Bullard TALENT K-8
Fresno, California
All the world’s a stage at the Bullard TALENT Middle School! Every year, the K-8 magnet school produces and presents a middle school musical seen by more than 4,000 school children, families, and community residents. These highly anticipated productions are the result of collaborations of the visual and performing arts faculty, students, families, and the community. Without the organization, planning and hands-on participation of hundreds of volunteers, the plays would not be the tremendous success that they have become. More...
Jane Wagner, Teacher/Visual & Performing Arts Coordinator
559-248-7030 jjwagne@fresno.k12.ca.us
Type 3 | Middle Grades | Climate of Partnership
Hermitage Elementary School
Virginia Beach, Virginia
To reduce the first-day-of-school jitters, Hermitage Elementary instituted an Annual Neighborhood Bus Tour as part of its back-to-school kick-off week. During the week before school opened, teachers and staff boarded a school bus that made three stops in the neighborhoods where the school’s students live. More...
Cynthia Garduque, Chairman of the Parent Involvement Action Team
757-460-7535 ext 54125 csgarduq@vbschools.com
Type 6 | Elementary Grades | Climate of Partnership
A.W.E. Bassette Elementary School
Hampton, Virginia
Last November, students, parents, staff members and community representatives got their hands dirty to add more curb appeal to Bassette Elementary School. They planted flowers, spread mulch, plucked weeds and had a good time at School Beautification Day. More...
James Hill, Parent Involvement Facilitator
757-727-1731 jhill@sbo.hampton.k12.va.us
Type 3 | Elementary Grades | Climate of Partnership
Berendo Middle School
Los Angeles, California
The principal of Berendo Middle School wants parents to feel comfortable and be involved in the school, so he invites them to breakfast once a month. This gives parents an opportunity to meet the principal, teachers and staff and learn first-hand what’s happening at Berendo. More...
Mary C. Argandona, Title I Coordinator
213-382-1343 margando@lausd.net
Type 5 | Middle Grades | Climate of Partnership
Ballentine Elementary School
Irmo, South Carolina
Ballentine Elementary School strives to show its students that they can make a difference, even though they are very young. Indeed, “Make A Difference” was the theme for this school year. In the spring, teachers and administrators decided the children needed to be reminded to be kinder to others. So they started a simple project, “Caring Hands for the Caring Tree,” that really blossomed. More...
Susan Weaver, Counselor
803-732-8251 sweaver@lex5.k12.sc.us
Type 3 | Elementary Grades | Climate of Partnership
Lincoln Elementary School for the Arts
Anoka, Minnesota
Classroom Coordinators is a grassroots project involving parents communicating with parents, sharing news of school events and activities, assisting new families and working with teachers and staff. At Lincoln Elementary every classroom has a Classroom Coordinator (CC) who is a parent or guardian of one of the students. The CC works with the teacher to promote classroom and school events by making phone calls to all families, talking at events, arranging guest speakers and volunteering in various other ways. More...
Diana Orr, Volulnteer Services Coordinator
763-506-3130 Diana.Orr@anoka.k12.mn.us
Type 5 | Elementary Grades | Climate of Partnership
Lincoln Junior High School
Naperville, Illinois
A change in leadership did not deter Lincoln Junior High from continuing its work to strengthen home-school connections. In fact, the School, Family, Community Partnership (SFCP) team capitalized on the change by instituting Coffee with the Principal, informal gatherings at Lincoln families’ homes to discuss school-related matters. More...
Sandy Wunderlich, Co-Chair SFCP
630-416-9128 srwunder@aol.com
Type 2 | Middle Grades | Climate of Partnership
Oltman Junior High School
St. Paul, Minnesota
Connecting parents to Oltman Junior High is a priority and a challenge for the school, given that students’ families speak as many as 14 different languages. To increase parent involvement, solicit parent feedback and create a greater sense of community, the school launched the Community Forum Series. The intended audience was the parents of the school’s English Language Learners (ELL), some of whom had never been in the school. More...
