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About Us

Parent University is dedicated to empowering, engaging, and connecting families to support student achievement. As part of the Student and Family Services Division, we strive to foster inclusive opportunities for families to actively participate in their students' education, driving positive outcomes for all students. 

 

Our Mission

Our mission to, "Empower, Engage, and Connect Families to Support Student Achievement" reflecting our district’s commitment to fostering sustainable partnerships for student academic success. Parent University aims to strengthen and sustain meaningful family engagement at every level of the school system, aligning with the Board-approved Goals and Guardrails. 

Our Vision Strategies

Parent University’s newly established vision strategies support the district’s goals and guardrails. The strategies are as follows:

Strategy 1: Design, Develop, and Implement Family Learning 

Objective: Enhance family learning opportunities to better support school sites. 

Actions: Organize Literacy or Math Family Nights, develop resources for home use, to reinforce foundational literacy skills, and integrate College and Career Family Engagement activities to help families explore post-secondary education and career pathways. Enhance father figures engagement in literacy early on with our Strong Dad's strategy. In addition to implementing the Life Skills Family Engagement Series to equip families with essential skills for success, aligned with the district’s Portrait of a Learner framework.  

Strategy 2: Increase Family Participation in Leadership and Advocacy 

Objective: Increase family engagement in leadership, advocacy, civic engagement, and decision-making. 

Actions: Implement Family Leadership Academy workshops, equip families with advocacy tools, and engage principals in leadership activities. 

Strategy 3: Focus on Family Engagement Professional Learning 

Objective: Equip educators with effective family engagement strategies to strengthen relationships between families and schools. 

Actions: Offer targeted collaborative professional development workshops for staff, home school liaisons (HSLs), teachers, and administrators. Establish peer learning communities and provide ongoing support to ensure the implementation of family engagement strategies.

Strategy 4: Improve Family Engagement Data Collection and Evaluation 

Objective: Enhance data collection and evaluation systems to better understand and improve family engagement. 

Actions: Collect feedback from families after workshops and events, use data to inform strategies, and continuously evaluate the effectiveness of initiatives. 

Strategy 5: Build Positive Relationships with Educational Partners 

Objective: Establish, develop, and strengthen relationships with diverse families, students, school sites, district departments, and community partnerships. 

Actions: Foster collaboration through the Community Engagement Initiative Grant, hold listening sessions, and promote inclusive representation in advisory councils. 

Strategy 6: Identify and Recruit Families of Targeted Student Groups 

Objective: Develop new recruitment plans to engage families of targeted student groups. 

Actions: Identify families of targeted student groups, create tailored recruitment strategies, and offer personalized support to ensure their active participation. 

Our Key Family Engagement Initiatives

The Parent University team has introduced new initiatives designed to empower families, caregivers, and community members to actively engage in and support their students' educational journey. These initiatives include: 

  • Literacy or Math Family Nights 
    Supports schools to organize family nights focused on literacy and math, aiming to strengthen partnerships and support student success. Emphasizes foundational literacy skills to ensure students develop strong reading abilities. Collaboration with schools and community partners to support the initiative. 

    Goal: Improve reading and math levels and strengthen academic partnerships between families and schools. 

  • Strong Dads for Early Literacy 
    Encourages father figures to actively participate in their children's early literacy development and enhance reading skills. 

    Goal: Increase father engagement in early literacy activities, improving reading proficiency and fostering a positive attitude towards learning. 

  •  Family Engagement Professional Learning

    Offers targeted, collaborative professional development for staff, home school liaisons (HSLs), teachers, and administrators. These sessions aim to equip educators with effective family engagement strategies to strengthen relationships between families and schools. 

    Goal: Foster inclusive school communities where families actively partner in student learning and development. 

  • Family Leadership Academy 

    Supports and trains home-school liaisons to deliver family leadership academy sessions, engaging families with literacy strategies, advocacy tools, and   literacy intervention supports. The six workshops aim to build advocacy skills, understand student assessments, and include principal engagement sessions. 

    Goal: Equip families with knowledge to access and navigate resources and the school system, understand special education rights, and communicate                    effectively with educators. 

  • College and Career Family Engagement 

    Provides families and students with opportunities to explore post-secondary education and career pathways through engaging experiences at seven regional high schools. 

    Goal: Increase family awareness and involvement in post-secondary planning, empowering students to make informed decisions about their education and            career journeys. 

  • Life Skills Family Engagement 

    The comprehensive five workshops Life Skills Series is designed to equip students and families with essential skills for success. Aligned with the district’s Portrait of a  Learner framework, the program offers five workshops, culminating in a guest speaker session or an educational tour to provide real-world insights and inspiration. 

    Goal: Build essential life skills that promote independence, resilience, and effective decision-making. 

  • Community Engagement Initiative (CEI) Grant 

    Throughout the school year, we'll work with the school site as part of CEI, a statewide partnership that unites schools, educators, community partners, and families to strengthen relationships, increase trust, and improve student outcomes. This initiative is built on collaboration, listening, and valuing everyone's voice. It includes our Family Leadership Academy, Family Engagement Nights, Strong Dads in Early Literacy, and Life Skills Series initiatives. 

    Goal: Strengthen relationships, increase trust, and improve student outcomes through collaborative efforts. 

  • Family Voice & Advisory Engagement 

   Creates opportunities for families and community members to shape school and district decisions through projects, focus groups, feedback sessions, and            advisory councils. 

   Goal: Equip families with knowledge and skills for decision-making processes and foster open, two-way communication between schools and families.