What's a SAC?!: One Principal shares her experience partnering with families and building a SAC
Principals are responsible for a head-spinning amount of school duties, including managing teachers and staff, overseeing the day-to-day operations of the school building, keeping a pulse on instructional quality, and making sure that children are safe and coming to school on time—just to name a few.
With all of these responsibilities, family engagement can sometimes come as an afterthought: how can a principal think about meaningfully building relationships with parents/families when there’s a fight breaking out in the lunchroom? How can a principal take the time to attend a parent meeting when she’s juggling paperwork, grant writing, and staff evaluations? What takes priority?
Meaningful family engagement does require planning, coordination, and a proactive, open attitude, but Sharon Marino, principal of Alexander McClure School, a K-5 elementary school near Hunting Park in North Philadelphia, has learned that engaging families can be a huge asset to the school community rather than just another item on a principal’s “to do” list.
Alexander McClure School.
How do you start a SAC? The principal sets the tone…and the Family Engagement Liaison Helps
“I think the formal way that the new SAC information was delivered—like in terms of the SRC and the new policy—might have been intimidating or overwhelming,” Ms. Marino said. “But when you actually go through the process, it’s not as overwhelming as one might think, and it’s actually really doable.”
When Principal Marino started at McClure during the 2013-2014 school year, families were not too involved in the school. Believing strongly in the importance of building ties between school and home, Ms. Marino wanted to change this, so she reached out to her Parent Coordinator (now called Family Engagement Liaison), Dorian Harris.
Mr. Harris told her about School Advisory Councils and encouraged her to start one at McClure as a first year family engagement goal. “We worked with Mr. Harris to have parent meetings, information sessions, and so on, in order to inform people about what the SAC was and its purpose,” Ms. Marino said. “And then we actually went through the process that year of doing elections. So by the end of that first year—2013-2014—we actually had a SAC.”
The SAC at McClure started off as a group that met regularly, “more or less getting to know each other, figuring out what our next steps were,” Ms. Marino explained. In the following years, the SAC has continued to meet regularly—once a month usually—and has become more action-oriented.
“We usually do a data review at most of our meetings, which is just printing out what’s on the KPI dashboard,” Ms. Marino said. “We try to use a simple protocol of ‘so what, now what.’ So, what do you see? What does that mean? What are your thoughts? And then, what action steps can we take from it?”
In the first few years of the SAC, meetings were spent informing parents/families about various programs and initiatives happening at the school that aligned with the school vision. Then, they started looking at the school budget and asking SAC members to give input on how discretionary funds should be spent. Ms. Marino frames budget discussions as, “these are our significant needs, and this is the money we have, how do you prefer we spend the money?”
Ms. Marino includes budget information that goes beyond the Title I Parental Involvement funds. She wants input on all aspects of her school’s budget. She helps prompt such input from SAC members by asking questions like, “Do we want to use this money for Playworks or for additional SSAs? Do we want to go with City Year, or do we want to go with hiring another teacher?”
Ms. Marino has also worked to change the culture at McClure by sharing “positive news” each week with families. Starting in her first year at the school, she asked teachers to either send home notes or call two to three parents per week with positive feedback about their students, “to try to reset the tone of what we wanted our parent relationships to look like.” Culture changes like this have helped build trust between families and the school administration, which has helped the SAC grow.
In recent years, McClure’s SAC has been working on reaching out to their community partners to get them involved in the group.
“Knowing what your vision and your goal is, and then moving forward with how you’re communicating that, and then recruiting, going through the application process, the elections…all that fun stuff,” she said. “When you do all that, in the end, you come up with a nice group who are committed to what you’re trying to do.”
Making families feel valued and welcome in the school
In the summer before Ms. Marino first started at McClure, she met with Ludy Soderman, Director of Multilingual Family Support in the District’s Office of Family and Community Engagement. She knew that McClure had a large Spanish-speaking and bilingual population, and she wanted to make sure that she knew of any and all supports available to her as well as expectations for multilingual schools.
“I had folks come out to talk [to staff] about Pacific Interpreters. I had them go through the process of going through translation requests,” Ms. Marino said. She wanted to “give staff the opportunity to know that this is very important to us, to our families, that we’re communicating in the home language.”
