Conferences, Enrollment and Holidays, Oh My!

Parent-teacher conferences (more accurately referred to as family-teacher conferences) provide a great opportunity to strengthen partnerships with families. When we navigate these conferences with the understanding that families carry knowledge and are capable of supporting their student’s learning, we create space for our families to be active partners. There are practices listed in our Parent-Teacher Conferences ToolKit that will support the self-reflection, intentional planning and creation of  powerful parent-teacher conferences that strengthen your partnership with families and as a result support your student’s success in your classroom. 

Please review the Link Student Learning Toolkit (located about halfway down the page).

Reflection Questions:

• Do parents feel comfortable to share their knowledge and input during my Parent-Teacher conferences? 
• Is there anything missing in my conferences that can help with my goal of authentic partnership (ex: translation, timing that works for families, sharing various ways families can support at home)? 
• Do I create student goals with family and student input? If not, what are some strategies to bring their voice into the planning process?

As fall moves into winter, “Enrollment Season” begins in SFUSD. For families, this means exploring their school options, learning what documents are needed, and knowing the priority application deadlines to make timely decisions about what is right for them and their child.

As a reminder, families are their child's first teacher. All families want to do their best in supporting their child’s education. In order to do so, they need to understand how to navigate SFUSD, and specifically, how to navigate SFUSD’s enrollment process and current choice system.

The truth is that not all families have the same resources to understand how to select a SFUSD school for their child. SFUSD’s current enrollment system works to increase equity and diversity only if families are able to navigate the choice process and submit an application on time. SFUSD enrollment data shows that this is not always the case. Instead, it shows that white and Asian families are much more likely to submit an application by the first deadline than African American and Latinx families. By partnering with our families, we can support them to navigate the enrollment process and help shift these predictable data outcomes.

Enrollment Resources for Families

SFUSD PreK-12 Virtual Enrollment Fair

Please let SFUSD families know they are invited to the SFUSD PreK-12 Enrollment Fair. Families that have a child starting kindergarten, middle school, or high school next year are encouraged to attend this event! Help them learn how to apply and watch videos about each school--all conveniently online. Workshops will be available to learn about the enrollment process, how to apply for special education services, and more.

SFUSD families can find more information about how to apply for schools, the application deadlines, and documents needed for the enrollment process on this SFUSD webpage.

A short video is also available to learn about how student assignment works.

Contact the Enrollment Office

The Educational Placement Center (EPC), located at 555 Franklin St., is open from Monday through Friday, 8:00 am to 4:30 pm. Find out how to contact EPC here. 

Holidays and holiday celebration are a large piece of culture, and our culture is a large piece of who we are! The same can be said for our students and their families.

For this reason, when thinking about family partnership, it is important that we get to know the holidays that our students and their families celebrate (and how they celebrate!) to make our practice as affirming and as culturally responsive as possible. 

Survey for Families about Holidays

A great way to better understand the holidays that your students and families celebrate is by sending a survey to your students' families. Using a brief Google form, you might ask questions like:

• What holidays do you and your child celebrate?
• What is the name of the holiday and why do you celebrate?
• How do you typically celebrate?
• What are your favorite holidays? Why?
• How can I incorporate _____ holiday into the classroom?

Reflection Questions

Now that you've sent a survey to your students' families to better understand the holidays they celebrate and how they celebrate those holidays, you will want to think about how to incorporate that information into your practice. You might think about:

• How can you incorporate these various holidays into your communications with families? If you are sending monthly updates, what holidays are you acknowledging or not?
• What assignments or opportunities do students have to interact with their families to gain a better understanding of the holidays they celebrate? What can they learn about the history and background of the holidays they celebrate? And how are they sharing that understanding with the class?
• How are you supporting in the celebration of holidays? Are you asking your students and their families' questions to learn more? What events are you hosting at the school site?
• What holiday decorations do you use and why? Is every student and families' holiday being represented? If not, what resources and decorations can you find to use in addition to other decorations?

Calendar of Many Holidays Celebrated in the United States

Please visit this link to read through many of the holidays that are celebrated in the United States. This is not a comprehensive list, and we know many of our student and families are from different countries. That is why it is important to ask!

Additional Holiday Resources from SFUSD

• Black History Month guide (365 days a year)
• SFUSD 2020 Latinx Heritage Month Resource Guide (Sept. 15- Oct. 15)
• SFUSD 2020 Filipinx History Resource Guide (October)
• Native American Heritage Month Resources (November)