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7 Reasons Why Community Involvement in Schools is Important

The commitment between the schools and community to work together is just starting for some schools, while others have reached a significant development in this regard. Each community’s involvement in schools is different as the needs of each community are different. However, the basics are the same – student success. 

Schools are essential for community involvement. They are the main point where families and children interact and learn how to be the needed successful members of society. 

Benefits of community involvement in schools

Community involvement in schools greatly benefits students, parents, and teachers. More than just offering your time, being involved in activities with your children improves the relationship between children and parents.

This is just the starter, as community involvement in schools has many benefits:

 – Improves academic engagement

 – Increases life success in the long term

 – Helps students choose higher-level programs

 – A decrease in the school dropout

Examples of community involvement in schools 

In-person events 

Having events where families can come together, share insights into their needs, put the basis of their community, and see how they can work together to create a better future for their children are great opportunities. 

Large-scale events like this help create opportunities for community participation. Significant or short-scale events effectively improve and grow community participation, connect with teachers, and understand the classroom’s needs. 

Workshops with local professionals 

Engaging businesses and professionals in holding different workshops for students and their families is also a great way of community involvement in schools. These can have different themes, and students can learn from professionals and gain skills that can help them in the real – world. They can also create relationships with these people and opt for different workshops where they can learn and help diminish teh gap between the education and the industry fields. 

Virtual experiences

Pandemic or not, virtual experiences can help communities get a hold of real-world needs. There are virtual tours students can go on and experience the community outside the classrooms. They will see how the skills they learn in education will help them solve real-world issues. 

Importance of community involvement in schools 

Advantages for teachers 

 A better understanding of children’s needs

Students whose families participate and get involved in the community at school have a more transparent life for teachers. That means teachers get to know the families they come from, their needs, how they are helped at home, and the possibilities they have. The direct relations with parents that teachers can have can help teachers understand where children need help with learning.  

Shared responsibility and accountability

Teachers have a big responsibility to provide the best education to their students. However, when a community of parents is involved in helping and supporting the student’s success, they can commit mainly to providing the best academic information. 

Advantages for students 

As parents are directly involved in their children’s education path, they help with homework, provide at-home learning opportunities, and help their children understand how to strategise their learning path. 

Increased Student Achievement

More than just making their parents proud, the happiness of having their parents at their side and guiding them cannot compare to anything. Seeing their parents’ involvement and interest in their education, children tend to follow in the footsteps their parents leave and demonstrate they can grow and learn. They will just be happy to give back to their parents the feeling of happiness when their results come in. 

Improved Attendance and Behavior

Student absenteeism can be a severe problem for today’s teenagers who lack the will and guidance from their parents or counselors. 

Thus, school initiatives involving parents and the community can help students with low attendance find their path and see how education affects their lives. This means parents that know their children’s whereabouts pay attention to their children’s needs and, listen to them, talk to them to help them solve any problems they may have in understanding a course. 

Continue with higher education

Higher education programs are sometimes seen as extra students don’t care about doing just because they can have it another way.

However, being a part of a school where community involvement shows how important education is, what they can accomplish when they are specialists in a field, and what contributions they can bring to the world can help change their minds. 

Advantages for schools

Stronger School Reputation

The success of a school is built on its reputation. 

While there is subjectivity, subjective or not, each review the parents see about the school helps them decide whether to enroll their children there. 

A school that offers the opportunity for parents to get involved and creates a solid family-school community is a school where parents feel teh needs of their daily are listened to, and they can have a say in the school’s decisions. At the end of the day, it affects their children’s future. 

Improve their practices

Once the community gets more involved in the education program, schools can discover their strengths and weakness and solve them accordingly. By finding best practices for the educational programs they offer, they can improve them and become a school where children’s success is essential. 

Conclusion

“When schools, parents, families, and communities work together to support learning, students tend to earn higher grades, attend school more regularly, stay in school longer, and enroll in higher level programs.” National Education Association (NEA)

Community involvement in schools FAQ 

Why is community involvement important in schools? 

Because of the community involvement programs, students can be more successful and engaged in their school life. This leads to higher achievement both for them as well as the school. 

What are some examples of community involvement? 

Community involvement examples can be events with local community and business, parents’ participation in after-school and extracurricular activities, and participation in the school’s decisions. 

How does community involvement in schools help students? 

More than just being thrilled to have their parents near, students are more engaged in their activities, participate in extracurricular activities, are actively more interested in the classes, and have better academic success.