Every Family Belongs
When families feel welcomed and have opportunities to participate in ways that work for them, they can find a place to belong—and our entire school community becomes stronger.
Every Invitation Matters
For nearly three years, I was the only dad of a student regularly attending our Parent-Teacher Group meetings. And it bothered me. Not too much—but just enough to make me want to do something about it.
So I started inviting my friends.
I invited a friend whose daughter is the same age as my son. He started coming regularly. Today, he's a board member.
I invited another friend whose son is the same age as mine. He started coming regularly, too. And then he stopped.
I asked another friend, but he couldn't commit because he was already involved with another school group.
Not every invitation led to the same place. And over time, I realized that was part of the lesson.
Family involvement doesn't begin with a meeting, a position, or a title. It begins by making sure people know they're welcome. Sometimes it can be as simple as asking:
Would you like to join us?
Because sometimes finding your place begins with knowing someone thought to invite you.
Finding Your Place
I've learned that belonging doesn't always begin with volunteering. Sometimes it begins with simply walking through the school doors. And I've watched families do that in all kinds of ways through our Parent-Teacher Group events.
At Donuts with Grownups, families came together before school. At Family Movie Night, they returned for pizza and a movie. And at our Family Dance Party, the gym filled with music, laughter, and dancing.
The events were different, but what I appreciated most about them was what they made possible. Families had a reason to come together.
Parents and caregivers could meet other families. Students could share a part of their school with the people who mattered to them. And everyone had an opportunity to spend time together without being asked to attend a meeting or make another commitment.
Sometimes the invitation can simply be: Come spend some time with us. And from there, people can decide for themselves what belonging looks like.
What matters isn't that everyone participates in the same way. It's that more people have an opportunity to find a place that's right for them.
Learning From One Another
During one of our Parent-Teacher Group meetings, someone shared the fundraising results from another elementary school.
I remember being surprised.
Not because one school raised more than another, but because two schools only a mile apart could have such different experiences. Until then, most of what I understood about family involvement came from my experience at Central.
That conversation reminded me how limited one perspective can be. Grandville has seven elementary schools, each shaped by its own families and community. I realized I still had a lot to learn. And I became curious:
What could we learn from one another?
Parents and caregivers are already organizing events, leading fundraisers, and finding their own ways to strengthen their school communities:
Sometimes the answer to a challenge at one school may already exist at another.
The goal isn't for every school to do the same things in the same way. It's to discover what's already working, connect people who can help one another, and make it easier for good ideas to travel between our school communities.
I've learned a great deal from the families at Central. Now I want to learn from families throughout Grandville. Because every school community has something worth teaching.
Why I'm Running
Every family brings different experiences, talents, schedules, and ideas. I don't believe involvement should be measured by how many meetings someone attends or how often they volunteer.
What matters is whether people know there is a place for them.
I want families across Grandville to have more opportunities to find their place, connect with one another, and contribute to their school communities in ways that are meaningful to them.
Because when every family knows they belong, more people have the opportunity to contribute—and our schools are stronger because of it.