Luis Saenz, Community Involvement Coordinator
651-768-3545 lsaenz@sowasco.k12.mn.us
Type 5 | Middle Grades | Climate of Partnership
Maple Elementary
Cambridge, Maryland
How does a school with a geographically and demographically diverse student body increase the involvement of its students’ male role models? The Action Team for Partnerships (ATP) at Maple Elementary tackled the task with donuts, neckties and a motivational speaker. More...
Mrs. Karla Eberspacher, NNPS School Committee Chairperson
410-228-8577 eberspacherk@dcpsmd.org
Type 1 | Elementary Grades | Climate of Partnership
Wallace Gregg Elementary School
Florence, South Carolina
A poster at Wallace Gregg Elementary’s Drive-Through Breakfast read “Honk if you like our service!” There was a lot of honking on September 29, 2006, when the teachers and administrators surprised parents with a drive-through breakfast at the school. Beginning at 7 a.m., Action Team for Partnership (ATP) members served muffins and juice from rolling carts to the car line as parents dropped off their children. More...
Gloria Muldrow, Principal
843-664-8481 gmuldrow@fsd1.org
Type 2 | Elementary Grades | Climate of Partnership
Eastern Elementary School
Hagerstown, Maryland
Eastern Elementary is having no problem finding parent volunteers. The challenge lies, rather, in communicating with them. The families at the school speak 10 different languages with Spanish and Russian the most prevalent. The school wanted to enable more of these families to communicate in English with teachers, doctors and other community members. More...
Kelly Morton, Family and Community Partnership Coordinator (FCPC)
301-766-8127 MORTOKEL@WCBOE.K12.MD.US
Type 1 | Elementary Grades | Climate of Partnership
Tarrant Elementary School
Hampton, Virginia
When Tarrant Elementary School’s Second Annual Fall Festival ended, some people just didn’t want to leave. They had such a good time at this community- wide event and wanted to ride more rides and play more games. Held in the school and on the playground, the festival featured rides, concessions, a cakewalk and games planned by the teachers to mix fun and learning. More...
Stacy B. Dabney, Parent Involvement Facilitator
757-896-7777 sdabney@sbo.hampton.k12.va.us
Type 6 | Elementary Grades | Climate of Partnership
Caleb Barnum Elementary School
Taunton, Massachusetts
As the preschool program for the Taunton Public Schools, the Barnum School is strongly aware of the tremendous impact that families have on school readiness. To be responsive to its diverse families and to involve and support families as they begin to work with their young children toward academic success, the school sponsored Monthly Family Days. More...
Mary-Jane Wester, Principal
508-821-1282 mjwebster@tauntonschools.org
Type 4 | Elementary Grades | Climate of Partnership
Isaac Stevens Middle School
Pasco, Washington
Isaac Stevens is a Title I school in improvement status… The school’s Action Team for Partnerships (ATP) went into high gear when it learned from the district’s drop-out prevention manager about a program to provide resources to families with needs similar to those of many Stevens’ families. With his assistance, the school planned a two-hour Family Resource Night so families could learn about community resources to help with a myriad of family issues. More...
Cindy Maltos, Assessment Coordinator/ATP Chair
509-543-6798 cmaltos@psd1.org
Type 6 | Middle Grades | Climate of Partnership
Follow Through at Community School #53
Buffalo, New York
Community School #53 knew it had to do something when one-third of the teachers recognized that they communicated with parents only to report inappropriate or negative student behavior. To establish more positive interactions, the Action Team for Partnerships (ATP) decided to implement Fathers’ Night Out, an event to celebrate the fathers, grandfathers, brothers and other male figures who are involved in students’ growth and development. More...
Maria DeJoy, Assistant Principal
716-816-3330 mdejoy@buffaloschools.org
Type 2 | Elementary Grades | Climate of Partnership
San Fernando Elementary School
Los Angeles, California
San Fernando Elementary has found a wonderful way to honor people who are true heroes in many students’ lives. These are the people who bring them to school, pick them up, help with homework, and, often, are care-givers while the students’ parents are working. These heroes are grandparents. San Fernando Elementary honors them with a day all their own. More...
