Parent Teacher Conference

Parent teacher conferences occur twice a school year, once in October and again in January. Parent teacher conferences are an important opportunity for parents to meet with their student’s teachers. All instructional faculty will host parent teacher conferences. This means that you will have an opportunity to meet with your student’s homeroom lead and apprentice teacher, any of your student’s Specials teachers, ESL, Special Education, or intervention teachers, if your student receives related services. Attending parent teacher conferences is an essential aspect to the partnership between Western Hills faculty and families.

Lower School (Kinder to 5th Grade)

For the 2025-2026 school year, Lower School parent teacher conferences will be held on October 13th and 14th and January 8th and 9th. We ask that families plan to attend BOTH parent teacher conferences. You can attend your students conference in person or via Zoom.

What can I expect from my student’s parent teacher conference?

At your parent teacher conference, teachers will share:

updated grades
review important student work samples
share updated benchmark testing results
provide resources to be able to support your student at home
explicit student goals for 2nd semester
share DOI/SOW & what that means for the student
update on AEP hours (only for students receiving HB1416 support)

As a parent, you will be able to:

learn more about your student’s present levels
how your student is performing in class
meet with you students, art, music, PE and Spanish teachers
ask questions or get clarification about how your student is doing behaviorally and socially while at school

Parent teacher conferences are for parents ONLY. Please plan to find a quiet space out of earshot of your student if you choose to participate via Zoom. If you plan to attend in person, please make other arrangements for your children, as there will not be any supervision for them while you are attending the in-person conference. It is important that teachers are able to speak candidly with you, knowing that you will choose how to share the information you gather with your student as you feel necessary.

How do I sign up for a parent teacher conference?

You will sign up for all parent teacher conferences using Sign Up Genius.

Parent Teacher Conference Links

Middle School (6th to 8th Grade)

In Middle School at Great Hearts Western Hills, conferences take place between parents and the team of their student’s teachers. Our hope is that these conversations strengthen our partnership with you so that we may better cultivate virtue in the hearts and minds of our students as the school year continues.

What should I expect during my student’s conference?

We want this conference time to be as productive and informative for you as possible, so we will begin the conference by inviting you to share any questions or pertinent information about your student. Teachers will share observations and insights into your student’s schoolwork and habits, capturing both strengths and a key area for growth moving forward. Conferences are 15 minutes long, and the time does fly by quickly!

While meeting with the full team of teachers can be intimidating, we have heard from many parents that they appreciate this conversation with the united front of people who know, care about, and guide their student each day.

How can I prepare for my student’s conference?

We encourage you to review your student’s report card prior to the conference. We also invite you to prepare any questions you might have about your student’s academic work, habits, etc. Questions could be about your student’s work as a whole or could focus on specific courses. Preparing questions is not required, and even if you don’t have questions, we would still love to meet with you in a conference!

High School (9th to 12th Grade)

In HS at Great Hearts Western Hills, each student will take on a role as a member of their evaluation conference, so that they may work with their parents and teachers to take ownership of their growth as a learner. As part of the process of taking ownership of their learning, students will complete a self-evaluation that will be shared at the conference. 9th & 10th grade students are welcome to attend their conference with their parents. 11th & 12th grade students are required to not only attend but will also present a 2–3-minute reflection at the opening of their conference. Therefore, we ask that all 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th grade students sign up for a conference that they and their parent(s) will attend together.

Students will wear their school uniforms; Juniors and Seniors will wear their school blazers.

What should my student and I expect during the conference?

The student’s team of teachers will be assembled for each conference. In grades 9 & 10, teachers will share observations and insights into your student’s schoolwork and habits, capturing both strengths and a key area for growth moving forward. In grade 11 & 12, the conference will begin with the faculty leader inviting the student to evaluate his/her own performance during the semester in a 2-3 minute self-reflection. Students should prepare written notes to anchor the opening self-reflection. The teachers, in turn, will respond to the student’s self-evaluation and a conversation will ensue. Parents are primarily auditors during upper classmen conferences.

How should my student prepare for the conference and who should attend?

All High School students should prepare written notes following the guidance from their completed self-evaluations and bring these notes to the conference. To set a collegial tone, students must come to the conference dressed in their school uniform.
9th & 10th grade students are invited to attend their conference with their parents.
11th & 12th grade students are required to attend their conference with their parents.