Advancement · Communications

Every family hears
the first message.

A new-family orientation sets how families and the school will talk for years. Plan for the families who are hardest to reach: invitations and interpreters in their languages, childcare, a second time slot. Cover the twelve topics families ask about, keep the program inside its time, and send everything to the families who could not come.

Plan an orientationWhat you get
$5one-time · every device you sign in on
Buy · $5

Included with Caveat Classroom and Whole-school licenses. Or get it in the Development and giving kit, $39 for 19 items.

Your orientations

The worked example is made up: a kindergarten evening for 64 families who speak four languages, with no Arabic interpreter yet and a program 10 minutes over. Saved on this device only.

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What you get

Advancement · Communications$5 · included with Classroom and Whole-school licenses

What you finish with
A plan per orientation with the date, families expected, length, languages spoken and interpreters booked; six preparation steps; twelve topics marked covered or not; sessions with a lead and minutes; three follow-up steps. Flags languages without an interpreter, an agenda over its time, invitations not sent inside two weeks and topics not planned; totals the program.
Who it is for
Principals, family engagement coordinators, front-office staff and PTO leaders planning orientation for new families, kindergarten or a new school year.
Format
Browser checklist with a saved plan per orientation. Prints the plan, a list of every orientation or a blank checklist; downloads a spreadsheet (.csv); exports and imports a file to share with the planning team.
Access
$5 one-time, yours on every device you sign in on; the tool opens once you are signed in with it. Included with Caveat Classroom and Whole-school licenses. Also in the Development and giving kit ($39) and the Advancement Suite pass ($99), and 1 more bundle. Everything you type stays in this browser; nothing is sent to Caveat.
Where it lives
The Communications space in Caveat Advancement.
Support
Questions about access, an order or a correction: team@caveatacademic.com.

How to use it

  1. Ask enrollment data for the languages families speak.
  2. Book interpreters and send invitations two weeks ahead.
  3. Mark which topics the program covers and who presents them.
  4. Fit the sessions inside the time, with time to move between rooms.
  5. Plan the follow-up before the evening.

Plan an orientation

Four moments

An orientation in four moments1BeforeInvite in each language ·interpreters · access · childcare2At the doorName tags in the family’s language ·a packet · a friendly face3In the roomThe twelve topics, short · time forquestions4AfterSend the packet and recording · atwo-question survey · call familieswith missing forms
The families who miss the evening are often the ones who most need the packet. Plan the follow-up before the event.

Language access is a requirement

Under federal civil rights law, schools must communicate information about school programs and activities to parents with limited English proficiency in a language they can understand, through qualified interpreters and translated documents. Children should not be used as interpreters.

Records rights

FERPA gives parents the right to see their child’s education records and to have some say over who else sees them. Schools must notify families of these rights each year and let them opt out of directory information sharing; orientation is a natural moment to explain both.

Sources

  1. U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. Department of Education. Dear Colleague Letter: English Learner Students and Limited English Proficient Parents (2015) (ed.gov).
  2. U.S. Department of Education, Student Privacy Policy Office. FERPA general guidance for parents and model annual notification (studentprivacy.ed.gov).
  3. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service. School meals: applying for free and reduced-price meals (fns.usda.gov).
  4. Mapp, K. L., & Kuttner, P. J. (2013). Partners in Education: A Dual Capacity-Building Framework for Family–School Partnerships. SEDL and U.S. Department of Education.

The worked example is made up. Federal requirements are described in general terms; your district’s policies and state rules set the details. Nothing you type is sent to Caveat. Support: team@caveatacademic.com.