How to Increase Parent Engagement in Schools: 5 Ways to Build Stronger Family Connections
By Dr. David Martin | Motivate Me
A school plans a parent event. Staff prepare the room, send invitations, and get everything ready. Then only a handful of families show up.
It can be discouraging. But an empty chair does not tell us the whole story about a parent’s commitment to their child.
Some families are balancing work schedules, transportation, childcare, or uncertainty about what to expect. Others may only hear from school when something has gone wrong. Before we plan another event, we need to ask: What would help our families feel welcome, heard, and equipped to participate?
As a professional speaker, educational consultant, husband, and father, I care about helping schools and families work together. Through Martin’s Empowerment Group, my parent workshops and Dad’s Club conversations create opportunities to discuss the everyday choices that support a child’s growth.
Here are five practical ways schools can strengthen parent engagement.
1. Build relationships before asking for attendance
An invitation means more when a family already feels connected to the people sending it.
Make room for positive contact. Share a student’s progress, recognize an act of kindness, or let a parent know that their child’s effort was noticed. Ask families how they prefer to communicate and use the language and format they can access.
A simple message can open a door: “Your child showed leadership today, and I wanted you to know.”
When I facilitate parent conversations, I want families to feel respected. That starts with recognizing what they already bring to their child’s life and making space for their questions.
Try this: Choose a manageable routine for positive family contact. Keep it brief, specific, and personal.
2. Give parents a clear reason to participate
“Come to our parent meeting” tells families where to go. It may not tell them why the meeting matters.
Make the invitation useful and specific. A session might help parents start better conversations with their children, support routines at home, respond to negative influences, or communicate more confidently with teachers.
For example: “Join us for a practical conversation about helping your child make better choices and stay connected to school.”
My Power Parent workshops offer a setting for those conversations. I use my PPT Formula, People, Places, and Thinking, to help families reflect on the influences surrounding their children:
People: Who is speaking into your child’s life? Who can encourage and guide them?
Places: What environments help your child feel safe, supported, and ready to grow?
Thinking: What messages is your child hearing about their ability, choices, and future?
These questions give parents something concrete to discuss and apply after the event.
3. Ask families what makes participation difficult
Before assuming a parent is uninterested, ask what stands in the way.
Schools can use a short survey, a phone conversation, or a few questions at pickup to learn which times work, which topics families need, and what support would make attendance possible.
Depending on available resources, consider different meeting times, a brief virtual option, translated invitations, or activities that allow children to attend with their caregivers. Offer a short recap for families who cannot come.
Try this: Ask, “What is one change that would make it easier for you to participate?” Then explain which suggestions the school can act on.
When discussing a workshop with a school, I want to understand the families it serves and the challenges school leaders are seeing. That helps us shape a conversation around the campus’s needs.
4. Create an intentional invitation for fathers and father figures
Fathers and father figures need to know that there is a place for them in the school community.
A Dad’s Club can give dads, grandfathers, and other caring father figures a setting to build relationships, discuss their role, and identify practical ways to support students. Schools should also continue welcoming mothers, guardians, and all caregivers through their broader family engagement efforts.
In my work facilitating Dad’s Club conversations, I focus on presence, encouragement, responsibility, and communication. A father figure does not need to have every answer to make a meaningful contribution.
Start with a specific invitation: “We want your voice and involvement. Join us to talk about ways father figures can support our students.”
Then give participants a next step that fits school procedures, such as attending another discussion, supporting a reading activity, or learning about approved volunteer opportunities.
5. Follow the event with one practical action
A strong parent event should leave families with something they can use at home.
Keep the next step simple. Ask parents to try one daily conversation, establish one routine, or make one positive connection with the school.
One conversation starter is: “What was one good thing about today, and what was one hard thing?” Listen before moving into advice or correction.
My Front Row Parent approach centers on helping parents become intentional participants in their child’s growth. Through parent workshops and ongoing conversations, I encourage families to connect everyday actions with the support their children need.
Schools can follow up with a short reminder and a question: “Were you able to try the conversation starter? What did you notice?”
Measure connection as well as attendance
Attendance is useful information, but it is only one part of the picture. Schools can also ask whether families felt welcomed, learned something useful, know whom to contact, and want to participate again.
Start with a simple question at the end of an event: “What is one thing you will use, and what would you like us to talk about next?”
Those answers can help the school plan its next conversation and give families a voice in the process.
How I help schools strengthen parent engagement
Through Martin’s Empowerment Group, I partner with schools and educational organizations to create practical, encouraging conversations for parents and caregivers. Depending on your campus’s goals, that can include:
Power Parent workshops focused on family influence, communication, and supporting children’s choices.
Dad’s Club facilitation that invites fathers and father figures into meaningful school involvement.
Front Row Parent conversations about being present and intentional in a child’s growth.
Family engagement presentations shaped around the audience and the priorities identified by school leaders.
My role is to support your school’s ongoing family engagement work with a message families can understand, remember, and begin applying. Together, we can identify the purpose of the session, the audience you want to reach, and a practical next step for participants.
Want to build stronger connections with the families on your campus?
Dr. David Martin is a professional speaker, educational consultant, author, and founder of Martin’s Empowerment Group in Port Arthur, Texas. His work focuses on educating, empowering, and inspiring students, educators, and families.
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