Information for Teachers and Other School Staff

At a glance

  • This page provides information for teachers and other school staff to increase parent engagement in school health.
  • When parents are engaged in their children's school lives, it can improve the children's health and well-being.
A group of teachers and school staff gathered around a laptop.

Overview

Engaging parents in their children’s school lives helps support children’s success in the classroom and their overall health and well-being.

Did you know?

Parent engagement in schools is defined as parents and school staff working together to support and improve the learning, development, and health of children and adolescents.

Why it's important

Parent engagement in schools contributes to students' health and learning. Studies have shown that students who have parents engaged in their school lives are more likely to have:

  • Higher grades and test scores.
  • Better student behavior.
  • Enhanced social skills.

In addition, students who have parents engaged in their school lives are less likely to:

  • Smoke cigarettes.
  • Drink alcohol.
  • Become pregnant.
  • Be physically inactive.
  • Be emotionally distressed.

Actions to take

Parent Engagement: Strategies for Involving Parents in School Health describes strategies for increasing parent engagement in school health.

To increase parent engagement in school health, schools must:

  1. Make a positive connection with parents.
  2. Provide a variety of activities and frequent opportunities to fully engage parents.
  3. Work with parents to sustain their engagement by addressing the common challenges to getting and keeping parents engaged.
Keep Reading: Ways to Engage in Your Child’s School to Support Student Health and Learning

The chart on pages 2 and 3 outlines strategies and suggests actions that teachers and school staff can take to improve parent engagement in school health.

What to consider when planning for action

It requires a team effort to improve parent engagement in school health activities. Your team should involve those in the school, plus people, groups, and organizations outside the school. Your team must be committed to and involved in planning, implementing, and evaluating actions that can improve students' health and education outcomes.

Some actions require minor changes in how the school works—and can be done quickly and easily. Other actions might require more time, money, or administrative changes.

Schools and districts should examine the school's needs and available resources to determine which actions are most feasible and appropriate.

Common questions

See strategies and sample actions below:

  • Ensure the school has a clear vision for parent engagement—including engaging parents in school health.
  • Ensure that school staff are able to connect with parents and support parent engagement in school health activities.
  • Ask parents about their needs and interests regarding their children's health.
  • Ask parents how they want to be involved in the school's health activities, services, and programs.
  • Have a well-planned program for parent engagement in the school.

1. Provide parenting support

  • Offer parents seminars, workshops, and information on health topics that relate to lessons taught in health education and physical education classes.
  • Establish a parent resource center focused on child and adolescent health and other important family issues.
  • Host school-sponsored, health-related activities. Hold them in settings where parent attendance is high: in the neighborhood, at work, at community events, or at faith-based institutions.

2. Communicate with parents about health-related topics and issues

Use a variety of written communication methods.

  • Flyers, memos, banners, signs, door hangers, newsletters, report cards, progress reports, post cards, letters, and monthly calendars of events.
  • Electronic methods: websites, web boards, text messaging, and emails.

Use a variety of verbal and face-to-face communication methods.

  • Phone calls and automated phone system messages.
  • Parent-teacher conferences.
  • Meetings.
  • School events.
  • Radio announcements.
  • Local access television.
  • Television public service announcements (PSAs).
  • Conversations at school.
  • Regular parent seminars to communicate with parents.

Translate health-related materials into different languages.

  • Identify health materials already available in languages spoken by parents in the school community.
  • Provide bilingual interpreters to assist non-English speaking families at school health events.
  • Provide sign language interpreters for those who are deaf or hearing impaired.

aEpstein JL, Sanders MG, Sheldon S, et al. [ital]School, Family, and Community Partnerships: Your Handbook for Action.[end ital] 3rd ed. Corwin Press; 2008.

3. Provide a variety of volunteer opportunities

  • Encourage parents to serve as mentors, tutors, coaching assistants, monitors, and chaperones for school health activities.
  • Invite parent volunteers to lead lunch-time walks and weekend games.
  • Encourage parents to help with after-school exercise programs in dance, cheerleading, karate, aerobics, yoga, or other activities.
  • Involve parents in helping write health-related grants for the school.

4. Support learning at home

Train teachers.

  • Develop family-based actions that involve parents discussing health topics with their children, like homework assignments that involve parents.
  • Create health promotion projects in the community.

Encourage students to tell their parents about health and safety behaviors learned in school.

Examples include the importance of:

  • Hand washing.
  • Using seat belts and helmets.

Ask parents to engage their children in health-related learning experiences.

This might involve:

  • Cooking dinner.
  • Shopping for healthy foods.
  • Reading labels on over-the-counter medicines.

5. Encourage parents to be part of decision making in schools

Involve students, parents, and community members in helping the school make decisions that improve the health and well-being of students. This may involve:

  • Parent Teacher Association (PTA).
  • Parent Teacher Organization (PTO).
  • School health councils.
  • School action teams.
  • Other school groups.

Involve parents in choosing health and physical education curricula with the help of tools. Tools include:

Give parents opportunities to help develop or review school health and safety policies. Policies may pertain to:

  • Alcohol, drug, and tobacco use prevention.
  • Injury and violence prevention.
  • Foods and beverages allowed at school parties.
  • Frequency of class celebrations involving unhealthy foods; and nonfood rewards.

Refer to CDC's School Health Index: A Self-Assessment and Planning Guide (SHI).

6. Collaborate with the community

  • Invite community partners, who provide health services for students or parents, to school or parent meetings. These partners can talk about their services, mission, and how they work with the school and students' families.
  • Collaborate with community partners to provide health services at school that meet the needs of students and their families. Services might include health screenings, immunizations, dental services, and substance abuse treatment.
  • Link family members to school and community programs that promote health and safety. Options may be booster seat loaner programs, conflict resolution training, and mental health services.

a Epstein JL, Sanders MG, Sheldon S, et al. School, Family, and Community Partnerships: Your Handbook for Action. 3rd ed. Corwin Press; 2008.

  • Be part of a dedicated team or committee that oversees parent engagement.
  • Identify challenges that keep parents from being engaged in school health activities.
  • Work with parents to tailor school events and activities to address those challenges.

Resources

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Content Source:
Adolescent and School Health; National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion