Parenting is a unique and challenging road to travel. Add about 15 years of making lunches, monitoring homework, signing up for field trips and getting your kids off to school on time to the general ups and downs of being a mom, dad, grandparent, guardian or other equally as influential role, and the road suddenly seems about 60 thousand miles longer. Wouldn’t it be great to turn to other parents for support when you’ve got a question about, say, parent-teacher conference etiquette, that you can’t seem to find an answer to? Wouldn’t it be great to celebrate your victories, large and small—from sharing that “ah-ha” math moment with your fifth grader to seeing your high school senior get into his first-choice college—with those who’ve been there?
That’s the thinking behind the GreatSchools Parent Community. We’re designing a space for you—parents—to share your strange and wonderful experiences raising school-aged children with the people most like you. We recognize that the best tips about school choice, balancing work and home life, figuring out finances and all the other day-to-day stresses come from the folks who serve on the front lines: other parents. And we want to give you the chance to learn from each other and get involved in your child’s education while being surrounded by a safe and supportive community.
So what’s on the GreatSchools Parent Community blueprint? Tools to help you publish your stories and respond to others’ contributions. Places to get answers to whatever’s on your mind. Groups where you can talk about topics and issues close to your heart with parents who care as much as you do. And features to help you meet and get to know each other.
We’ll be using this blog to introduce these pieces as they come together. Our authors range from veteran moms and active parents to former educators and tutors—some of us online community mavens (like yours truly), some of us totally new to the idea. We’re hoping you can learn from us if you need to, and, most importantly, get excited about what’s ahead.
We look forward to hearing from you!
P.S. If you haven’t yet, be sure to pre-register for community—you’ll be among the first to know when we launch! You can get started here: http://www.greatschools.net/community/communityLanding.page
