Baltimore Design School
SWOT Analysis - How can we engage diverse families in and out of school to strengthen a vision and mission committed to student learning?
Index
Introduction
Strengths
Weaknesses
Opportunities
Threats
Introduction
Engaging students and families is a critical part of creating a learning environment where all students will thrive. I will analyze the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats that our current systems surrounding family engagement and community partnerships. I will use this analysis to outline ways we can improve in these efforts.
01
Strengths
Strengths
We also host events for families to engage with English and Math curriculum and learn more about how to help their students succceed. We have a School Family Council that engages families in some decision-making, especially when it comes to our budget. I believe that the majority of families support our efforts towards the vision and mission at home. While we have a plethora of community partnerships and orgganizations that support our students, families and school, especially when it comes to design programming, many of them do not include information sharing. We have a weekly food pantry, offer mental health resources and have a community schools site specialist who supports families with many other needs.
'At Baltimore Design School we use Parent Square to communicate with families. The app is user friendtly, with the option of accessing the website or app, on a computer or phone. In addition, we have active social media accounts that can provide families with information about activities and programming. We have opportunities for families to volunteer for field trips and school events, and signing up for these opportunities usually happen on Parent Square, generating plenty of interested families. We host parent information sessions at the beginning of the school year to review curriculum, academic and social emotional supports.
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02
Weaknesses
Weaknesses
Greatest challenges
Some of our greatest challenges lie in getting families to engage initially. Once we have them on Parent Square or get them into the building, we are usually able to keep them coming, but one major set-back for us is that we often struggle to engage families when they enter. We offer in person onboarding sessions for our new families and have about 80% of families attend, but those who don't, we struggle to get in touch with.
Additionally, it is difficult to engage families in academic content and decision making. Our back to school night is packed, our family game night is usually a hit, fashion shows are a huge success, but literacy night has an underwhelming turnout. Math night is similar with low attendance. Families want to come to fun events but don't seem to bring the same energy when it comes to academics.
Not all staff use parent square.
What about Teachers and staff?
Staff
Not all teachers want to communicate with families.
Teachers
A major issue is consistency in comunication efforts from staff. Many staff, especially veteran teachers, have become families with parent square and use it on a daily basis to communicate with families. However, there are still teachers who prefer to use their cell phone or email, and some who do not wish to communicate with families unless there is a serious need, at which point, it is often too late.
Not all staff and teachers use any consistent form of communication.
Consistency
Families feel out of the loop by the time they hear from someone.
Families
Where do we struggle?
We know we struggle most with academically focused events and to engage teachers with families to better support students.
Literacy and Math nights are not producing results in the way we would like and are not supporting student achievement.
03
Opportunities
And
Building on Strengths
Unpacking Weaknesses
Because we know that families will show up for the art shows, the fashion shows, the fun and super engaging events, we can incorporate academics into these fun sessions for families.
If we could incorporate academic needs into some of our fun events and engage teachers to be a part of them, we could begin to foster relationships among teachers and families.
Who can help?
teachers and staff
community site specialist
families and community
What can we do differently?
Contextualize your topic with a subtitle
Teacher Buy-In
Identify families not engaging in Parent Square
Call and Contact
Ask teachers about communication preferences, needs, and make decisions together.
Reach out and check in with new families about communication.
Identify barriers and get them set up with an account.
Feedback
Merging Events
Innovative Solutions
Get feedback from teachers and families about events and communication.
Create ways to merge fun and exciting family events with academic ones.
Think about new ways to engage with families and the community.
threats
threats
We are not working collaboratively through this process. Teachers are told to use Parent Square, and are told what events to attend. There is not much say in these matters, which is problematic when it comes to getting buy in. To avoid distractions and procrastination, feedback needs to be obtained as soon as possible. We need to identify teacher preferences and move forward with trying new things together.
Our biggest obstacles to change are those faculty members and families who are resistant to trying new things and changing their ways. We need to find a way to reach all of our families, but teachers need to lead this process and if they do not want to comunicate with families, we will hit a road block.
TRICK
Interactivity is the key piece to capturing the interest and attention of your audience. A genially is interactive because your audience explores and engages with it.
Baltimore Design School
Lindsay
Created on October 9, 2025
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Transcript
Baltimore Design School
SWOT Analysis - How can we engage diverse families in and out of school to strengthen a vision and mission committed to student learning?
