NESSC School Redesign in Action

In this session, Sarah Friedman, co-director of The Learning Community, a public charter school in Central Falls, Rhode Island, will share stories, strategies, and lessons learned around developing and strengthening partnerships with parents to build a supportive, empowered school community. Specifically, Sarah will touch on one or more of the following strategies (and perhaps others TBD):

Hosting welcoming meetings for families of new students to learn what about their student makes them proud, what their student/they want to learn, and what they have to contribute to the school community.
Supporting immigrant families to locate the resources and connections necessary to make a comfortable transition to the community and school.
Holding/attending numerous family events, including parent cafes, publishing parties, and off-site celebrations.

Participants will leave with an understanding of the principles and best practices of authentic, effective partnership with parents, examples of proven parent engagement, support, and empowerment strategies and ideas for initiating and/or improving parent engagement strategies in their own communities.