Ms. Marino also conducted several parent surveys during her first years as principal, including on what parents would like to see change in the school, what meeting topics they would be interested in, and how they would like the budget to be spent.
“The other big thing that we did that I think made a difference,” Ms. Marino said, “is that we started greeting the students outside, and we started having a morning routine outside.”
“We greet everyone in the school yard, we do the pledge of allegiance,” she continued, “we’re saying hello to everyone. We’re just very visible.”
This morning routine contrasts sharply to what used to occur in the school. Previously, children were expected to come inside immediately upon being dropped off at the school. This never really allowed teachers to interact with families.
“It’s funny, I actually had teachers say to me the first year that part of the reason why they might’ve stopped doing that in the past was that there might have been situations with parents getting upset, or a parent yelling,” Ms. Marino explained. “And I said, well, part of our job and our responsibility is to teach the parents and the community what we expect, how we run, how we expect our students and our families to act when there’s a problem.”
Along with changing the morning routine, Ms. Marino revitalized the school’s PBIS (Positive Behavior Interventions and Support) program. She made sure that all members of the school community—students, parents/families, community partners, teachers, and administrators alike—knew about the expectations of PBIS and that all would contribute to an environment where everyone is “responsible, respectful, cooperative, peaceful problem-solvers.”
“So, we problem-solve,” Ms. Marino said simply. “If there’s a problem with a parent, a community member, whatever the case may be, we have to address it. We’re not going to run away from it, because that’s teaching our kids that we just won’t deal with our problems.”
McClure now does dismissal outside as well. Although Ms. Marino noted that there was push back and reluctance when she rolled out these new morning and afternoon procedures, she feels that these changes have represented a shift to families in how the school values them.
“It’s not to say there aren’t parents who are disgruntled with us, or who think we’re not doing what’s best or should be doing things in different ways,” Ms. Marino admitted. “But we’re very consistent with our morning admission and dismissal, very consistent with our expectations, so I think that parents have gotten to the point where they appreciate that.”
Ms. Marino has also made an effort to clearly communicate the visitor policy to families. She’s found that parents/families feel more welcome in the school when they know the sign-in procedure and understand that everyone is expected to follow the same procedure for security reasons.
“We also encourage teachers to plan celebrations or presentations for parents,” Ms. Marino said. “And actually over the years, we’ve gotten much stronger in our attendance at assemblies. We do our celebrations of learning, we’re inviting our parents in for that.”
The school has also changed the way it communicates with families. Along with the monthly school calendar, they have created a monthly school newsletter, which celebrates a staff member and student and includes a principal’s message to families. Ms. Marino has intentionally made the newsletter a platform for highlighting positive events at the school. Each issue is packed with “Panther Spotlights,” such as students with perfect attendance and honor roll recognition, to show families what’s going well at the school and encourage them to help their children be featured in the next spotlight.
Advice for principals who feel hesitant about starting a SAC and diving into family engagement
“First, I would make sure you have a full understanding of what the purpose of the SAC is,” Ms. Marino said. “It’s really a collaboration. I think it’s really just being open to listening to what parents and the community are saying.”
“And this is why I say: ‘it’s our building,’” she continued. “And so in 15 years when Ms. Marino’s not here, this is our building, and you want this facility to run the way that you want it to run so that it’s what’s best for your kids.”
Ms. Marino also suggests doing focus groups with families and community members to learn about what’s working and what needs to be improved upon.
“Work with your Family Liaison,” she added, “to have sessions to introduce this concept to the parents and hold the elections.”
Once a school holds SAC elections, all the principal needs to do is ensure that the SAC has regular meetings.
“Just communicate with them,” Ms. Marino said. “I think it’s all about listening. Have the understanding that it’s not just my school; it’s all of our school.”
“If [families] don’t know what the data is, or they don’t know how much money we have to spend, or they don’t know what grant we’re writing, or they don’t know what partnership we’re looking into,” she continued, “then I don’t think that’s fair to them, because this is what’s affecting their kid.”
