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Building Sustaining Advocacy Teams in Challenging Times
By Amanda Trimillos, EdD Advocacy, communication, and partnership are all terms often used early in a military-connected student’s transition to a new campus. Shifts in learning platforms to e-learning, hybrid learning, and social distancing have challenged schools and families to become creative in how they build, operate, and strengthen student-advocacy…
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First Parent-Teacher Conference at a New School
by Stacy Allsbrook-Huisman Parent-teacher conferences are essential checkpoints for military students attending a new school. Parent-teacher conferences are the speed bump during the Seasons of Transition ™, an event in which parents and teachers can align their expectations. This usually takes place six weeks after the start of school. And in…
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Back to School: Supporting Teachers Strengthens the Team
By Terri Barnes Building a strong student-advocacy team is essential for military-connected students. As the school year begins in a pandemic environment, now more than ever, the team-building strategy should include supporting teachers, as well as students. Military-connected students at new schools won’t be the only ones navigating a new…
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Superintendent Emphasizes Support for Teachers, Students, Parents
By Terri Barnes Jesse Najera is the superintendent of Silver Valley Unified School District in California. He is also a member of the California State Council of the Military Interstate Children’s Compact Commission. Military-connected students make up seventy-five percent of Silver Valley’s 2,200 students. The district’s seven schools, Pre-K to…
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Start Early for a Strong Student-Advocacy Team
The Season of Arriving is a crucial time for military-connected students. As school transitions are happening alongside pandemic conditions, students and parents are facing the possibility of an academic year that is either partially or completely online–at a new and unfamiliar school. No matter what kind of classes are planned…
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Bringing School Home: Focus on the Possibilities
By Terri Barnes As schools around the world respond to the spread of coronavirus by shifting to online classes for essential instruction, military-connected students and their parents are bringing school home. While schools create virtual learning environments and provide curriculum, parents find themselves involved in their children’s education in new…
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Seasons Book Clubs Engage Networks of Support
By Amanda Trimillos A good book club is an opportunity to gather with friends, enjoy favorite beverages, snacks, and good conversation. The best book clubs are those where everyone in the room is engaged in the book, eager to know more, and ready to dig into the content. This describes…
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Holidays During Deployment: Tips for Teachers and Parents
Special occasions and holidays during deployment can be difficult for military-connected students and their families. For any celebration, adding a deployment subtracts a parent and raises the stakes. Teachers and parents can still make special days joyful and inclusive with awareness and thoughtful planning. In any season, says teacher and…
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Teachers: Supporting Students Before, During, and After Deployment
By Amanda Trimillos When is the right time to inform teachers about a deployment? Before, during, after? The answer is all of the above. Teachers want to know about events in a student’s life that impact classroom behavior or learning. For military-connected students, this includes a parent’s deployment–before, during, and…
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Conference Time: Choose Student Timeline Over Tradition
By Stacy Allsbrook-Huisman When it comes to getting a student established in a new school, the student’s timeline is more important than tradition. When military students move and enter a new school, parents should ask for a parent-teacher conference within two weeks of the student’s first day. This first face-to-face…
