For schools and educators testing out new models, the most pressing questions are often addressed within the school building: what devices to buy, which teachers to hire, and what support to bring in.

But the ultimate success of those innovations doesn’t just rely on in-classroom decisions and school-building solutions. However well-implemented an innovative model may be, schools have to find ways to demonstrate the worth of their work to parents and community members. 

Community buy-in offers schools a number of benefits. For one, the difference between a model that lasts two years and one that lasts 10 is outside pressure. Turnover in district and school leaders means that institutional knowledge may be ephemeral. But if parents consistently push for a certain way of doing things, it’s likely to stick around.

For new schools — especially charters and others that may have to demonstrate demand — finding ways to reach out to local communities can also help prevent empty classrooms and conflict once the school opens. The early involvement of community members also means the school is more likely to fill a need in the community and not duplicate what’s already there.

Studies have found that parents support innovative and tech-driven approaches in general, but that doesn’t mean building support for a new approach within a school or an entire school building that breaks the mold is straightforward. For example, Jonathan Hanover, the founder of Denver's Roots Elementary, spent three years talking to community members before his school ever opened. The school was a tricky sell: With no traditional classrooms, a constantly shifting school schedule, and a tech-backed approach, it wouldn’t look like anything the district had ever opened before.

So Hanover, his founding leadership team, and charter board knocked on every door within the school’s proposed enrollment boundary multiple times — a process that required numerous hours of work. They also attended community meetings, neighborhood block parties, festivals, and more with no other purpose than to introduce themselves and the future school. 

That’s a lot of effort to put in when the payoff is highly uncertain, especially in the case of new schools. In Roots’ case, Hanover began the community outreach process two years before his school even got approved to open. “The way the bureaucratic side of the charter school approval process works, it’s really hard to build deep authentic relationships with the community because you don’t even know if you’re going to have a school until 8 months before it opens,” Hanover said.

Still, when his school’s proposal went in front of the Denver school board, it got a rare unanimous vote of support from the often divided political body. And he’s not the only one. Other schools rolling out new initiatives have found success with communicating and involving the community early. Parental support means that schools looking to bring in new technology or personalized learning can move forward with a mandate to innovate.

And there are more tools available for involving parents and community members in school operations — from learning management systems that allow students to invite non-academic mentors to help them reach their goals to texting systems that allow principals and teachers reach out to large groups of parents quickly.

Hanover has one caution for educators looking to get community buy-in, though: Don’t start by selling your idea. Listen first. 

“Go early, listen and be patient,” Hanover said. That means “not coming in saying, ‘We’re going to save your neighborhood.’” 

In the end, he said, “that kind of humility and genuine human effort pays off really big down the road.”

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