Relationships

Reaching out to form alliances in behalf of students. (Breaking Ranks)

High school renewal is too complicated a task for the schools to accomplish by themselves. Strong relationships with parents, communities, businesses, higher education institutions and other agencies are critical to the success of school improvement. Fortunately, there are excellent resources available to help principals build these important linkages.


PTA. The national PTA is the oldest and most established organization involved in linking parents to the schools. They offer advice and guidance on supporting student success for both parents and school personnel.

Parent Soup. From Education Central, this excellent resource offers information and advice on all aspects of parenting. They do an especially good job of focusing on the challenges of parenting adolescents.

Center for Adolescent Studies at Indiana University.
The mission of the Center for Adolescent Studies is to advance the understanding of the psychological, biological, and social features of normal adolescence. To that end, the Center serves as a resource of timely information and engages in the generation of original research about the adolescent transition. Check it out
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National School Public Relations Association. NSPRA is devoted to successful public relations for schools and agencies. Their advice? "Do a good job. Do a good job. Do a good job. And make sure everybody knows about it!" Their site can help schools do just that.

US Department of Education. Their special Publications for Parents provide concrete examples of the kind of support that families can provide to help their children succeed in school.

The Corporate Imperative. This document from the US Department of Education outlines the benefits for businesses that seek to become involved in educational partnerships.