Family Programming

The overarching goal of the Elon Academy family component has always been to collaborate with families by sharing information, resources and support that will empower them to be active participants in their student’s journey to college. Research supports the crucial role of family engagement in students’ academic success, and particularly points to the importance of this for first-generation students. Our commitment to a family component is rooted in research and has continued to flourish because of our belief in the power of a strong network of support for student success, of which families are a critical link.

The most successful people have support. The program has enabled me to figure out how to give her that support. This program has made me more confident in my ability to even help her because it did give me the tools and the knowledge that you also know what’s coming for them.

The Elon Academy is unique in the intentionality and depth to which family members are involved. Families are invited on Elon’s campus for four half-day Saturday programs each academic year to participate in workshops that share college knowledge corresponding with their scholar’s year in school. The family workshop curriculum begins in the scholar’s sophomore year of high school with basic information about college concepts and builds to individualized FAFSA completion support and information about financial aid award letters in the senior year.

Throughout the years, workshops cover a variety of college access and success topics such as the importance of course selection, extracurricular involvement, emotional well-being and financial literacy. Commenting on the importance of learning about the college process along with their scholar, one scholar’s mother said, “They tackle it from educating the parent and the scholar, so we both are learning the same thing, and that, I think, is very important.”

Families also receive individualized support each summer, alongside their scholar and a college-planning staff member, to review the previous academic year and plan for the year ahead. Family partnerships with the Elon Academy continue beyond high school graduation. To ensure college success, families may continue to access Elon Academy staff for information and support regarding college, connection to community resources and counseling. “You have a lighthouse, you have a beacon in a lighthouse, and a home base, and someone to refer to and draw from and that cares,” said one family member, whose son is in his second year at Appalachian State University.

Thoughtful programming and tailored support help to build strong rapport between families and staff and provides families a cohort of like-minded parents guiding their children to college. Elon Academy’s approach to family involvement illustrates that when families feel informed about the college process and supported in their role as a parent, students thrive and the entire program benefits.