February 21, 2016

Greetings,

We read a lot about home-school partnerships, but do they really matter?

There are countless studies that say yes, including the Harvard Family Research Project, which concluded that parental involvement is associated with higher student achievement. They found that student success was higher in a variety of areas including standardized test scores, grades and teacher ratings. Students are also more likely to enroll in higher-level programs, pass their classes, attend school regularly, have better social skills and move on to post-secondary education.

From its very beginning, Swain has depended on strong family partnerships:

"Yes, I will open a kindergarten for one year if you will find for me eight likeable boys and girls, a sunny room, some useable furniture, plenty of good books, and pay me $100.00 a month," I finally answered the two persistent and persuasive professors' wives in June 1929. Then I left for a summer of vacation fun, never dreaming they could or would fulfill all requests. But they did! And that is how 'Mrs. Swain's Kindergarten' came into being..."

- The Swain School Story: 1929-1979 by D. Esther Swain, Headmistress Emeritus

That is just as true today, as Swain families continue to support our children and school in a myriad of ways:

providing children with the support, resources and encouragement they need to be successful
volunteering their time in the library, classrooms, and lunchrooms
supporting school activities like the Auction, plays, special events, and athletics with their time and talents
serving on the Board of Trustees and Board committees
sharing their interests and expertise with our students (like the Yee family, right, who helped their son's PK class celebrate the Chinese New Year; click for more images)
donating their resources with financial and in-kind contributions

And the school's side of the partnership includes:

regularly communicating with each family, both formally and informally (for example, conferences and parent meetings, social media and email communications, chats in the hallway)
providing frequent opportunities to visit the school (like Grandparents & Special Friends Day, writing celebrations, the Art Show, concerts and performances)
offering learning opportunities to adult family members (such as recent programs on Mindfulness and families working together at Maker Saturday events - above, click for more images)
creating a school calendar and additional activities that are 'family-friendly' (think Extended Care program, scheduling programs at the beginning and end of the school day)

So the partnerships forged so long ago when The Swain School began, continue just as strongly today with intention and thoughtfulness, and the results we see play out with our children are supported by research. By articulating 'strong family partnerships' as one of our guiding principles, we effectively support our school mission:

The Swain School is a vibrant community which inspires students to achieve academic excellence, develop a strong sense of character, and act responsibly in a changing world. We empower children to build confidence, explore knowledge, and work collaboratively in a diverse and safe environment.

We hope you are following all of our Swain news on

Facebook and Twitter!

The Swain School
1100 South 24th Street
Allentown, Pennsylvania 18103