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Keeping reasonable open-door access for parents within our department is something we strive for. The athletic department holds three seasonal meetings per year with our parents. Fall, winter, and spring meetings are set to be informative meetings about policies and procedures throughout the seasons. This also allows for a question-and-answer period to allow parents to gain a deeper understanding of what we are doing as an athletic department as a whole. The season meetings end with introducing each season's coaches and then breakout sessions for parents to get more sport-specific information directly from their student’s coaches. These meetings have taken a different look over Zoom and YouTube this year with the pandemic but have generally served the purpose of the meetings.

Our school has developed a strict chain of command for grievance meetings with our athletic coaches. First and foremost, we have a 24-hour policy. Unless a situation is threatening to a child’s safety or well-being, we ask for parents to settle on their issue for 24 hours. If they still feel they need to meet they must start with student and parent to a specific coach, then the parent and student to program head coach, then the parent and student to head coach and athletic director. I have yet to have a situation reach the last step, usually, parents and coaches can settle grievances before they reach my desk. I generally follow up with parents and coaches after they meet to ensure grievances have been settled.

As an athletic department, we strive to have a sense of family with all stakeholders involved in our program. We have an annual fall athletics BBQ in which athletes, parents, school personnel, and supporters come together for a BBQ potluck. At this, all teams are represented for a night of fun, food, and leadership activities. It’s a great way to set the tone for the community and kick off a great year. At the conclusion of each season, we have an awards banquet in which we honor our athletes, parents, and supporters. This is a great way to showcase our students through lettering, team awards, and all-area honors. We also honor our parent volunteers and community supporters with tokens of appreciation.