St. Charles, Missouri

Involve More Families—Family Trivia Night

Francis Howell Middle School (FHMS) understands the importance of getting all families involved at school and in their children’s education to improve students’ behavior and academic performance. The school conducts some activities that engage parents during the school day, but not all parents can make that schedule. The Family and Community Engagement (FACE) team planned some evening activities in its One-Year Action Plan for Partnerships.

The team developed Family Trivia Night for its students (grades 6-8) and families. A parent volunteer served as chairperson for Family Trivia Night, along with two parent co-leaders of the partnership team. They guided a committee to develop the trivia questions, coordinate of parent and student volunteers, advertise the event, and collect donations from community businesses for game and raffle prizes.

The game consisted of six categories, each with eight questions that were appropriate for the middle grades. Topics included Star Wars, pop music, pop culture, Kool-Aid flavors, and more. Over 300 parents, students, and staff participated in the evening of fun and games. Small baskets of prizes were available with purchase of a $1 raffle ticket, with proceeds going to fund new iPads for the school.

Involve More Families: Family Trivia Night is featured in Promising Partnership Practices 2016.

6^th Grade Parent and Student Success Series

The transition from elementary to middle school is exciting, but also may cause anxiety, stress, and uncertainty. This is a critical time for students’ social and academic development, but often is a time when parental engagement declines. At Francis Howell Middle Schools, the FACE team is working to help all parents stay involved and active in their student’s academic and social worlds.

As the school’s parent, staff, and administrator partnership team, FACE set a goal to improve communications among all members of the school community. The team and teachers developed a four-part series to focus on the transition from 5^th grade in the elementary school to 6^th grade at FHMS. Topics included Curriculum Night, Parent Preview Night, Summer Survival, and Meet and Greet. Flyers for each topic were sent to all feeder elementary schools and were posted on social media including the schools’ e-news and e-mail notices.

Curriculum Night (January) included an overview by the FHMS principal on the school, class options, expectations, and Q & A. There also was a performance by the FHMS Student Band. Prospective new students could test their skills with over a dozen different band instruments to encourage new members to join the band. All four topics were designed to proactively help incoming students and their parents prepare for a positive introduction to middle school life and culture.