Changing LeadershipLos Angeles Unified School District, Local District B North Hollywood, California Two years ago the Los Angeles Unified School District reorganized, and Local District B went from a cluster of twenty-six schools to a district of over eighty schools. The superintendent of the newly formed local district had never worked with partnership programs. Eager to sustain the partnership programs that had been functioning for several years, the district Partnership Programs Team took steps to educate the new superintendent about the program and to garner her support. More... Charlotte Castagnola, Director (818) 755-5385 Type | District | District |
Collaboration with Native Education ProjectHoly Family Catholic Regional Division No. 37 Peace River, Alberta Canada The Holy Family Catholic Regional Division No. 37 has a Native Education Project in seven out of eight schools that seeks to effectively involve Aboriginal parents in the education of their children. Because this is also an objective of the Action Teams for Partnerships, the Division recognized that these two projects should collaborate to fulfill this common goal. More... Bonnie Stelmach, AISI Coordinator (780) 624-3956 Type | District | District |
Community Bulletin Boards-Spreading the WordTaunton Public Schools Tauton, Massachusetts By utilizing bulletin board space in a large number of prominent city businesses, Taunton Public Schools aimed to communicate to a larger audience on a regular basis, showcase the excitement of learning in its schools, and inform additional people about the Massachusetts Education Reform and its impact on student outcomes. As part of Project B.E.S.T. (Building Educational Success Together), a team comprised of the Superintendent of Schools, the Mayor of Taunton, and the schools’ Community Liaisons proposed partnership opportunities to leading businesses in the greater Taunton area. One such opportunity enabled each partnering business to provide bulletin board space in their facility for the respective partnering school. The goal of the Community Bulletin Board project was to spread the word that Taunton Schools and its students were everyone’s investment—education is a shared responsibility. More... Kathleen S. Callahan, Project B.E.S.T. Coordinator/Community Liaison (508) 821-1183 Type | District | District |
Community Educational Resource EXPOLowndes County Schools Valdosta, Georgia The community of Lowndes County, Georgia, has a lot to offer parents, students, and community members. The Lowndes County Schools Community Educational Resource Expo provided an opportunity to share information about available materials and resources in the community while also promoting school, family, and community partnerships. More... Ann W. Abel, Title I Coordinator/Parent Involvement Facilitator (229) 245-2250x134 Type | District | District |
District Support of Secondary School PartnershipsLos Angeles Unified School District, Local District B North Hollywood, California School, family, and community partnerships at the middle and high school levels decrease unless schools make concerted efforts to sustain and enhance family and community involvement. Local District B, Los Angeles Unified School District, committed to supporting its secondary schools to develop plans and activities that would enhance their school, family, and community partnership programs. More... Charlotte Castagnola, Director (818) 755-5385 Type | High School | District |
District-Wide Parent DinnerFresno Unified School District Fresno, California Fresno Unified School District and its Parent Engagement Center hosted an end-of-year district-wide Parent Dinner to recognize district individuals who most contributed to parent involvement in the district during the year. The event celebrated the entire district’s success in developing school, family, and community partnerships and distinguished the contributions of diverse individuals. More... Andrew Vu, Director (559) 241-7137 Type | District | District |
Family Reading Night Flambeau Community EducationWinneconne Community School District Winneconne, Wisconsin The front-page story of the March 6th Winneconne News hailed the Family Reading Night as “an enjoyable event for readers of all ages.” Winneconne Community School District’s Family Resource Center organized the reading night for all families in the school community as a kick-off event for its weeklong Read Across America program. The Family Resource Center wanted to share the importance and fun of reading with students, school staff, families, volunteers, and community members while promoting a stronger school and community relationship. More... Mary Koeck, Family Resource Center Board Member (920) 582-5803 Type | Elementary Grades | District |
First Day of School CelebrationsCT Parents Plus/United Way of Connecticut in collaboration with Connecticut State Department of Education Rocky Hill, Connecticut The first day of school is the only day of the school year on which no child has yet been in trouble and no phone calls have yet gone home because of problems. First Day of School Celebrations encourage family and community members to come to school and to develop relationships with teachers and administrators. The Celebrations are based on the belief that parents who meet the teachers on the first day of school, when everyone has a clean slate, will be more willing to contact teachers later about concerns and questions, and vice versa. More... Evie Hermann, Director of CT Parents Plus (860) 571-6052 Type | State | State |
