Schools should evaluate what is feasible for them. Some ways school staff can encourage parenting support include:

• Offering parent education classes, seminars, and workshops on health topics that relate directly to lessons taught in health education and physical education classes.
• Establishing a parent resource center focused on child and adolescent health and other family issues.
• Holding school-sponsored, health-related activities in settings where parental presence is already high (e.g., neighborhood events, faith-based institutions).

Schools can collaborate with community organizations to provide parent education classes on the following topics:

• Understanding child and adolescent development.
• Praising and rewarding desirable health behaviors.
• Setting expectations for appropriate healthy behavior and academic performance.
• Talking with children about health-related risks and behaviors.
• Monitoring children’s daily activities.
• Modeling healthy behaviors.
• Strengthening leadership and advocacy skills.

Schools can send communications to parents regarding promotion of school meal programs, healthy fundraisers, healthy celebrations and events, physical education programs, and other opportunities to be involved.

Schools can create opportunities for parents to volunteer by:

• Encouraging parents to serve as mentors, coaching assistants, monitors, chaperones, and tutors.
• Inviting parent volunteers to lead lunchtime walks, weekend games, or after-school exercise programs.
• Enlisting parent volunteers to staff school facilities after school hours, thereby allowing community access to safe facilities for physical activity.
• Inviting parents to join the school wellness committee that sets the policies for health and wellness.
• Involving parents in conducting taste tests of healthier snacks and beverage options.
• Encouraging parents to join their children to eat school breakfast or lunch meals.
• Encouraging parents to reduce at-home sedentary screen time, such as time spent on television and video games.

Some techniques school staff can use to enhance learning at home include:

• Involving parents in discussions about health topics with their children.
• Identifying health promotion projects in the community that could involve parents.
• Encouraging students to teach their parents about health and safety behaviors they learn in school.

School staff can engage parents in decision making by:

• Creating policies that institutionalize parent representation on decision-making groups (e.g., school health councils and school health teams).
• Providing opportunities for parents to give feedback on the school’s meal program and letting them know the outcome.
• Inviting parents to serve in leadership positions to assist with school decisions in developing school health policies, health curricula, food and beverage selections for school breakfasts and lunches, health services and referral procedures, and other programs.

Community-based organizations include businesses, cultural and civic organizations, social service agencies, faith-based organizations, health clinics, and colleges and universities.

Schools should evaluate what is feasible for them. Some ways to collaborate with the community include:

• Inviting community partners who provide health services to school or parent meetings.
• Creating agreements with community partners to develop and support school health programs.
• Creating a system that links families to community health and social service resources, activities, and events.