Principal Points: Using the Internet

One of the distinctive features of every Koinonia school is that it is parent-run. We are not sponsored by a church or denomination, and we are not controlled by a self-perpetuating board. Rather, complete control of the school is in the hands of parents. Only fathers with children actually in the school may sit on our school board, and only those parents who have signed the statement of faith and joined the Airdrie Koinonia Christian School Society may vote for those board members. What this means, then, is that when the board makes a decision regarding hiring, tuition, fundraising, dress code, etc., they themselves are equally subject to the effects of that decision.

In addition to the opportunity to serve on the board, parents are required to be involved directly in a few ways, most notably by monitoring, fundraising, and attendance at Parent-Teacher CARE nights. When the school began, these three requirements were set out in the form of vague commitments made in the Parents’ Code which people signed. There was no accountability, however, and it became obvious within the first year that a number of parents were not volunteering to monitor while others were carrying a pretty heavy load. So, in the second year, this was made a requirement with a dollar amount attached. Monitoring has never been a problem since.

About ten years later, after many years of cajoling parents to help with fundraising, and after many years of witnessing many families do very little to help in this area, the Board decided to set a minimum fundraising requirement of $250 per family. Since then we have always met our fundraising targets, and there has been no need to pester people to honour their Parents’ Code Commitment. Parents are free to participate in whichever events they wish to whatever extent they wish and then make up any shortfall with a cheque at the end of the year. In both these cases, bringing in some form of accountability made the difference.

About five years after that, we realized that we were witnessing declining attendance at our Parent-Teacher Fellowship nights, and so the Board decided to reverse that trend by adding a form of accountability to the commitment we make in our Parents’ Code. In addition, we changed the focus and structure of those meetings to make them even more worthwhile for those who attend. Here are the details:

First, we adopted a new name: Parent-Teacher CARE Group. CARE stands for Committed And Responsible for Education. It signifies our recognition that parents are ultimately accountable to God for the education of their children, and that therefore, they must be fully informed about the needs of their children and the work the school is doing to meet those needs. Parents and teachers must work together to ensure that AKCS maintains the values and standards that have brought us to the school that we are today.
There is a new focus: Each evening we try to include time for worship, teaching, fellowship, and prayer. We have speakers who address specific issues such as child development, discipline, parenting, sibling relationships, education issues, the media, the internet, etc. We begin and end with prayer, of course, but sometimes there is opportunity to discuss the issues in smaller groups and pray for one another and our children and our school.
There is new accountability: Attendance at each meeting leads directly to reduced tuition for the next school year. A sliding scale will be used so that attendance at each subsequent meeting will be worth double the previous meeting. The more meetings attended, the greater the reduction from next year’s tuition: One Meeting--$25; Two Meetings--$50; Three Meetings--$100; Four Meetings--$200.

This program recognizes that we live in a busy world with many other commitments as well as school, so we want to honor and reward those parents who attend. (While some people may feel that they are penalized for NOT attending, that is not the intent. There is no penalty for non-attendance, but there is a reward through reduced tuition for those who do.)

Since implementing this program (at considerable cost), we have seen participation in our PT CARE nights increase dramatically with the result that parents are more informed and better equipped. We believe that the more parents understand children, our culture, and Christian education, the stronger and more effective our school will be. This is worth paying for!

Reminders: One parent must sign in at the PT CARE Meeting in order for us to keep track of the number of meetings which you attend. (It is expected that parents will attend the entire meeting.) At the time of re-registration for the fall, you will receive a voucher to be applied to your September cheque.

Brian Hazeltine, B.Ed., M.A.
Principal, Airdrie Koinonia Christian School