While Parent and Family Night is held at KO each fall, this year the event was hosted on Zoom, altering the annual experience.
This is a night when parents traditionally come to school to see what their children are learning in each class. Parents meet each other and get acquainted with teachers while they run through their child’s schedule. During each short class, teachers explain their curriculum and often give parents example activities which replicate the students’.
“Frankly, one of my favorite things about family night is connecting on a human level with the parents,” history teacher Katie McCarthy said. “A lot of parents were still smiling and nodding, but there was less informal conversation and banter, and I really missed that.”
Due to the lack of in-person interaction, there were fewer one-on-one parent-teacher conversations. French teacher Ryan Brodeur agreed with Ms. McCarthy’s sentiment. “The magic of Parent Night is in the aside moments, not the actual ten minute class periods,” he said. “I love when there are parents that linger or come early; having small chats when walking to your car are my favorite conversations, but they didn’t really happen because we were online.
Despite the obstacles preventing some of these connections, teachers and parents agree that the night was still a success for the current circumstances. “I honestly think with the parameters that were being dealt with, it was the best that we could do,” Ms. McCarthy said. “It made me appreciate the Family Night in a way that I haven’t before.”
“The great thing about Parent Night is you get to see where your students come from, putting faces together.” Mr. Brodeur said. This was doubly important this year because of the increased difficulty with forming student-teacher connections.
This year’s online version of Parent Night also had advantages that the in-person event lacked. Parents were able to join from wherever they were at that time; this provided convenience for parents on business trips, divorced parents, or parents who were joining the call from other parts of the country.
“The best part about this night was that three sets of international parents came to my classes,” Mr. Brodeur explained. “It was the first time I was able to meet international parents, which was really cool because usually they can’t be part of this experience.”
In addition to Parent Night, there was an additional event about a week earlier which allowed teachers to connect with the families of Form Three students. A virtual meet and greet took place, where parents could meet with all of the freshmen teachers on Zoom. This usually takes place in the form of different stations in the library where parents can walk around and make introductions. Since this wasn’t possible this year, faculty used this meet and greet as a way to familiarize new families with KO and their children’s classes.
“I didn’t know what to expect for the ninth grade meetings, since I didn’t know how many parents were able to make time during the school day,” Ms. McCarthy said. “It was great because I got to get to know my new students through their parents’ eyes. Overall, the ninth-grade event and Parent Night were both positive experiences for me because even though we weren’t in person, any type of connection is important nowadays.”
