Location

Warm Springs Elementary School
1114 Wasco Street
Warm Springs, Oregon 97761

Contact

Dawn Smith, Principal
Phone: 541-553-1128
E-mail: dsmith@509j.net

Trusting Relationships Create Foundation for School Improvement

The principal and staff of Warm Springs Elementary have years of experience working with their community to guide them in creating partnerships with families. Located on the Warm Springs Reservation, 20 miles from Madras on the eastern side of Mt. Hood, the school has educated generations of families from the reservation. Ninety-eight percent of the children are Native American, descended from one of three tribes—the Wasco, Paiute, and Warm Springs people—that were settled on the 644,000-acre reservation by a 19th-century government treaty.

Achievement is increasing among students, and the school has a welcoming, caring, and trusting culture; most teachers have stayed for more than 10 years, and the children feel safe and secure. This culture was not always so welcoming, however. Before Dawn Smith became principal in 1994, faculty turnover was very high. Families were not able to build relationships with teachers who quit every year. Academic achievement was also low; 70 percent of students were below grade level. "The school used to be more isolated from the community," Smith, a teacher at the time, remembers, "and if parents came to the school, it was for a negative reason, such as for disciplinary issues. This put parents on the defensive, and we are working hard to overcome these issues still."

Smith and her staff's dedication to ensuring that all the children succeed has caused test scores to rise dramatically in the last few years. In 2002–2003, close to 70 percent of all students (and Native American students as a group) met state standards in English/language arts and 60 percent in math—the target was 40 percent for language arts and 39 percent for math. Warm Springs achieved Adequate Yearly Progress in all areas but one: attendance, which was 91 percent (92 percent needed to reach the target). There are various reasons for the lower attendance, explains Smith, but the reality is that families need to travel long distances during the day to do business and to obtain basic medical, financial, and other services, and often need to take their children with them.

Smith has redoubled efforts to increase attendance beyond the 92 percent. She knows involving families is crucial. "What doesn't work," she says, "is to send home an official letter outlining the consequences." Instead, she and her staff talk with the families and/or send personal letters home that express their concern that students will fall behind if they don't attend school. "We tell parents that their most important role is to get their children to school," Smith adds. Positive publicity for increasing attendance numbers is another strategy. They are posted everywhere in the small community, at the post office, tribal center, and grocery store, and at the school's front entrance. The school's Web site has a running banner that tells the attendance for each day, and the monthly attendance (for September 2003 it was 94 percent).

Smith expects the families to be partners with the school to ensure the children achieve state standards. She explains to the families what the school's improvement goals are and provides them with copies of the standards and of test results, and explains how activities they do are tied to each standard. "They have to know everything the staff does," she says. "We ask families, how can you help with our goals?" Examples of activities to assist families with meeting the goals are the "Accelerated Reading Nights," during which families take the tests alongside their children.

First- and second-grade teacher Angie David has been at Warm Springs for 10 years, beginning her first year of teaching here, the same year Smith started as principal. She became interested in the position because Smith challenged her at a job fair to "only come back and talk with me if you are serious about teaching here for five years." David admits to being taken aback at first by such directness, but was intrigued and motivated to interview and teach at Warm Springs because of Smith's high expectations for both the children and staff. Now, 10 years later, David is very involved and a part of the community (she laughs, "I married a tribal member, how much more involved can you get?").

David focuses on building trusting relationships at the beginning of the school year. She writes a letter to each family during the first three weeks, and adds a personal note about each student. She makes as many phone calls as she can the first month, especially to let families know about accomplishments, such as doing well in a spelling bee. "Then, when I need the family's help to help students, I have already established a good relationship."

David and Smith offer some tips for creating positive, trusting relationships:

• Encourage staff members to be active in the community. "Most of our teachers live off the reservation, because of limited housing, so they try to adjust their schedule to get involved in community celebrations," says Smith. "We also keep the school open longer in the evening for teachers and families to meet."
• Learn as much as you can about the cultures of your students. Families will remember that you had the interest and respect for them to do this. Also, show your respect and support for family members by attending community gatherings, especially funerals.
• Make communication personal with handwritten notes and phone calls. Teachers need to make positive contact with families, so when they must communicate something negative, there is already a relationship built between teacher and family.
• Families love it when you memorize their names—this tells them that you are a person to be trusted.
• At family conferences, keep a positive focus on the child. It is best to not sit across the table from the parent, which can set up an intimidating relationship. It is also helpful to understand that for many, direct eye contact may be intimidating.
• Give families time to talk about their children—don't talk at them too much.
• Looping the first and second grade, so that students have the same teacher for their first two years, has worked to build a close relationship between families and teachers.

Smith sums up her philosophy on building trust in this way: "I think it all goes back to that well-worn and very true educational saying, 'Parents really don't care how much you know until they know how much you care.' Also, it's good to remember that parent involvement can take many different forms, it doesn't necessarily mean the physical presence of the parent in the school. Parents who can't make it in to school can, and most often do, support school efforts by reading at home at night, making sure their children are in school rested and well, and reinforcing school expectations every morning before their child leaves for school. As school staff, you may never see them, but you experience the results of their involvement daily."

"Once you have the family's support," David concludes, "you really have it, and they'll support you in any way they can."