Family and Community Engagement is based on the idea that education is a shared responsibility.

Learning begins at birth and happens at home, in school, and in the community. As we've all learned over the last few years, the lines between school, home, and community are less defined than we thought they were! Family & Community Engagement done properly means we all learn from each other.

Schools, community partners, and family members share respectfully ...

• What's important

• What's challenging

• What works

• What they hope for

...and listen receptively and respectfully to each other. (That's why taking surveys is actually really important! Thanks for doing those!)

If you're interested in learning more about Family & Community Engagement, these are the resources we recommend:

• National Association for Family, School & Community Engagement (NAFSCE)

• The Diagnostic Tool for School & District Effectiveness, Tenet 6: Family & Community Engagement

The NAFSCE has eight core competencies in four buckets: Reflect, Connect, Collaborate, Lead.

The DTSDE has four slightly different focal points - systems for communication, systems for engagement and empowerment, systems for cultivating relationships and bridging differences, and systems for continuous quality improvement.

When we look at both of these models, we see that the cycle of family engagement has five stations:

1. Communication

2. Trust

3. Supporting Equity

4. Everyone Learns

5. Repeat