from students who started the previous year in a new school -- words of comfort from their children's peers intended to address fears of work overload, unfriendly upperclass students, making friends, safety, and the like.

• Another story recognizes that students involved in extracurricular activities are much less likely to drop out of school. Such students also tend to have higher grades and better school attendance. Extracurricular activities can help develop creativity, decision-making skills, and personal commitment to others, the story notes. The text goes on to offer advice for parents who might wonder, How can I help my child get involved in after-school activities?

Additional features have addressed such questions as What is all this talk of rubrics? What is "advanced standing" and who is eligible? What's the difference between a middle school and a junior high school? What are "standards" and how are they a change from what schools have been doing? and What can I do if my child complains frequently about a teacher?

Other stories have included helpful tips for dealing with middle-school-age children, news of summertime programs, tips for getting the most out of a parent-teacher conference, and news of a hotline staffed by kids for kids.

One issue of Middle School Connection even included a list of great things about middle schoolers, excerpted from a story created by Education World readers! (See Fifty Great Things About Middle Schoolers!, a story created by those who should know -- middle-school teachers.)

In addition, each issue of the newsletter takes readers on a tour of a different Minneapolis middle school and provides a time-line of important dates and pending deadlines.

A TEAM EFFORT!

Jury and Prawalsky share a strong commitment to education and an ability to complete each other's sentences, but how does that translate into six issues of Middle School Connection?

"Our philosophy and vision is similar enough that we are together on what we want to see accomplished," said Prawalsky, "and our interests and talents seem to vary enough that it all seems to fall into place."

"We have a few defined responsibilities," added Jury. "We both write copy, but I do most of the editing. Bev has taken on most of the financial responsibilities and sets meeting agendas and runs them. My full-time job has more flexibility, so I do most of the school visits. A mailhouse does our mailing to family homes, but Bev and her husband take care of getting the newsletter delivered to school sites so our message gets out to teachers and administrators.

"We have hired a professional to do the layout for us, which we feel is money well spent," Jury continued. "We recognize that, first, the newsletter has to be visually appealing before people are going to read its content. A lot of what has made us successful is the attractiveness and simplicity of our newsletter."

"Our favorable reception, we believe, has been in large part due to our loyalty to the parent community," said Prawalsky. "We're not interested in making the district look good unless, of course, it merits it."

A HOTLINE TOO!

The project provides more than a newsletter. Middle School Connection also offers a parent hotline!

"We get all types of hotline phone calls," said Prawalsky. "A few people don't understand yet that we are not school district employees! Our goal is not to do the work for callers but to assist them in overcoming any hurdles they have encountered. Most families need to realize that it will take some extra effort. The results are worth it when you become your child's personal advocate instead of ignoring the situation or having someone else take care of it for you."

The calls that come into the hotline have gotten increasingly sophisticated since we started, Prawalsky noted. "I think that is because they know we take their calls seriously -- we don't blow them off," she suggested.

Most calls get a follow-up call within a week, said Prawalsky. "We learn about the issues that are important to other people through the hotline. Those calls have become a good source of story ideas for Connection. "

Input also comes from Connection' s advisory board, which is made up of community group representatives and parents of students.

In addition to the newsletter and the hotline, the two moms and the board are working diligently to get a family liaison placed in every one of Minneapolis's middle schools. That way, every parent will have access to an individual they can talk to if something is troubling them. They are also in the process of constructing a Middle School Connection Web site!

WHAT NEXT FOR MSC?

This is the third -- and final -- year of Middle School Connection's funding from the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation. So what's next for MSC? Where will Prawalsky and Jury find the money to keep it going? The production budget for the newsletter is about $35,000, which covers the layout, printing, and mailing of six issues of the newsletter each year to between 10,000 and 12,000 parents.

"We are currently putting together grant proposals and requesting support from local funders," said Jury. "We are also exploring -- very preliminarily -- the possibility of making our work into a business that would be self-supporting."

Minneapolis's current superintendent of schools, Carol Johnson, seems to have "a clearer vision about middle-school leadership and accountability than our previous super," added Jury. "One very concrete way the district has shown support is that we have a verbal commitment from Johnson to provide funding for the postage for next year's efforts."

"That's about $6,500," Prawalsky, the money manager, added, "and [that commitment comes in spite of the fact] the district is currently facing a $35 million deficit."

ADVICE FROM THE PROS!

So does a parent newsletter sound like something your school district could benefit from?

"We definitely feel that it would be very hard for a district to do this successfully," says Jury. "Our effectiveness has been largely due to the fact that we are not district employees. It's been our commitment from the beginning to not become insiders."

Jury and Prawalsky have advice for other parent groups who might want to start a similar endeavor: Follow your instincts. Speak from your experience. Start slowly.

They also have some advice for school administrators who want to better communicate with their parent populations:

• Pay attention to the basics! When families call a school or district office, make sure a friendly and knowledgeable staff person who has a smile in his or her voice and knows where to direct a caller greets them. Provide some customer service training for those people in the office who are often the first ones to receive families -- and who will leave long-lasting impressions. Invest in a phone system that doesn't lose people in the process of a transfer.

• Watch the jargon. Refrain from the temptation to try to impress your parent population with how much educational jargon you know. Don't use acronyms unless you are sure everyone knows what they mean!

• Keep it simple -- and practical. Keep your messages -- oral and written -- simple and practical. Remember, families mostly are interested in knowing that their kids are learning in a safe, caring environment. They don't need to know all the details. That's your job, and they respect you as a professional. If they want more detail, they'll ask.

• Show your commitment to family involvement. Don't just say you want family involvement; show it in your actions! Ideally, every school should have a "family liaison" dedicated to promoting family involvement. At the same time, take the strong position with your teaching staff that "family involvement" is everybody's job.

Related Articles from Education World

• Beat the Clock! --- Lessons in Time Management for Middle Graders
• Looking to "Challenge" Your Middle Schoolers?
• Boosting Performance in Middle Schools

Article by Gary Hopkins
Education World®
Copyright © 2006 Education World

05/10/1999