ABILENE, Texas (KRBC) – Parent-teacher relationships rely on communication, and there are several ways information can be conveyed, especially of students’ progress.

For Abilene Independent School District, technology is now playing a vital role in notifying parents of any school on-goings, according to Mann Middle School principal, Kathy Walker.

Walker said the school’s open-house is a way to get the school year started off right.

“We try in the first couple of weeks to get a face to face opportunity for parents to connect with teachers,” said Walker.

There are resources parents can use that do not require an in-person conference between the parent and teacher, according to Walker.

“Parents can join the Remind App for a teacher’s classroom in which the teacher is pushing out notifications through the app like a text where they’re saying ‘We have an upcoming project in two weeks. Please make sure your child is reading this novel,'” said Walker. “And then the parents can respond and the teacher will get that.” 

Social media can be used as an information hub for parents. 

“We have a really great Facebook page that our PTA helps run, and that tries to give parents updated information as well as just a place to be able to ask questions,” Walker said. 

Walker said that face-to-face interaction is not totally a thing of the past.

“We are having dialogue about discipline as a means for corrective behavior instead of punishment..And so that’s going to take critical conversations with parents.”

Walker said this communication can result in a child’s success.

“And so, when we get together and [we] then maybe put counselors or some kind of support system in place where the kiddo knows that we’re all talking to each other,” Walker said. “And, it’s not because we want to find things that they’re doing wrong but because we want to be able to help them to do things better, you know? Where they can be more successful.”