School is Upon Us! Surviving School as a Long Distance Parent

So you’re in one place, your child is in another and they are getting ready to go back to school. As a long distance parent, if you want to keep up with your child, how they are doing and what they are doing, school is a big part of that. Your child spends a good portion of their life in school so the school has a lot of information about how your child is doing. The school is also obligated by law to cooperate with you.

Here are the first steps to getting involved in your child’s schooling.

Here is a letter to send to the school to remind them of your rights as a parent. You should send this each year, just to be safe.

Once you’ve got all of that under your belt, they key is to be persistent. It never fails that the school will ‘forget’ to keep you in the loop and the other parent will think it is unnecessary. It is necessary and you have to be your own advocate. Insist… politely, perhaps, but insist none the less.

At the beginning of the school year, here are the necessities to have :

• School address and phone number
• Teacher(s’) name(s)
• Teacher(s’) contact information
• Class schedule
• School handbook – gain understanding or grading periods, testing etc
• Principal, Vice Principal and School Counselor’s names and contact information

Once YOU are all set, use this as an opportunity to connect with your child about the big day!