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Student Conferences
Conferences are a time to explore student progress, reflect on goals, and celebrate achievements together. It should be student-focused, giving students a voice in sharing their learning and growth.
For a fuller picture of your child’s strengths and needs, ParentVue offers insights, including non-essential standards added by teachers, along with key areas like language development and social-emotional learning (SEL).
Elementary Family Resources
Report cards are available after conferences. These conferences are not focused on grades. They are an opportunity to connect with teachers, understand your student’s progress, and strengthen a supportive partnership. Use this time to discuss growth, strengths and any questions that help you better support learning at home.
Ask the teacher how to stay connected after report cards are released, especially if you have questions. Use this conference as a foundation for ongoing communication.
Secondary Family Resources
Find grade-specific materials to help you engage in your child's future planning. These resources are organized by grade level, from 6th through 12th grade, and include:
Insights into post-secondary options and steps to start or complete High School and Beyond Planning.
Information on life after high school, such as two-year colleges, four-year universities, apprenticeships, technical programs, employment, and military service.
Want to get the most out of your student conference? Here are seven questions you can ask during your conference. You likely won’t have enough time to ask all these questions. Pick a few and use them to build a stronger partnership with your student’s teacher and school.
1. May I tell you about my child?
You know your child best. Share information with your child’s teachers to help them better support your child at school. This may include their likes and dislikes, strengths and needs and information about home life.
2. When is my child happiest during the day?
It’s important to ask questions about a child’s emotional and social well-being while at school. How a student interacts with peers can have an impact on academic success. Conferences are a great place to have this conversation.
3. Can you tell me about the kinds of work my child does during the school day?
You can expect to see examples of your child’s work, such as writing. Ask how the teacher is assessing the work and ways your child can improve.
4. Where have you seen my child grow this fall?
Focus on your student’s achievements. It’s important not to get hung up on comparing your child to others in the classroom. Personal growth of your child should be the focus.
5. When does my child show the most focus? When is it hard for my child to focus?
Ask when your child is showing their best effort. Partner with the teacher and create a plan to support your child in doing their best to achieve academic goals.
6. What can I do at home to support my student’s learning?
You are your student’s first educator. Find out if your student’s teacher recommends any books you can read with your student at home. Ask if there are other ways you can support your student’s learning goals.
7. How can we continue to partner this school year?
Don't let student conferences be the only time you communicate with your child's teacher. Ask your child's teacher the best way to reach them and let them know how you prefer to communicate. Use student conferences as a foundation to build trust and partnership between home and school.
Standards Based Grading
All schools in Highline use an instructional approach called standards-based grading (SBG) which measures your student's progress toward the learning goals for their grade level or course, as determined by the state of Washington.
Grading is not based on behavior or how long it takes to demonstrate learning. The grade is based on how close your student is to meeting the learning goals. It may take students the entire unit or course to meet a standard. Our grading web section has a lot of information about this new approach. We encourage you to review this information to learn more.
