Meghan Draudt

EDES 640 Week 4

Community Meeting Notes

This week I attended a community PTCO meeting that was a combination of the

Principals State of the School address and general PTCO meeting. The meeting took

place in the schools auditorium and about 75% of the seats were filled with parents. The

meeting began with the Principals State of the School address and progressed into a

general PTCO meeting that discussed school updates and events. During the PTCO

section of the meeting, the PTCO president introduced the meeting and spoke about

school issues and topics, such as the change in school start time for next year. An

additional speaker who was on the agenda also spoke about the upcoming fundraiser.

Time for questions and comments was built into the agenda after each topic and a short

period of time was allocated for unrelated questions and comments from the audience.

In the audience, many of the parents appeared to speak English and were

Caucasian, but I did notice three sets of parents who spoke languages other than English

(Spanish, Russian, and Hindi). After the meeting, I was introduced to the parents who

speak Hindi because their daughter is in the kindergarten class where I am observing. I

tried to keep the conversation light and informal and I was able to ask several questions

about the meeting and their role at the school. The parents told me they try to come to as

many PTCO meetings as possible because they like being involved in school decisions

and being aware of changes. They are always aware of the upcoming PTCO meetings

because the dates are listed in the weekly email newsletter. The couple did mention,
however, that many of their friends do not read the newsletter and attendance would most

likely increase if meeting dates were posted elsewhere.

After the crowd had dispersed, I had the opportunity to speak with a third grade

teacher about the meeting, as she has attended many PTCO and community meetings in

the past. A major topic at the meeting was the change in school start time for next year

and handouts were offered at the beginning of the meeting in several languages (see the

images below). The teacher believes this is a great way to include ELL families in the

meetings, but it is important to take this a step further. The school-wide newsletter is

emailed in English and, therefore, some parents do not read the information. She

mentioned that all information should be translated to further increase ELL parent

involvement in community meetings. While other languages are not always facilitated as

they should be, she emphasized how warm and welcoming the teachers and staff are to

ELL parents. This ideal environment will hopefully bring all parents together so ELL

families are not as isolated from the rest of the families, particularly if their English is

very limited.
 After my discussion with the ELL parents and teacher after the meeting, I believe

my engagement plan would increase involvement and a sense of community within the

school. I would, however, rethink my reliance upon weekly newsletters. After speaking

with the parents about the weekly school newsletter, I think it is important to distribute

information in more than one form. While I would distribute the newsletter in more than

one language, different modes of communication should also relay the information, such

as phone, email, website, and in-person conversations.