Last updated by Kasey Murphy on 10/07/2021

If you and your children are thinking of going from a public school to a private school - or independent school- there are definitely a few things that should be taken into consideration. Beyond your child’s education! 

There are many resources that can help you understand the transition of your child from public school to independent schools, but what this article is going to focus on is mainly parent involvement. 

In private or independent schools, parent involvement is very important and usually evaluated! 

As a volunteer time tracking software, we are often used for parent involvement tracking within independent schools. 

The importance of parent involvement varies from each independent school. Parent involvement could be in the classroom, outside of the classroom, or in a family setting with volunteering and community involvement. This guide lists all of the ways parent involvement can be encouraged in a school! 

Parent involvement can be tracked via hours that parents and families put into the independent school or into values that the school holds high. 

For example, The Academy for Classical Education has a Parent Teacher Organization that organizes different events and activities for families of the school to attend and work. The independent school requires families to complete 20 hours of volunteer work for the PTO in order for their child to be enrolled in school for the following school year! They use a parent involvement tracker to do this. 

Also, St Matthew Catholic School runs off of a church and allows a tuition scheme for families to do community engagement and work for the church to lessen the financial burden of tuition. This incentive is not uncommon for independent schools, and it shows just how important parent involvement is for independent schools! Having parents and children who are happy at independent schools and are involved with the school and community as a whole allows independent schools to better educate their children and connect with the community. In addition, tracking these parent involvement and family commitment volunteer hours is extremely important for the independent school to analyze the value of the volunteer hours, and effectively decrease tuition. 

And in another independent school, Greer Middle School, both students, and parents are tracked for their community service hours. Students must complete 50 in a year, and parents must complete 36. Independent schools are able to create strong connections with the community and many philanthropic connections, which is a wonderful learning experience for students. When their parents are involved, it is an even great experience for independent schools. 

What Can Be Expected Of You, As A Parent, For Parent Involvement In Independent Schools

The importance of parent involvement in schools goes towards a couple of different benefits. When a parent is involved with children’s education, school, and community, there is a better sense of togetherness with the family and the school. This togetherness allows students to feel more comfortable, confident and connected to their schoolwork, education, and community. 

Students that feel connected with their education and community can go on to do great work and build their ethical mind beyond their schoolwork. But, in addition, they can succeed more knowing that their parents are also in the school journey with them. 

It seems like a lot, but parent involvement has been proven to really help a child when they are in school. Independent schools, in general, are more likely to include parent involvement and volunteerism within their school because they have private funding to help use tools like Track It Forward to track their parent involvement and encourage students and families to complete their volunteer hours. 

In addition, independent schools like to feel connected to families and the community. Tracking parent involvement and creating events and tasks for parents and families to do together is a wonderful way to achieve this. 

Here are some parent involvement ideals that you can expect, moving into private and independent schools. 

• A required amount of volunteer hours for parents. 

• Encouragement of parent/family involvement in school events.

• A required amount of time and resources lent to help school initiatives. 

• Parent outreach to acquaintances that can help the independent school. 

• Different types of volunteer events - from within the school, PTO, or individual classes. 

Parent involvement is a great way to showcase to a school that you are committed to your child’s education. And, it shows your child that you are supportive of their school, education, and exterior endeavors - like volunteer work!