Family and Community Academy report

...is the report of the Superintendent tonight. You can find the presentation here.
Boone: how we more closely involve parents and families in schools
Cary: "began several years ago as a result of work with several organizations in the city"
the more families are involved, the more parents are involved in their children's education, the more successful the children are
has increased in success and participation
began to be "branded" in the community as a recognizable name
participation of WPS as part of effort starting last year
support parents and families "in developing the skills and confidence for lifelong learning and active engagement in the development of the whole child"
Rojas: meaningful ways that parents can participate in their children's education
building relationships among parents--schools--community providers
Four areas: advocacy, learning, child development, culture & community
offering "Academy Credits" for completing workshops

• a core certificate is for 15 credits across two areas
• a leadership certificate is form 25 credits across all 4 areas (5 in each catagory, plus 5 in another area of interest)

"to develop a cadre of parent leadership to support their child, support their school, and support their district"
Developing a course catalog of learning: putting together those offered by various other parents
more organized way of disseminating information
website being developed (not up yet)
will reflect from parent input on process
Boone: trying to develop a family academy, community academy that has some real takeaways for parents

Monfredo: how are the parents invited?
Cary: targeted mailing list from each community group, CPPAC, Connect-Ed from WPS
meet at various times, last week's training on MASC site councils
"courses on the go" for training on the go
Rojas: community partners have been doing this work for years
Biancheria: comfort zone for people to attend, acknowledgement that they're learning while in the program beneficial to students as well as parents
asks that those who complete things be acknowledged by School Committee
O'Connell: growth of year to year, addressed in a series of logical ways
"as you continue to succeed, parents working with their schools...for the benefit of education"
"nurture it, support it, and encourage it"
CPPAC needs and welcomes new members
site council parity (of parent participation)