Park Connects
Park Connects is a school-wide program designed to support our studentsā health and well-being and help reduce the risk factors that contribute to unhealthy behaviors. Park Connects brings together parents, students, faculty, and the broader community.
Our Goals
- Create, strengthen, and support the connections between and among students and adults in our community.
- Reduce the risk factors that contribute to unhealthy behaviors and strengthen the protective factors that foster young peopleās healthy development and physical, social, and emotional well-being.
Long-standing research demonstrates that prevention of unhealthy behaviors is associated with effective parenting; strong, positive family and school bonds; clear standards and limit-setting; opportunities for healthy risk-taking; postponement and/or reduction of inappropriate behaviors; and positive role models. Participants gain better understanding of:
- Risk-taking behaviors, healthy and unhealthy
- Child and adolescent development
- Effective parenting skills
- Cultural and social pressures on young people and families
- Benefits of parent networking
Parent Facilitated Discussions
Sponsored by the Parentsā Association, these grade level parent-to-parent events allow for relationships to develop, experience to be gathered, and an ethos of a connected community to be built. Conversation topics range across the developmental spectrum, such as how to get a five-year-old to fall asleep on their own, to drinking and driving for parents of teenage children. For almost 20 years, these discussion groups, led by trained parent facilitators, have created a culture of conversation and connectivity among Park parents, demonstrated by the āPark Connects momentsā ā as parents call them ā that now take place every day, in the carpool line, on the sidelines of a game, or in a phone call. As decades of research confirm, thereās no question that a more connected community provides a healthier and safer environment for all of our children.
For these Parent Facilitated Discussions, the Park Health Team will provide topics ahead of time (in addition to materials and resources) to help educate parents and guide their conversations. Members of Parkās Health Team will be present for these discussions to answer questions and share their knowledge on what theyāre seeing on the ground based on these topics. After an initial conversation, Park’s Health Team will step out of the meeting to allow parents to continue the discussions led by trained parent facilitators. Topics in this portion can include the night’s themes or any parenting issues that are top of mind for parents.
Resources
Parkās Health Team has created a large database of resources (articles, books, lectures, podcasts, etc.) that will be accessible to Park parents. These resources are intended to provide parenting education about developmentally appropriate topics that parents can access in a convenient way as needed.
Health Team Happy Hours
Get to know us! Parkās Health Team will host two meet and greet happy hours where our counselors and health educators will introduce themselves and share about divisional specific goals and initiatives. Parents will be able to connect with each other and get to know our health team in an informal ā and fun! ā way.
2024-2025 Park Connects Calendar
month/date | grade level/EVENT | time |
---|---|---|
OCTOBER
Tuesday, October 1 Wednesday, October 9 Tuesday, October 15 |
6:30 p.m. 6:30 p.m. 6:30 p.m. |
|
NOVEMBER
Wednesday, November 13 |
Grades 9ā10 Parent/Student Workshop |
6:30 p.m. |
DECEMBER
Wednesday, December 4 |
Grades 6ā8 Parent Discussion |
7 p.m. |
JANUARY
Wednesday, January 8 |
Pre-KāGrade 3 Human Sexuality with Debbie |
6 p.m. |
MARCH
Thursday, March 6 Monday, March 10 |
Grades 9ā12 Parent Discussion Grades 3ā5 Parent Discussion |
7 p.m 6:30 p.m. |
APRIL
Wednesday, April 30 |
Health Team Happy Hour |
6:30 p.m. |
Park Connects Team
Park Connects programs and activities are created and run by a team of Park School faculty and staff and advised by parent volunteers.
Vanessa Pikler & Amanda Shapiro
Park Connects Co-Chairs, Parents’ Association
Amy Ancona
Lower School Counselor
aancona@parkschool.net
Debbie Roffman
Human Sexuality and Health Educator
droffman@parkschool.net
Lauren Blum
Park Connects Coordinator
parkconnects@parkschool.net
Kara Ker & Tucker Snow
Middle and Upper School Counselors
kker@parkschool.net
tsnow@parkschool.net
Ashley Edwards
Middle and Upper School Health Educator
aedwards@parkschool.net