How to Host an Effective Family Information Night

During back-to-school season, everyone in a school community has a lot to learn. Students learn their class schedules and expectations, teachers learn their students’ names, and families learn about how they’ll interact with their child’s school and education. That often means a new technology or platform that they’re not familiar with, but will need to use for critical updates on their child’s education. 

One of the best ways to welcome families on board to a new technology can be a family information night. By welcoming families into school for an evening, school leaders can help answer questions, offer suggestions, and give more context on how schools serve students and their families. And educating families about the tools and systems that the district uses can help them get more engaged with school and with their child’s education.

In this blog post, we’ll share some ideas and tips for a great family information night that helps your school community become more informed and connected. 

Spread the Word About Your Event

In order to hold an effective family information night, you need people to show up. That can be a challenge if you’re only sending an email blast to announce your event. You need a way to spread the word and get people to attend. 

You’ll need to establish a physical location for the event, set start and finish times, and offer resources around the event. And once you’ve got everyone together, you can introduce the tools and resources that families need to know about.

SchoolStatus Connect makes it easy to invite your class, school, or entire district to an event.  Everything from outreach to event details can be created and deployed within the platform. The event can flag requests for volunteers or donation items to help parents and guardians know how they can get involved and support their child’s school.  These invitations are shared with families to their central feeds, so they are notified of the event and can easily respond. And invitees can receive a Smore newsletter with resources and links that can prime families for success. 

Send Follow-Up Messages to Attendees

Once you’ve held your informative family information night and cleaned up the punch and cookies, you’re ready to follow up. As teachers know, sometimes a little reinforcement can help a lesson stick. Share a message with attendees that summarizes the key information from your event, and include any helpful resources families might need—like SchoolStatus

SchoolStatus Connect makes it easy to follow up with event attendees. Sending a follow-up message on SchoolStatus Connect allows families to open conversations, clarify misunderstandings, and access resources that they may have missed. Plus, messages are auto-translated into the recipient’s preferred language, so schools can more easily connect with every family.  And you can send a Smore newsletter to invitees to recap and share information with anyone who couldn’t attend. 

Start the School Year On a Good Note

Creating strong communication pathways between families and their child’s school can have benefits that last for the entire school year, from closer connections between teachers and students to higher family engagement and student attendance. If you’re interested in learning more about how SchoolStatus Connect can create connection and community in your district, reach out to our team today for a demo of SchoolStatus Connect.