Connecting Families to Community Resources

As a school leader, you know that communication is what connects your community with resources and community services. Having this connection and access can be as important as having the best education programs. They are both important for student success!

School closures due to COVID-19 affected student learning in many ways. We all know that remote learning took a toll. Now more than ever, schools need to be able to let families know about resources, such as those for basic needs or academic support. The right communication solution can help meet your school or district’s needs by helping you give families quick access to information.

School districts often find it hard to connect with parents and guardians for many reasons. For example, a family may move to a new house and forget to provide their new address or phone number. Others may not be able to communicate with the school because they don’t speak the same language as the staff. In many cases, you may even notice that contact information changes so quickly that your messages never reach the families in need.

However, you can help families get the resources they need and strengthen the school-family bond.

Communication and Engagement Strategy

Inviting parents and guardians to be part of their child’s education helps create a positive school culture and a favorable experience within the district. You can achieve this by reaching out to families using the right type of communication and letting them know about community services.

School communications about resource opportunities help create trust. When families feel valued and their voices heard, they have greater trust in you as a leader and other school and district members. They are more accepting of community resources and will seek them out when needed.

In turn, families that are part of the school’s activities/events and access resources not only have a positive effect on their child’s progress but also help strengthen the school-family connection.

Community Schools Model

Community schools provide resources and promote greater access for families. They support information sharing about community services, such as what is available, when, and where.

Community schools work with their communities to support the whole child and their family. They work with groups to support housing, food, finances, and other needs. A communication tool that connects everyone to these resources helps ensure that they are fully recognized and utilized by the families needing them.

Looking ahead

With the school year ending soon, you have a great chance to let families know about summer activities and services. From summer camps to job opportunities and backpack distributions to meal services, there are resources available that may support many of your families.

A great example of how Snap! Connect (formerly SchoolCNXT) is making this possible is its exciting partnership with the Parent Institute for Quality Education (PIQE). PIQE offers a series of workshops on family engagement, digital literacy, and STEM. Snap! Connect enables PIQE associates and parents a new way to communicate digitally, encouraging digital adoption as well as providing instructors and parents with an easy way to share news and events, send reminders, and participate in two-way messaging in the family’s home language during the workshop, and beyond. “Together with Snap! Connect, we are able to not only connect and engage more families but create new strategies that empower our families to ensure their children reach their full potential,” said Gloria Corral, the President & CEO of PIQE.

Snap! Connect is the perfect way to help connect families with resources during the school year and in the summer. This platform addresses issues that affect how families find out about these resources.

Snap! Connect helps the school community to access information with several options, such as two-way translation, text-to-speech, and dictation. Schools and districts can easily connect with all families to share news and events, send reminders, and use two-way communication.

You can also use the app’s engagement data as a school or district administrator to track your family outreach efforts. When you know what is working and what is not, you can update your communication strategy.

By using Snap! Connect, you can successfully engage with community groups to improve student learning and family well-being. Most importantly, you will have a tool to connect families to much-needed resources. If you would like to learn more about ways to improve communication, please contact us.