Parents of students at Wrigley Elementary (Morgan County) were all given a chance to write their hopes and dreams for their child as part of the Hopes and Dreams Wall. Photo courtesy Larissa Johnson
I am Larissa Johnson, principal of Wrigley Elementary School in the Morgan County School District. Assistant Principal Megan Risner and I took on the role of organizing a family friendly action team and applying to be a certified Family Friendly School. We were hesitant at first but knew that family has always been a priority in our school; we were Family Friendly but without a certificate to prove it!
The schools in our district are all Title I schools and we are constantly working on ways that we can improve to increase our parent and family involvement and engagement. We meet once monthly as a district administration team and collaborate to share ideas of how we can change our typical family engagement activities into what our families may truly need. Once we had heard about the Prichard Committee’s Family Friendly application and process, we knew that we all had to apply; we had so many great things going on within our district at each school.
Our first steps were to print the Family Friendly rubric and self-assess what areas were our strength. We met with our family friendly action team and focused on those areas and started documenting what evidence we had for each of those areas. Once the application for Family Friendly Certification was available for us to apply, Risner and I started taking pictures for evidence, typing up narratives and putting it all together. There were so many things that we were already doing at Wrigley; we had to type up our evidence and snap some pictures to show proof. This made the application process so much easier.
Even though we initially were not aware of the certification, we have worked alongside our families every year to increase our student achievement. We have a Parent/Family Engagement Compact that is signed each year by families, the child’s teacher and school principal, showing their commitment to the child’s academic success. We also have our Title I Parent/Family Engagement policy that helps us to ensure we keep parent/family involvement a priority. Amanda Lee, chief academic officer of Morgan County Schools, presented the Prichard Committee Family Friendly School process and opportunity at one of our monthly administration meetings. This was the first time that I had heard about the certification rules and procedures and how to get started on it.
The certification process was lengthy and was definitely not completed within a day or two. It was super helpful having two completing the application together so that one could focus on the narrative and the other assisted by providing photographs for evidence. Collaboration is key when completing the Family Friendly certification; we relied on our family friendly action team, parents/families, teachers and other staff members to help us gather evidence for each of the critical attributes under the five objectives: relationship building, communications, shared responsibility, advocacy, and community partnerships.
We did not have to change anything in order to meet any of the requirements of the certification; we were doing so many great things that helped us qualify. We did learn many other ideas that we want to try to incorporate at Wrigley so that we can apply for a Gold Certification in the future.
In order to keep this family friendly work alive, we have to continue to prioritize our families and their involvement in our school community. We have to get their input on all that we do within our school and show them that they are truly an important asset to their child’s education. I believe there are always areas we can improve on and we have to be willing to attempt and try new things and be willing to break outside of the mold of what has always been done. It is easy to become complacent because we like things to be easy and no one really likes change, but change keeps us from becoming stagnant in an ever-changing world.
Wrigley Elementary received the official Family Friendly Certification in May, so we have shared this news with our school community and families. Many of our families’ comments on the Family Friendly announcement were extremely positive and humbling; most were not shocked at all that we received such an outstanding certification.
Wrigley Elementary will continually look for ways to improve in all areas of our school community; keeping parent/family engagement at the forefront. We won’t let a certification be the end of our journey, it will just be the beginning.
Larissa Johnson is principal of Wrigley Elementary School in Morgan County.
The Family Friendly Schools Certification is awarded by the Prichard Committee after applications are reviewed and scored by a working group of families, educators and community organizations. The group is focused on increasing open communication, learning opportunities and shared decision-making power across the Kentucky education system.
The next certification window is open now and will close on Oct. 1. For more details on the Family Friendly Schools Certification, visit the Prichard Committee’s Family Engagement website.
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