Flambeau Community EducationSchool District of Flambeau Tony, Wisconsin The small school district of Flambeau is located in a rural, economically disadvantaged county in northwest Wisconsin. To enrich the education of its 690 students in pre-k to grade twelve, the Community Education Office initiates, creates, and implements a diverse array of collaborative partnerships at the local, regional, state, national, and international levels. More... Dave Johnson, Community Education Director (715) 532-7760 Type | District | District |
Knowledge BankNaperville Community Unit School District 203 Naperville, Illinois When knowledge is shared, everyone wins, especially the students. The Naperville District School-Family-Community Partnership Core Team initiated the Knowledge Bank to leverage the experience and expertise that existed within each school for the benefit of all schools. The Knowledge Bank is a database of all the family and community involvement programs that are sponsored throughout the district. The Core Team wanted to prevent each school from reinventing the wheel as they developed their own partnership programs. They also wanted to ensure that everyone knew of the many diverse and valuable programs that existed and how to find out more about them if they were interested in sponsoring a similar activity at their school. More... Mary Ann Bobosky, Director of Planning and Community Relations (630) 420-6475 Type | District | District |
Leadership DevelopmentHoly Family Catholic Regional Division No. 37 Peace, Alberta Canada Responding to the need for ongoing support to partnership coordinators who chair school Action Teams for Partnerships, the district facilitator established leadership development workshops. The district facilitator believed that strong leaders would create strong teams and, therefore, build effective programs of partnership. More... Bonnie Stelmach, AISI Coordinator (780) 624-3956 Type | District | District |
Maryland's Family Involvement Policy InitiativesMaryland State Department of Education Baltimore, Maryland The Maryland State Department of Education, under the leadership of State Superintendent Nancy S. Grasmick, has emphasized family involvement as integral to the state’s development of high standards. With strong commitment to family involvement in schools, Dr. Grasmick established the Family Focus Council in April 2000 to advise on, advocate for, and help develop programs and policies that encourage effective home-school partnerships. Members of the Council include representatives of school systems, public libraries, statewide nonprofit organizations, faith-based organizations, Parent-Teacher Associations, interdepartmental offices, national organizations, and many others. These members are charged with supporting strategies to create school, family, and community partnerships in all Maryland schools. The Council began its initiative by drafting the state policy on family involvement that was adopted in October 2001 as a resolution. More... Maria Schaffer, Family Involvement Specialist (410) 767-0296 Type | State | State |
Monthly Leadership MeetingsOrleans Parish Public Schools New Orleans, Louisiana Twenty-one high priority schools in New Orleans are implementing the National Network of Partnership Schools’ model with the support of the New Orleans Public Schools Chief Executive Officer, Chief Academic Officers, and Executive Director of Title I. The district’s Parental Involvement Program Specialist and Parent Facilitators hosted monthly meetings throughout 2001-2002 for chairpersons of the Action Teams for Partnerships and school principals to strategize, obtain information and resources, discuss concerns, and share success stories on best practices of partnership. These monthly leadership meetings enabled the twenty-one Action Teams to collaborate and network in an effort to build and sustain effective partnership programs benefiting students. More... Yolonda Wornner Prevost, Parental Involvement Program Specialist (504) 365-5689 Type | District | District |
Parent Center Incentive GrantsLos Angeles Unified School District Los Angles, California “The Los Angeles Unified School District Parent Community Services Branch will promote increased student academic achievement by building the capacities of local schools and communities to train, educate, and support parents as partners in their children’s education” …. (mission statement) More... Doré Wong, (213) 217-5272 Type | District | District |
Parent Involvement Policy and Planning ProcessPittsburg Unified School District Pittsburg, California Pittsburg Unified School District developed a district-wide parent involvement policy using the six types of involvement that complies with the California Education Code. To do this, the district instituted a shared decision-making process that incorporated input from schools and other stakeholders. More... Collinda C. Myers, Partnership Coordinator (925) 473-4262 Type | District | District |
