At Hendersonville Elementary we understand the importance of effective communication and do our best to communicate through different venues. We know there is a significant correlation between effective communication and academic achievement. Communication  with parents ensures that students have their physical, emotional and intellectual needs met. We know that the best educational outcomes occur when each of these needs are met. We communicate through phone calls, daily behavior log, parent meetings, web page, PTO, Facebook, newsletters, Google drive, School Messenger, Twitter, Instagram, Remind 101 and videos. Projects are planned well in advance, and communication is sent to parents early so that they know what programs, events and activities will be occurring. It is important to us to share what our children are learning so parents can have conversations about topics, and can participate and support STEM learning. Parents and students often communicate how they love receiving weekly newsletters and the resources provided on the STEM page. Parents have expressed appreciation for the videos posted and especially the flipped math classroom. Communicating with and involvement of the community and parents impacts student learning in many ways. For example, some parents struggle with Common Core math. Mrs. Skidmore’s 5th grade website provides videos to support their children’s learning. With our latest school-wide STEM SPACEtacular unit, we began early to inform parents of STEM night. School messenger was used multiple times, information was posted in newsletters and on our school announcement board. We had the largest turnout that we have ever had for a curriculum event, with over 350 people attending. Students were participants and communicated and shared with their parents what their engineering challenge was and what they learned from the unit.

Also, we communicate through the local print and television media. Our local reporters share with the community what STEM is and how Hendersonville Elementary is preparing our students for their futures by implementing the 4 C “Super Skills”, project based learning and STEM.