During his five years as Head of School at Savannah Country Day School, Tom Bonnell realized just how important it was to build successful and trusting relationships with parents at the school. Mr Bonnell knows that the ability to create substantive and positive changes in school over time will be highly dependent upon the quality of the relationship a Head of School has with parents as well as other members of the school’s community.

In order to establish and maintain a successful relationship with parents, Tom Bonnell advises Heads of School to consider setting up coffee meetings with small groups of parents. Tom knows that parents will also want to meet personally with the Head of School and to get to know him or her better. They will welcome these coffee meetings and it will be a good opportunity for a Head of School to learn more about what the parents expect of the school and its teachers.

Another tip Tom Bonnell shares is to have regular meetings with the head of the Parents Association and to regularly attend the Parent Association meetings. By doing these simple steps, a Head of School will be able to build a successful relationship with parents and this will have a large impact on the success of the school.