Family Engagement is a shared effort of families, schools, and community leaders to advance programs, practices, and policies that empower every parent/legal guardian to make their child’s potential a reality.
Ways we can assess family engagement include:
- The awareness and quality of efforts by school districts to seek input from all parent groups in decision-making
- The awareness and quality of family engagement programs, policies, and family resources created to better connect families with schools
- The percentage of schools demonstrating inclusive outreach to all families, in home languages, and easy two-way communication between home and school (Goal is to move closer to meeting the U.S. Department of Justice’s view of translation/interpreting for parents, read more)
- The awareness and quality of parent education activities to support student learning and success in school and beyond
- The percentage of parents who know how well their children are doing in class and how their school plans to improve student outcomes
- How safe and connected (relational trust) parents feel with school –particularly during this pandemic
- …HAVE YOU SURVEYED YOUR FAMILIES LATELY? Are you setting up opportunities to listen & engage?
Seeking Transformative Family Engagement
The Dual Capacity-Building Framework for Family-School Partnerships
- Dual Capacity – Educators’ and Families’ path to true family engagement only works when both understand and agree upon the goals and capacity outcomes
Engage for Your Child’s Success! …What is Success for Your Child(ren)?
- Challenge Success Program
- Tips to Help Your Child Thrive English | Spanish | Chinese
- A Different Kind of College Prep
- Playtime, Downtime, Family Time for Healthy Development
Additional Resources
- National PTA Family Engagement Center
- National PTA School of Excellence – Registration extended to November 15th!
- California State PTA Family Engagement Guide
- Staying Relevant During this Pandemic 4th District PTA Flyer
- NEW! IUSD Virtual Parent Center
- IUSD Family Engagement
- NEW! How to Communicate with IUSD When You Have A Question or Issue
- California School Dashboard
- IUSD Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP)
- PTA National Standards for Family-School Partnerships (Assessment Guide)
- California State PTA’s School Smarts Parent Engagement Program
- California Department of Education Parent Portal
- WestEd Family Engagement Framework
- EdSource’s The Power of Parents
Gain Confidence Learning More
- Ed100.org – Things you never knew about public education in CA
- Gifted Education – Parent Resources
- Special Ed Handbook – Coming Soon!
- Educator Family Engagement Toolkit – A must-do for educators who have no Family Engagement Training
- Learn from your Families: Making PTA Surveys – Top 10 Rules
Male Engagement – NEW!
- Read More
- Ready-to-Use: Father-Specific Engagement Survey
Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (JEDI) – NEW!
- Social Justice Standards – What they look like broken down by grade
- Equity Walk Data Tool – Your school’s demographic info may surprise you! Are you supporting all of your families?
- English Learner Family Engagement During Coronvirus from Immigrant Connections
- Engaging Immigrants & English Learner Families in a Virtual World: 10 Lessons Learned
- Promoting Equity- The Influence of Unconscious Bias – OC Human Relations
- Learning Lab Equity Conversations Webinar Series
Middle School – Family Engagement Is Critical – NEW!
- Middle School Transition Research Brief
- MS Transition Infographic: English | Simplified Chinese | Spanish | Arabic
What’s Happening this Year?
- National Parental Involvement Day is held on November 18, 2021
- Cool Block Program – CoolBlock.org (see video below) – If interested in joining a team email us. If interested in becoming a Cool Block Leader of a team, complete this form and if they ask who referred you, tell them IUCPTA Family Engagement.
- Strides Towards Social Justice at IUSD Webinar
Implementation of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Practices Throughout IUSD
Wednesday, April 7th, 2021 7-8PM
>Recording - The SPOTLIGHT Monthly Newsletter – Each month look for tips on engaging your families and reading about success stories and happenings at a featured school. View Archives and/or Subscribe here.
- Our Current Book List
>Beyond the Bake Sale – Henderson, Mapp, Johnson, and Davies
>Middle School Matters by Phyllis L. Fagell
IUSD Parent Education Program for November
- IUSD is actively making plans to open a Parent Resource Center and we need your input! Please take our 4 question survey here.
Title and Registration Link Date
Tea with Ms. Farjadi-Parent Engagement (in Farsi) چای با خانم فرجادی-مشارکت والدین *repeat session from 10/29 * | Monday Nov. 1st at 4pm |
Dia de Los Muertos Celebration at Language Development Programs | Tuesday Nov. 2nd 2:30- 4:30pm Limited capacity viewing *mask required* |
ELPAC with Ms. Kim영어능숙도 평가 및 영어 발달에 대해 나누는 시간을 갖겠습니다. | Monday Nov. 8th at 1pm |
Latino Children’s meeting with Ms. Anaya | Wednesday Nov. 10th at 3:30pm |
Stress Management Tips for Parents and Students Video | Wednesday Nov. 10th |
Q and A with Duha Al-Hakeem (Arabic- عربي) | Friday Nov. 12th at 3pm |
Ways to Organize Study Time (Arabic Video) طرق تنظيم وقت المذاكرة لطفلي | |
African American/Black Parent Community Meeting Black Mental Health with guest speakers Jessica Conquest, LMFT and Michelle Santana, LCSW | Tuesday Nov. 16th at 4:30pm |
40 Assets of Healthy Development | Wednesday Nov. 17th at 4pm |
Japanese Parent Meeting日本語コミュニティTK-小学3年生保護者交流会 | Thursday Nov. 18th at 10:30am |
Latino Parent Meeting with Ms. Anaya (in Español) | Thursday Nov. 18th at 6pm |
LGBTQ+ Parent Focus Group | Tuesday Nov. 30th at 4:30pm |
Building Literacy Skills at Home Video | Tuesday Nov. 30th |
Important Events This Month
National American Indian/ Alaska Native Heritage Month
National Gratitude Month
National Inspirational Role Model Month
11/11- Veteran’s Day- No School
11/20- Transgender Day of Remembrance
11/24- 26 – Thanksgiving Break- No School
Community Survey – please provide input about how we can better support you and your students.
If you have any questions please contact Erin Timberman, Coordinator or Parent and Family Engagement, at erintimberman@iusd.org or 949-936-8618.
You can also join our Bloomz App group to get reminders about upcoming events.