Making decisions on the SAC: Principal’s role vs. SAC member’s role
Ms. Marino says that she “doesn’t know if she’s just lucky,” but that her SAC never ends up having to take formal votes to make decisions. She takes into consideration what the families on SAC say, but she also takes into consideration what her staff think, and she sometimes takes student input into consideration as well.
“Looking at the big picture, and looking at the goals and the way they align with the mission we all set” helps inform the decision-making process and keep everyone focused on the outcome.
“I think that if you are able to articulate the goals that you are trying to accomplish,” Ms. Marino said, “and that students are the ones who are benefitting from it, then I think it’s a little bit easier to have people buy in to what it is you’re trying to do.”
Still, Ms. Marino admits that there have been times when she and her SAC members disagree. Disagreements can especially come up when the SAC is discussing the budget and how money should be used.
“You have to believe in it, you have to have enough evidence to show that it will work,” Ms. Marino explained, “and why it would work here and why it’s aligned to what you’re trying to do.”
“I think as the principal, you have the ability to see the overarching picture,” she continued. “What’s allowed, what’s not allowed, what you can buy, what you can’t buy, you know, what complies with safety things. And so just having the tools to explain it in a way that families feel validated and that their voice is being heard and that it’s being used to inform decisions, even if it may not be the right time or it may not be possible.”
Oftentimes, the SAC has discussions more than arguments when it’s trying to come to a decision. For example, they had a long discussion when Ms. Marino was trying to decide whether to purchase City Year or an additional teacher. She gave an overview of the benefits of each, explaining that City Year would provide targeted afterschool and in-school tutoring for their fourth and fifth graders and a new teacher would provide the benefit of having another full-time staff person who would support one classroom for years to come.
“The other thing is that once you get those things,” such as City Year or a new teacher, “you have to show that they’re successful,” Ms. Marino said. “You have to show them off.” She makes sure that the newsletter highlights the outcomes of the decisions made by the SAC, such as spotlighting the gains that students have made in the afterschool program with City Year.
Moving from policy to practice: What do SACs do?
McClure’s SAC keeps up its momentum month to month by staying action-oriented and being responsive to family members’ interests at the time. For instance, a new Esperanza charter school is opening in the neighborhood, and many families and SAC members had questions about what this means for McClure as a public school.
In response, Ms. Marino and two of her principal colleagues met with the administration at Esperanza to learn more about the charter opening and share public school parents’ concerns. Ms. Marino then reported back to her SAC about the meeting.
The SAC has also focused in recent years on attendance. McClure is part of a teacher-leader grant through the Neubauer Foundation, so they need to constantly look at data on school attendance and the initiatives that they have to support attendance. Ms. Marino has extended this discussion of attendance data and practices to her SAC.
“So we talk about the initiatives that we have, we talk about the rewards,” she said, “we talk about how the families can help with engaging other families.”
Ms. Marino has also heard from many families that they need help assisting their children with homework, and math homework in particular because of the shift that math instruction has taken with the Common Core standards. Families have said that they need more support in understanding these new standards.
“In the past, we’ve done a parent workshop about how to make the standards accessible for families at home,” Ms. Marino explained. “And it’s actually come up again at another [SAC] meeting, so we’re going to be looking into asking the teachers to invite the parents in at the beginning of units to do parent sessions on understanding what skill or topic it is that they’re focusing on.”
Retaining SAC members and keeping the momentum going
In the summer, Ms. Marino took time to meet with families who are on the SAC so that they could map out a yearlong calendar. She then invited all of McClure’s community partners to the meetings, and she sends reminder emails and makes phone calls to SAC members before each meeting as well. She also asks members for agenda topics.
“It’s just constant communication, either via the phone or email,” Ms. Marino said. “It’s on our calendar that gets sent home.”
“We continue to grow,” Ms. Marino said, explaining that they have gotten stronger interest from community partners in recent years, so they’re trying to continue to recruit parents/families to maintain the family majority balance.
“But we don’t want to get too big,” Ms. Marino added.
In addition to having a SAC, McClure has a Home and School Association. Some of the parents are part of both groups, but Ms. Marino says they “function as two completely different entities.”
