COMMUNICATION and PARTNERSHIP: Spring Conferences are Coming Up!

March 6th 2025

Head’s Message by Dr. Jenn Milam

“...when parents and teachers work together, everyone benefits: Students tend to earn higher grades, perform better on tests, attend school more regularly, have better behavior, and show more positive attitudes toward themselves and toward school.”
- Andrea Canter, Child Mind Institute

As we round the bend toward our spring conferences next week, I thought I’d write to you about the importance of the partnership between home and school. While conferences can bring about some anxiety and worry, it’s also an opportunity to engage deeply with the person and learner your student is when they are away from you during the school day. Often, our young people share different sides of themselves with each of us, at home and school, and a conference is a unique opportunity to bring those various perspectives together to gain a fuller understanding of the progress they’re making academically, how they’re growing socially with their peers, and what areas might need a bit more attention as we work to make the most out of the last months of school.

A few helpful hints as you think about your conferences next Thursday, March 13:

COME READY TO LEARN!

Kids, no matter how small or how big, are often quite the puzzle! While they excel in one area, another may be their achilles heel. While we can acknowledge their strengths in reading, for example, their work effort and skill in math may need some attention. Your darling may not be an issue at home, but may be struggling to connect and maintain friendships at school. In short, the juxtapositions of development are many and rarely is a student fully formed in the years between Kindergarten and graduation.

Your conference is a chance to learn about who your student is at school. Their strengths, their areas for growth and refinement, and yes, even the areas where teachers have concerns that need to be addressed. It’s wise to keep in mind that when a teacher provides evidence or feedback that may be hard to hear, it’s equally as hard to deliver. However, I have encouraged our teachers to be honest, to be compassionate, and to be very clear about their concerns. In this case, honesty is kindness - we can’t get better and your students can’t reach their full potential if we’re not honest about where they are and where they need support.

HAVE A GROWTH MINDSET!

I have a little POP QUIZ for you!

At what age is the frontal lobe of your child’s brain fully developed?

The correct answer is TWENTY FIVE - yes, 25! That means we are a long way from fully-formed frontal lobes here at The Winston School! This is a GIFT beyond measure!

Your conference next Thursday should be a journey - a journey to hearing about progress, setbacks, skills that need to be refined, and wins (big and small!) in the classroom. It’s time to evaluate the process - not the product (we’re still working on that!) - and how you might adjust, refine, or change the routines and processes at home to support learning, academic growth, and personal development. Be open to a new check-list, be welcoming of suggestions to reframe the homework space or the way you prepare for a school day, and most of all, be generous in your reception of feedback. Hard or more formative and critical feedback is difficult to give…and if you are receiving it, it means we trust you and our relationship enough to be honest, forthright, and clear about what it’s going to take for your student to be their very best.

BRING YOUR IDEAS, TOO!

While you come to conferences hoping to hear from us, we invite you to bring your wisdom too! As your child’s first teacher and their biggest fan, you can offer us insight, feedback, and tidbits of wisdom that will help us to serve your students better, to love them more fully, and to bolster them when needed. We appreciate hearing about eating patterns, sensory aversions or challenges, or how they reset or “shift” at home when feelings get big and they are overwhelmed. These pieces of information and insight help us to do our job better and give us more “tools in our toolbox” to use when we reach an impasse in the classroom.

The Winston School is a college-preparatory school for children with diverse learning needs. We are so proud to serve one of the most diverse student populations in the metro. We are honored to be a part of your family’s journey and your student’s life. Please join us for conferences next Thursday, March 13, from 3:30-8:00pm.

Scheduling instructions have been sent to your email and we look forward to seeing you!