Inviting families into the school classrooms significantly decreased absenteeism and boosted reading skills among students
In the vibrant community of San Diego, California, Hamilton Elementary School has undergone a remarkable transformation. The school, which serves a diverse student body with over half being English learners, has made significant strides in academic achievement and student well-being.
Two years ago, the school's principal, Dr. Brittany Daley, embarked on a mission to break down walls between families and staff. The goal was to create a welcoming and inclusive school community. This initiative involved deeply embedding family engagement into the school's culture, making it a natural expectation for both staff and families.
In the early days, the focus was solely on attendance and getting families to visit the school as much as possible. Today, chronic absenteeism stands at a commendable 10%, with a goal of pushing it down to 8% in 2025-26. Simultaneously, 45% of students are reading at grade-level, a significant improvement from the 13% recorded in 2021 following the return to normalcy after Covid.
The school's atmosphere now buzzes with about 200 caregivers at every meet-up, with families running most of the community-based initiatives. Strategies that build trust and acknowledge parents’ strengths have been instrumental in enhancing cooperation in the multilingual context. Providing communications and resources tailored to diverse linguistic backgrounds and cultural values has been key.
Effective strategies include integrating family engagement into various parts of the school’s operations, such as staff meetings, attendance tracking, academic planning, behavioral and counseling programs, school procedures, and budget discussions. Such a comprehensive approach not only boosts parent involvement but also supports academic achievement and student well-being.
The school has also introduced a range of engaging activities for families, such as after-school art classes, monthly family Fridays, and low-stakes events like a Halloween costume drive and Read Across America event. Activities are sent home for families to complete with their children, tied specifically to concepts the students need reinforced. These activities are then taught by the students and their teachers to family members during conferences.
Communication has been a critical aspect of this transformation. The author of these changes used the mobile app ClassDojo to establish open communication with parents, automatically translating messages into their native languages and building trust and collaboration between families and staff.
Research by the National Literacy Trust shows that parent involvement in reading activities positively impacts reading achievement, language comprehension, expressive language skills, and classroom attention. When parents and caregivers are involved in their children's education, student achievement, motivation, and social-emotional well-being increase.
In conclusion, the success story at Hamilton Elementary School demonstrates that parent engagement is not an add-on but a foundational element of school success, especially in diverse, multilingual settings. Embedding family engagement into the school culture ensures sustained involvement, improves student outcomes, and creates a welcoming and inclusive school community.
- Inequality and education have been significantly reduced at Hamilton Elementary School, as demonstrated by the 45% of students now reading at grade-level, a dramatic improvement from 13% in 2021.
- The innovative approach at Hamilton Elementary School, which deeply embeds family engagement into various school operations, has shown that education-and-self-development can be enhanced when schools cultivate an atmosphere of trust and open communication through initiatives like the use of the ClassDojo mobile app.
