The Elma School District has hired someone to aid in the district’s attempt to better communicate with parents and the community.

Stephanie Smith, a lifelong Elma resident, was brought on in early March to fill the position of “parent and community involvement coordinator.” The part-time position is new to the district.

“Communication is vital for strong, healthy relationships (between the district, parents and community),” Smith said. “As a parent, I remember getting information that was too little, too late, or that had been crumpled up in the bottom of a backpack.”

Smith says sometimes it may feel like parents need to be detectives to navigate the school system, but she hopes that through her new role she can streamline the communication. That’s communication she says is necessary to provide students with the support they need to succeed. It’s all about setting the student up for success, she says.

“Parent involvement is statistically the highest indicator of student success, and parents really need to be their child’s first and best teacher,” Smith said.

She noted, however, that is sometimes easier said than done.

“Parenting is a really hard job,” said Smith, the mother of five. “It’s a humbling experience that can feel overwhelming and isolating at times, but when there’s a safe spot to come and ask questions you know that someone is advocating for you. There’s something almost empowering knowing that you aren’t doing this alone.”

The “safe spot” Smith mentioned is a parent education and training program that will serve to keep parents up to date about things in the district that may be too comprehensive for a newsletter. Detailed information about parent night, math night and information on the importance of a regular sleep schedule can all be found within the program.

Smith said that the importance of parental involvement in a child’s education cannot be overstated, but she also noted the important role the community plays in the development of students. Smith is in the process of coordinating a community care team that would work together in support of the district.

“We have all these spokes that need to come together to coordinate throughout the community,” she said. “In the past we have had two or three entities collecting school supplies for us, and none of them were aware that the others were contributing in the same way.”

The goal, Smith says, is a more-strategic coordination of resources.

“Each entity (libraries, churches, councils or police departments) serves a unique niche in the community but they all have the goal of serving the people of Elma,” she said. “When students do better, the community does better.”

Smith is an Elma graduate, as is her husband, Eric, and their five children all went through Elma schools. She later attended Western Washington University where she graduated with a degree in K-12 special education, which she put to use teaching in the Elma district prior to opening Learning to Grow, a daycare center in Elma, in 2005.

As the director at Learning to Grow, Smith said she felt it was important to work with kids and parents on the transition from home to school. She said that once the thought came to fruition, she realized the importance of coordination regarding the transition from elementary to junior high and junior high to high school.

“There started to be so much crossover within the district that it made sense to make it a district-wide position,” Smith explained.