Schools to Parents: Can We Talk (Electronically)?

By ANNETTE HENNESSEY
Falls Church Times Staff

I don’t know about you, but I’m having a hard time keeping up with technology.  Friends tease me that my facebook page should read “stagnant.”  I can never seem to remember to read the latest school newsletter online the first of every month.  And while the paper from Friday Folders probably killed a forest of trees, at least I could sort the papers into piles and find the information when I was searching for it at 11:00 at night – or 6:30 in the morning.  Need the packing list for the field trip to the Nature Center?  Look for the lime green paper.  School supplies?  It’s on purple this year (I think).  And let’s not even talk about how many emails are flagged for action in my inbox.

Well, it seems like the schools have felt our pain.  As they try to move to a more paper-free existence (aren’t we all in this environment?), they have reached out to parents in the school system with a survey this summer, asking for their feedback on effective communications methods between the schools and parents/guardians.  Results will be posted August 1, so if you haven’t received an email from Karen Acar, Communications Director, visit http://www.fccps.org/parentscommunicationsurvey/ and answer the following 12 questions:

1. Where did your child(ren) attend school in the 2008-2009 school year?
2. During the 2008-2009 school year, where did you access the Internet/email for FCCPS information?
3. How did you receive FCCPS news and information in the 2008-2009 school year?
4. How would you prefer to receive FCCPS information in the future?
5. During the 2008-2009 school year, the frequency with which you received FCCPS information electronically was…
6. During the 2008-2009 school year, the frequency with which you received FCCPS information in printed hard copy was…
7. How often would you like to receive communications from your child(ren’s) teacher(s) in the future?
8. How often would you like to receive communications from your child(ren’s) school(s) in the future?
9. How often would you like to receive communications from the school division’s central office or school board in the future?
10. Some school systems have a Web-based subscription option that allows parents and members of the community to select the type of school information they would like to receive. If the FCCPS were to implement a similar service, which of the following informational categories would be of interest to you?
11. The FCCPS is exploring new ways to seek parent and community input on a variety of issues. In which of the following would you likely participate?
12. What suggestions do you have that would help foster better communication between the school division and the community?

Everyone knows that surveys are only helpful when there is a decent response.  So parents, take a moment from reading the Falls Church Times online, and answer these questions – I for one am interested in seeing how the school system will craft a system to connect with parents electronically in this increasingly complex technological age.

Daily twitters, anyone?