Burrell aims to strengthen district-community relationship with 'fireside chat'

One of the goals of Burrell’s fall fireside chats is to strengthen the district’s relationship with the community.

And the s’mores aren’t too bad, either.

The district’s second annual fall gathering, held Thursday night, included several campfires across the high school’s parking lot for students, teachers, parents and administrators to discuss the relationship between the community and the school district.

Notetakers at each campfire recorded feedback. Burrell’s Director of Curriculum and Development Autumn Turk said the district will compile that information to plan future family engagement events.

About 100 people attended the event.

Burrell’s Parents as Allies team and Communities in Schools hosted the event. Parents as Allies is made up of parents, teachers and administrators who are passionate about family engagement, Turk said. Its goal is to build trust and strengthen relationships.

“It’s also important to see how other people feel about the high school and what it’s been doing, because as a student, I think it’s been going pretty well for me, but it might be more difficult for others,” Burrell senior Mark Cosentino said.

“And it’s nice to see an insight to what other parents think about how their children are being treated in school and problems that they are having within the district. It’s nice to hear back. We try to figure out ways to fix that, so it overall just makes the school a better place for everyone.”

Burrell High School’s Interact Club also helped to coordinate the event. Student Emma Conte said the fireside chats and other family engagement events are important to the community.

“To have this small community and to be able to talk, it’s great to be able to have a real sense of community,” Conte said. “I know that word gets thrown around a lot … but to have a place where you can have high-schoolers get together, middle-schoolers get together, a place for elementary kids to interact with high schoolers, I think that’s really important.”

In the discussions, facilitators with Parents as Allies and school administrators asked students and their families what brought them to the event, what the school can do to keep them engaged and if they feel they have a good relationship with teachers and their schools.

Other questions included what is being done well at the district and school levels and what can be improved upon.

Discussions included the best ways to communicate with families — how often and what platform, be it text, calls or emails. Others were more humorous, like an idea to give students the day off after Halloween.

Twaina Williams, a parent co-lead of Parents as Allies, said she was pleased with the turnout and the engagement.

“All of the groups are really engaged, which is great to see, and that’s what we want,” she said.

Also a parent of two Burrell graduates and a current middle-schooler, Williams said events like Thursday’s build relationships and earn trust between the school and community.

“It’s good to hear parents and students say, ‘We’re doing something to get them involved.’ They appreciate that,” she said.