California Center for School Climate (CCSC)

This session will take you through a 3-year journey of one preschool working to improve relationships and collaboration with families. You will hear from a school team that set out to meaningfully engage families in student learning by using data to create a system in which best practices can grow and be sustained, and giving families concrete opportunities for learning and contributing to their child’s educational and personal development. The stories and lessons shared by the school team will help participants design their own strong family engagement practices that start in early childhood and last through elementary school and beyond. Join us and be inspired to incorporate lessons that can be applied at any grade level to build community within and around schools.

Watch the recorded webinar

View the transcript

Download the slides (pdf)

Highlighted Resources:

• Academic Parent-Teacher Teams (APTT)
• Family Engagement Toolkit: Continuous Improvement Through an Equity Lens (CDE, 2017)
• A New Wave of Evidence: The Impact of School, Family, and Community Connections on Student Achievement (SEDL, 2002)
• Family Engagement Insider, Digest #3: Delaware Framework for Integrated and Equitable Family Engagement (APTT for Delaware State Department, 2022)

Presenters

Annabel Lee (she/her) is a Family Engagement Facilitator in WestEd’s Quality Schools and Districts content area. She is currently a trainer and coach for Academic Parent-Teacher Teams (APTT), through which she supports and builds the capacity of teachers and leaders from preK through high school to implement effective family engagement practices. Annabel has worked with teachers and leaders on developing reading and math curricula, designing assessments, and conducting instructional rounds, and she has served as a teacher and principal.

Maria Paredes (she/her) is a Senior Engagement Manager in WestEd’s Quality Schools and Districts content area. Maria developed Academic Parent-Teacher Teams (APTT), a strengths-based model of family engagement designed to strengthen the capacity of teachers and families to transform family participation in their children’s education. She has partnered with state departments, districts, and schools to support needs assessment, program development, professional learning, and integration of effective family engagement practices into all areas of school improvement.