4 reasons to put Education Support Professionals at the center of your school’s family engagement strategy
For ten years, I had the privilege to have a choice to take off work and stay home to help raise my three children.
During those years, I was active in their elementary school… volunteering to pop popcorn, help with school events, and serve on the school’s parent advisory committee.
When I went back to work, I was nervous. I knew I wouldn’t be around as much, and I knew I wouldn’t have time to casually check in and see how the kids were doing. So, I reached out to the person I knew best at the school… the daytime custodian, Darlene. Darlene and I had cleaned up together after a couple of events and forged a friendship over spider plant cuttings.
I’ll never forget what I said to her:
Me: “Darlene, you gotta keep an eye on my kids.”
Darlene: “I will. Especially Benjamin. You’ve got your hands full with that one.”
Her response caught me off guard, but she was right. That’s because Darlene knew Benjamin even better than many of his teachers. She saw Benjamin outside of the classroom, in more informal settings, running late in the hallway, cutting up in the lunchroom, and playing by himself at recess. Darlene knew that Benjamin needed just a bit of extra attention and that extra set of eyes.
Educational Support Professionals, or ESPs, like Darlene play an essential role in the day-to-day work of schools. ESPs are the nurses, food service employees, custodians, paraeducators, bus drivers, secretaries, and security staff, who work to keep kids safe, fed, and ready to learn.
All of these things are critically important. Yet, we often tend to overlook another important function of ESPs: the unique role they play in welcoming, building trust and engaging families.
Here are four reasons why you should focus on supporting your front-line support staff —
#1ESPs are often the first members of the school staff that parents meet.
The secretary who helps with enrollment, the bus driver who contacts parents with the location of the bus stop, the nurse calling for vaccination forms. Each of these interactions form the first impressions families have of your school or district. When ESPs are welcoming and respectful, it sets the tone for a family’s entire school experience.
#2ESPs often interact more with parents.ESPs are the ones who see your parents the most… in the pick-up line, in the lunchroom, walking down the hallway. This creates more opportunities to get to know those parents and each one of these opportunities helps build strong relationships. Those relationships help parents feel a part of the school and that can help with engagement.
#3ESPs are often more approachable.
Conversations with teachers and principals can be intimidating for parents. Think about a conference at a big table or a formal meeting in front of a desk. Parents often view teachers and principals as authority figures. On the other hand, interactions between ESPs and parents tend to be more casual and friendly. It’s easier for ESPs to get to know families and easier for families to get comfortable enough to share information with ESPs.
And that brings me to my final point…
#4ESPs can serve as powerful communication highways.
ESPs know the families in your school. They know their struggles, their successes, and their worries. ESPs can help you better understand what’s going on in the lives of your families and work with you if you need to wrap supports around students. ESPs also know how your school works. They know your acronyms, your big words, and your processes. They can answer questions and welcome families into the learning in an approachable, non-judgement way. Above all, ESPs have the relationships to help your staff and parents understand each other and that’s where meaningful family engagement happens.
These days, my son Benjamin is in college and doing quite well. Truthfully, I have trouble remembering all of Benjamin’s teachers, but I will never forget Darlene. For me, Darlene was more than an educational support professional, she was my support professional. It may not have been part of her “official ESP job description,” but knowing she was there, in the building, every day…keeping an eye on things…made all the difference for this nervous mommy.
If you’re an ESP, or you’re looking for ways to empower your ESPs and improve family engagement this year, don’t miss my sessions at the NEA ESP Conference March 19-21. For more ideas about how to build trust with and engage families, visit my website and download my free Playbook for Clear, Effective & Meaningful School Communication
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Patricia Weinzapfel
Author, Educator, Journalist & K12 Communications Expert
IEA Education Support Professional Council 