Index
Introduction
Strengths
Weaknesses
Opportunities
Threats
Introduction
Engaging students and families is a critical part of creating a learning environment where all students will thrive. I will analyze the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats that our current systems surrounding family engagement and community partnerships. I will use this analysis to outline ways we can improve in these efforts.
01
Strengths
Strengths
We also host events for families to engage with English and Math curriculum and learn more about how to help their students succceed. We have a School Family Council that engages families in some decision-making, especially when it comes to our budget. I believe that the majority of families support our efforts towards the vision and mission at home. While we have a plethora of community partnerships and orgganizations that support our students, families and school, especially when it comes to design programming, many of them do not include information sharing. We have a weekly food pantry, offer mental health resources and have a community schools site specialist who supports families with many other needs.
'At Baltimore Design School we use Parent Square to communicate with families. The app is user friendtly, with the option of accessing the website or app, on a computer or phone. In addition, we have active social media accounts that can provide families with information about activities and programming. We have opportunities for families to volunteer for field trips and school events, and signing up for these opportunities usually happen on Parent Square, generating plenty of interested families. We host parent information sessions at the beginning of the school year to review curriculum, academic and social emotional supports.
Write a catchy headline
Contextualize your topic with a subtitle
With Genially templates, you can include visual resources to leave your audience speechless. You can also highlight a specific phrase or fact that will be etched in your audience's memory and even embed external content that surprises: videos, photos, audios... Whatever you want! Did you know that Genially allows you to share your creation directly, without the need for downloads? Ready for your audience to view it on any device and share it anywhere.
What you read: interactivity and animation can turn boring content into something fun. At Genially, we use AI (Awesome Interactivity) in all our designs, so you can level up with interactivity and turn your content into something that adds value and engages.
+ INFO
02
Weaknesses
Weaknesses
Greatest challenges
Some of our greatest challenges lie in getting families to engage initially. Once we have them on Parent Square or get them into the building, we are usually able to keep them coming, but one major set-back for us is that we often struggle to engage families when they enter. We offer in person onboarding sessions for our new families and have about 80% of families attend, but those who don't, we struggle to get in touch with.
Additionally, it is difficult to engage families in academic content and decision making. Our back to school night is packed, our family game night is usually a hit, fashion shows are a huge success, but literacy night has an underwhelming turnout. Math night is similar with low attendance. Families want to come to fun events but don't seem to bring the same energy when it comes to academics.
Not all staff use parent square.
What about Teachers and staff?
Staff
Not all teachers want to communicate with families.
Teachers
A major issue is consistency in comunication efforts from staff. Many staff, especially veteran teachers, have become families with parent square and use it on a daily basis to communicate with families. However, there are still teachers who prefer to use their cell phone or email, and some who do not wish to communicate with families unless there is a serious need, at which point, it is often too late.
Not all staff and teachers use any consistent form of communication.
Consistency
Families feel out of the loop by the time they hear from someone.
Families
Where do we struggle?
We know we struggle most with academically focused events and to engage teachers with families to better support students.
Literacy and Math nights are not producing results in the way we would like and are not supporting student achievement.
03
Opportunities
And
Building on Strengths
Unpacking Weaknesses
Because we know that families will show up for the art shows, the fashion shows, the fun and super engaging events, we can incorporate academics into these fun sessions for families.
If we could incorporate academic needs into some of our fun events and engage teachers to be a part of them, we could begin to foster relationships among teachers and families.
Who can help?
teachers and staff
community site specialist
families and community
What can we do differently?
Contextualize your topic with a subtitle
Teacher Buy-In
Identify families not engaging in Parent Square
Call and Contact
Ask teachers about communication preferences, needs, and make decisions together.
Reach out and check in with new families about communication.
Identify barriers and get them set up with an account.
Feedback
Merging Events
Innovative Solutions
Get feedback from teachers and families about events and communication.
Create ways to merge fun and exciting family events with academic ones.
Think about new ways to engage with families and the community.
threats
threats
We are not working collaboratively through this process. Teachers are told to use Parent Square, and are told what events to attend. There is not much say in these matters, which is problematic when it comes to getting buy in. To avoid distractions and procrastination, feedback needs to be obtained as soon as possible. We need to identify teacher preferences and move forward with trying new things together.
Our biggest obstacles to change are those faculty members and families who are resistant to trying new things and changing their ways. We need to find a way to reach all of our families, but teachers need to lead this process and if they do not want to comunicate with families, we will hit a road block.
TRICK
Interactivity is the key piece to capturing the interest and attention of your audience. A genially is interactive because your audience explores and engages with it.