These days, because each student is learning independently and families and students are physically separated, it can be a challenge to share information with the entire school community and make sure that everyone is in the know. At Robert Morris School, the administration has paid extra attention to its family communication efforts to make sure that nobody is left in the dark.
When Tameron Dancy, principal of Robert Morris, first arrived at the school, she made an effort to ask family members what they wanted to see more of at the school. Principal Dancy received feedback that some parents wished to receive more direct communication from the school and desired to open up even more channels to consistently engage with school staff members. As the digital learning school year began, Principal Dancy found it more critical than ever to make sure that there were available channels of communication.
At the start of this school year, Principal Tameron Dancy saw that some teachers were using the app ClassDojo but not everybody was, so she enacted ClassDojo as a school-wide communication tool that everybody at the school would use. Ms. Amy Barker, Kindergarten Teacher, comments that using ClassDojo makes communicating with family members so much easier. Family members can tell teachers if their kids are running late or if they have any questions or concerns. Teachers can tell family members about upcoming events, reminders, and information and work that students need to complete. At Robert Morris, ClassDojo has evolved beyond the classroom level to a school-wide level. Using the app, the administration shares school-wide stories and gives general announcements. During digital learning, this app has made it easier to share about days off, giveaways, celebrations of attendance, math challenges, school-wide behavior incentive programs, shoutouts for intervention programs, and more.
The administration at Robert Morris has also sent out a weekly contact sheet to all family members so that they can indicate which items they may have concerns about, such as broken laptops, technology issues, etc. This weekly contact sheet includes a directory of contact information for families to access necessary people. Another unique form of communication is a weekly robocall recorded by Principal Dancy herself which goes out to all family members. The messages are personalized so that families can feel connected to Principal Dancy and hear news and announcements directly from the administration of the school.
During the digital learning season, the school also wanted to inform families about the many giveaways and celebrations that the school was holding. Some of these distributions and giveaways have included bookbags, headphones, bags of school supplies, science materials, bicycles, musical instruments, thanksgiving baskets, winter jackets for every student, gifts for the holidays, food, and toys for the students. When gifts are given to families, many family members will escort the students to the school building in order to meet Principal Dancy and personally receive the gifts. This has also given facetime to both family members and Principal Dancy. Many of these giveaways and donations were made possible through partnerships that Robert Morris has with various organizations and community members. Some of those partners have included Liberti Church, United Missionary Baptist Church (UMBC), alumnus Jeff Branch, and more. Many of these community partners have taken intentional steps to help families get what they need. With clear communication lines open, partners would reach out to Principal Dancy to let her know about donations and items to give away. Principal Dancy would send a newsletter called the Bee-Brief Newsletter that would get distributed to all community programs and partners to give them updates about the school and news about academics, programs students are involved in, glows and grows, and data. This newsletter was a form of communication that helped keep the administration at Robert Morris connected to its community partners as well.
The administration at Robert Morris says: “This work can’t be done in isolation. We’re in this together and aspire to reach the common goal of educating our students!” At this school, staying connected through good communication is of the utmost importance and will continue to be moving forward!
