Family engagement metrics that matter

As a mom of a rising kindergartener, I can’t believe that back-to-school season is already upon us. 

I’ve written before about our journey finding a kindergarten placement for my daughter. 

Thankfully, that’s been resolved, but it’s been weird navigating this from the parent – and not the school – side. 

It’s so important to make families feel like welcome members of the school community and partners in their children’s education – from Day 1. 

Touring a bunch of schools in a short period of time made me realize how different those experiences can feel when you’re the one being engaged (or not). 

One school – that we actually really liked, academically – was shockingly impersonal towards prospective families. 

Our first experience with them was to use a form on their website to request a tour. We were sent automated emails that simply told us to sign up for an account to request a tour.  

No warm touch, no names of school leaders on the email. No sense that we mattered at all.

I thought this must be a mistake, but when I called and spoke with someone (who was lovely), I was told that, no, this is just the process.

I begrudgingly signed up for an account and requested a tour. It took probably a week to even get a confirmation of that tour request.

When we got to the school, Google Maps took us to a back parking lot with no signs. My husband and I wandered around the large building ringing random doorbells (sorry, not sorry!) until we realized that the entrance must be on the other side.

At this point, I had completely written this school off as an option.

When we finally got inside, a very friendly staff member directed us to a seating area where we had to watch a video about their approach to education.

My family engagement brain was blown. 

We did get a real tour, had another visit with our daughter, and had really great experiences with the staff members we met. 

We strongly considered enrolling our daughter but ultimately chose one closer to home.

But I never could shake how they first interacted with us.

Having worked in schools, I’m savvy enough to know what to ask and what to look for.

But we’re talking about kindergarten here. For many families, this is their first engagement with schools. 

It’s even more important to make things easy for them to navigate and make them feel welcome while doing it. 

When we toured another school a week later and they had signs in their parking lot, I literally shouted with joy about it to my husband. (I’m not joking.)

When we encounter families – whether in schools, child welfare or social service agencies, or even doctor’s offices – how we treat them from their first encounter with us matters. 

How we structure our interactions matter.

And how they feel while they’re with us and after they leave matters the most. 

So when we think about evaluating our engagement efforts, sometimes the low-hanging fruit is what gets tracked:

How many families did we see/serve? 

How many families attended [insert event name]? 

But families could show up because they know it’s important and still feel really uncomfortable. 

Here are some things you could ALSO track so you know you’re making the right impression: