Engaging+Community

= ENGAGING COMMUNITY =


 * a learning organization
 * collaboration and support from all stakeholders
 * community school- "both a place and a set of partnerships where an integrated focus on academics, services, supports, and opportunities leads to improved student learning, stronger families, and healthier communities"; public schools as a hub for enduring relationships
 * [|community ownership:] community needs to better understand the characteristics of quality education and see itself as owners of the schools
 * [|Community-Based Learning]
 * extended community learning environments: [|prp-summary.pdf]
 * communities working together to support learning

[|How do we engage families and community?] Awareness, education, and... • focus on building trusting collaborative relationships among teachers, families, and community members. • recognize, respect, and address families’ needs, as well as class and cultural difference. • embrace a philosophy of partnership where power and responsibility are shared • Recognize that all parents—regardless of income, education, or cultural background are involved in their children’s learning and want their children to do well. • Design programs that will support families to guide their children’s learning, from preschool through high school. • Develop the capacity of school staff to work with families. • Link efforts to engage families, whether based at school or in the community, to student learning. • Build families’ social and political connections. • Focus efforts to engage families and community members on developing trusting and respectful relationships. • Embrace a philosophy of partnership and be willing to share power with families.Make sure that parents, school staff, and community members understand that the responsibility for children’s educational development is a collaborative enterprise. • Build strong connections between schools and community organizations. • Include families in all strategies to reduce the achievement gap among white, middle-class students and low-income students and students of color.