Parenting Resources PackageWinnipeg School Division No. 1 Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada Want to know what to do when you have a problem at your child’s school? How about information on student assessments and evaluation? Perhaps you would like to know what parents can do about bullying, and you need this information in Spanish, Chinese, Laotian, Punjabi, or one of the many other languages translated for families in the Winnipeg School Division No. 1. The Parenting Resources Package, developed and distributed by the Parent Education Committee in Winnipeg, addresses these topics and much more. The Parent Education Committee is comprised of school administrators, consultants, teachers, volunteer coordinators, and a parent representative. More... Sandra McCaig, Director of Student Support Services (204) 788-0203 Type | District | District |
Promising Partnership Practices BookBuffalo Public Schools Buffalo, New York For the past three years, the Buffalo Public Schools’ Family Involvement Leadership Team has published its own Promising Partnership Practices based on activities from all Buffalo elementary schools who are members of the National Network of Partnership Schools (NNPS). The Buffalo Leadership Team created its district book as a way to instill pride and uniqueness in what the schools do to involve families and to give all of their schools an opportunity to be able to share and use other successful practices. The team also sent their annual collection to NNPS to recognize their schools’ good work. More... Judi Roberson, Facilitator for Parent Involvement (716) 871-6090 Type | District | District |
School Improvement Plan TrainingLouisiana State Department of Education, Region I Belle Chasse, Louisiana The Louisiana Accountability System requires all schools to write School Improvement Plans to maximize student achievement. The Region I Education Service Center is responsible for providing training to school and district personnel on writing the School Improvement Plans. Region I incorporated school, family, and community partnerships training into the school improvement plan trainings to assist schools in understanding the roles partnerships play in increasing student learning. This practice aimed to clarify for schools and districts which family and community involvement activities were likely to reach which results for students, and dispel the myth that any family involvement activity will automatically raise student achievement. More... Amelia Gail M. Noel, Title I Program Coordinator (504) 393-5845 Type | State | State |
Shared Decision-Making in Strategic PlanningWhitewater Unified School District Whitewater, Wisconsin Changes are easier to implement when the important players are involved in making the decisions. Parents, students, school staff members, and administrators share decision-making in all of Whitewater’s school building leadership teams as well as a district leadership council. The district has worked hard to institutionalize shared decision-making so that each of its schools’ communities successfully collaborates to support student achievement. More... Roni Telfer, Curriculum Coordinator (262) 472-8713 Type | District | District |
Village Empowerment SeminarHoward County Public School System Ellicott City, Maryland The first annual Village Empowerment Seminar was designed to maximize school, family, and community partnerships in the district’s Title I elementary schools to support the education of children identified by district data as underachieving. The seminar targeted parents of these children as well as central office and school-based personnel in an effort to empower all stakeholders to develop a plan for partnerships to support families’ and schools’ educational goals for students. Specifically, the seminar strove to empower parents to support their children’s learning in new ways, develop a personal plan for accomplishing identified goals, and network with other parents. The seminar aimed to give central office and school staff new ways to develop two-way communication with families and strategies to support family involvement in all areas and classrooms. Overall, the Village Empowerment Seminar allowed stakeholders time to engage in rich discussions centered on family involvement and its connections with school improvement and school reform. More... Jean W. Lewis, Family and Community Outreach Specialist (410) 313-6794x353 Type | District | District |
Voice Mail CommunicationRush-Henrietta Central School District Henrietta, New York To facilitate home-to-school communication, the district purchased a voice mail system and assigned every teacher and administrator a voice mail number. When the voice mail system was first brought in, many people resisted using it. After a few years and some encouragement, its use is now widespread. More... Kay M. Lyons, Partnership Schools Facilitator (585) 359-7912 Type | District | District |