“When they are serving on the SAC, it’s input, it’s data, it’s questions, that sort of thing,” explained Ms. Marino. “When they’re functioning on Home and School, they’re really on their own and I more or less just consult with them if they need it. They do fundraising, which the SAC doesn’t do any of.”
Every month, McClure holds three different family meetings. They host Title I Parent Meetings the first Friday of every month, which are usually about instructional content. For instance, they had a Title I meeting about independent reading this year. “We had the kids come down and work with their parents,” Ms. Marino said, “and we talked about strategies we can use at home to support students with independent reading.”
Later in the month, the school will have the SAC meeting, which includes SAC members and any interested guests, and lastly, the Home and School Association will host its meeting, where they often bring in guest speakers and share resources.
Family engagement is key to a principal’s success, a school’s success, and a child’s success
“Why do I prioritize family engagement? There’s a lot of reasons,” Ms. Marino said. “I know it’s best practice, that when families are engaged and involved in the school, that students tend to be more engaged and have a better perception of the school.”
“Principals will come and go at McClure,” she continued, “but the families and community will still be here. So it’s not my purpose to overhaul everything they’ve done or worked toward or want to see or not want to see. It’s really to support what it is that they want for their children.”
“When you put the students first,” Ms. Marino said, “the parents are a huge part of that. We couldn’t function or be successful without our families. They’re an integral part of everything that we do here.”
Ms. Marino does admit that there is still room for improvement in terms of family engagement. “This is not to say that we’re perfect by any means,” she said. “I still get parent concern tickets. We’re not able to please everyone, but we always try our best to make sure that we are attending to and supporting the needs of the student and the family as best we can, with the resources we have.”
When she was a student, Ms. Marino’s parents were instrumental in her education, and she has carried this model of family engagement through her career as an educator. “My family was involved in my schooling growing up, so maybe that’s the example,” Ms. Marino said. “As a teacher, I always felt it was very important to have families involved, and I was always inviting families into my classroom for a variety of things.”
Ms. Marino recommends that principals who are new to family engagement read—or at least skim!—Beyond the Bake Sale: The Essential Guide to Family/School Partnerships. “When you’re thinking about being reflective or needing a starting point,” Ms. Marino said, “as a principal, [Beyond the Bake Sale] is a nice way to do a needs assessment of where you are yourself.”
Ms. Marino says that she herself has never formally been trained in family engagement strategies and practices. “I think I just know that this won’t work—it won’t be what it could be—without the partnership of the parents, the guardians, the community, and the school,” she explained.
Despite all the work that Ms. Marino has put into family engagement and the positive cultural shift that has occurred at McClure as a result, she argues that there’s a lot of room for improvement.
“There’s still so much more to do,” she said. “There’s still lots of families that I don’t know. I’m not bilingual…I recognize that and it’s something that I’m working on. I can understand Spanish a little bit, but I’m not fluent in it by any means, and I feel badly about that, because I want to extend more of that connection and warmth to our Latino families.”
Ms. Marino’s vision for McClure’s SAC mirrors her vision for McClure’s teachers: that they’ll become leaders who can start running meetings themselves, analyzing data and facilitating discussion. “We want to grow the SAC and the community partners to a point where they’re completely connected to McClure, they can run the meetings whether I’m there or not, and so on.”
“I do not have all the answers,” Ms. Marino said. “Every school is unique and different. But if principals want to bounce ideas or share what they are doing to get started, or they want feedback, I’m happy to give feedback or support. I know that there are other colleagues out there who are happy to do so as well.”
“And here’s the reality that I think maybe we all sometimes forget: my goals for our children are the same as what every single one of my parents’ goals are. They want the best for their child, period. We all have different ways of getting there, and so as a principal part of our job is to finesse the relationship and build the relationship so that that collaboration takes place,” Ms. Marino remarked in conclusion. “I think that’s important to remember in terms of the process—because I’m sure it’ll be sticky, I’m sure that there are parents that are frustrated by what’s going on in their schools. There are parents who are frustrated here by things that go on in the school. But I think by closing the door or by not opening up the door and not having a SAC or at least a vehicle of communication is not going to help but hinder the situation.”