Karen Glicker, Parent Involvement Coordinator
818-365-3201 kglicker@yahoo.com
Type 2 | Elementary Grades | Climate of Partnership
John B. Dey
Virginia Beach, Virginia
John B. Dey Elementary School cooked up a get-ready-for-school activity to help families, students, teachers and administrators make a smooth transition into a new school year. Grill and Chill turned into a “big reunion,” as one student said, because students had an opportunity to be with friends they had not seen all summer. More...
Janette Bryson, Teacher/Partners in Education Coordinator
757-496-6759 Janette.Bryson@vbschools.com
Type 2 | Elementary Grades | Climate of Partnership
Scott Elementary School
Naperville, Illinois
Helping others is an important life lesson that Scott Elementary tries to teach by example. Through its Loaves and Fishes Food Drive, the whole Scott community shows it cares about others. The project helps students in this highly diverse student body understand that a person can be generous, regardless of how much money he or she has. More...
Joan Albert, Scott-School-SFCP Chair
630-305-3044 djalbert@wideopenwest.com
Type 6 | Elementary Grades | Climate of Partnership
Pheonix Academy
Fresno, California
The staff at Phoenix Academy, an alternative education school for students who were not successful in other schools, wanted to strengthen the connection between home and school and to help the parents feel appreciated. To accomplish this, the teachers decided to help students throw a Valentine’s Day party in honor of their parents. The activity was so popular that it evolved into quarterly Lunchtime Gatherings. More...
Brian Radtke, Principal
559-248-7500 bcradtk@fresno.k12.ca.us
Type 1 | Elementary Grades | Climate of Partnership
Phalen Lake Elementary School
St. Paul, Minnesota
On National Parent Involvement Day, Phalen Lake Elementary School invited parents and community members to take a Learning Walk. More than 90 adults accepted the invitation, issued in English, Hmong, and Spanish, to learn more about what their children do everyday and why. More...
Mary Sellers, FamilyInvolvement Program Staff
651-293-8935 mary.sellers@spps.org
Type 2 | Elementary Grades | Climate of Partnership
John F. Kennedy School
Windsor, Connecticut
How did John F. Kennedy School boost attendance at its annual open house to 500 adults and students? Pizza – is the short answer. Providing dinner for busy families added to the response. Attempting to attract more families than in previous years, the Action Team for Partnerships (ATP) and the Family Resource Center decided to begin the annual open house night with a free pizza dinner. More...
Jennifer Phelps, Family Resource Center Leader
860-687-2060 ext 160 jphelps@windsorct.org
Type 2 | Elementary Grades | Climate of Partnership
Luther W. Machen Elementary School
Hampton, Virginia
Machen Elementary School is part of a military community. Many students do not spend much time with their grandparents because they are located at a distance. But thanks to a parent on the Action Team for Partnerships (ATP), the students now have a meaningful connections with the elderly in their community. More...
Karen Lacy, Parent Involvement Facilitator
757-766-8592 klacy@sbo.hampton.k12.va.us
Type 6 | Elementary Grades | Climate of Partnership
Roberts Elementary School
Wayne, Pennsylvania
Rob TV is for every child who ever wished a relative living far away could see him or her perform in a school play, concert, or debate or demonstrate a science project. Rob TV – Roberts Elementary School Television – is a technological bonus added to the school’s website that allows people everywhere to see what’s going on at this school. It’s a special gift to grandparents. More...
Maggie Caverly, School Librarian
610-205-3751 skuznick@umasd.org
Type 2 | Elementary Grades | Climate of Partnership
Arrowhead Elementary School
Virginia Beach, Virginia
It is often said that it takes a village to raise a child. For students who attend Arrowhead Elementary, that village is Sentara Village – a nearby nursing home. A 16-year partnership between the two institutions allows students in grades 1-4 to develop a meaningful relationship with older members of their community. Once a month during the school year, Sentara residents come to the school to read to the children. The students, in turn, visit the nursing home during holidays such as Christmas and Easter. More...
Mischelle Keller, PIE Co-coordinator/NNPS Co-Chair
757-473-5007 ext 50936 P.Mischelle.Keller@vbschools.com
Type 6 | Elementary Grades | Climate of Partnership