Below are a few resources to assist you in addressing Parent/Family Engagement with the school.  Some resources are directed to school personnel and others include assistance to parents. For resources directed to assist parent and families with school engagement and involvement, Click Here.

We hope you find them useful.    

Websites:

Enhancing Student Success: Practical Family Engagement Strategies for Schools  Source: Parent Powered.

Family Engagement & School Readiness:   Provides frameworks and strategies for parent and community engagement.  Source: Headstart

Family Engagement Activities:  10 page PDF document full of strategies.   Source: Texas Education Agency

Parent and Family Engagement: Title I, Part A of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 Act This  37 page document addresses provisions as well as strategies for family engagement under Title 1, Part A.  Source.   2025, January. U.S. Department of Education

Articles:

6 Strategies for Effective School Family Engagement Events      Source: Paredes, Maria.  8/1/2022.  Institute of Education Sciences

11 Ways Parents Can Get Involved in School    Provides practical suggestions  to parents on how to get involved. Source: Pontz, Eden. 9/1/2024. Center for Parent and Teen Communication. 

'A Welcoming Place': Family Engagement Strategies for Schools (Video)  "Education Week Staff Writer Libby Stanford spent four months talking to parents, superintendents, principals, teachers, and researchers about what it takes to build positive relationships between families and schools... Ultimately, they said, it comes down to developing trust.  She shares key strategies schools can adopt to make sure their family engagement practices are effective at building long-lasting, trusting relationships with families."  Source: Stanford, Libby. 5/2/2024. Education Week.  

*Back to School:  Ideas for Parent Involvement  Source: 8/20/2024. CDC.

Communicating with ELL Families: 10 Strategies for Schools  Source:  Breiseth, Lydia. August, 2021. NEA

District Wide Strategies for Family Engagement.   (2 sided Handout)  Source: 12/14/2017. Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction. 

Effective Family Engagement Could Look Like This  (Video)  Source:  2/14/2018. Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction. 

Family Engagement = Student Success.  (Video) While this video is from 2011 and features former President Obama and a diverse group of national and New York leaders speaking on the importance of family engagement and student success, it is still relevant in encouraging parents to get involved!    Oprah Winfrey noted that if every parent went to their child's teacher and said "  'Tell me what I can do to help you, help my child'. You would get a different level of respect and you would get a different level of return for your child." See more...  Source:  3/11/2011. Learning Leaders. 

Family Engagement with Schools: Strategies to Build Strong Partnerships.  (Video)  This 9 minute video is packed with helpful information in building relationships with parents and informing them of services available.  Source: 6/22/2020. Formed Families Forward for Northern Virginia.  

Family Engagement with Schools:  Strategies to Build Strong Partnerships Fact Sheet    1 page fact sheet.  Source: 6/2020? Formed Families Forward for Northern Virginia. 

*How Families Can Support Student Health & Well Being Source: 7/6/2022. CDC.   

*Parent Engagement in Schools: Information for Parents  Source: 11/22/2024. CDC.

Parental Involvement vs Parental Engagement "An involved par­ent takes part in the activ­i­ties already deter­mined by the school. An engaged par­ent takes a step fur­ther, often becom­ing part of the school’s deci­sion-mak­ing process."   This article also includes tips on how schools can encourage family engagement.  Source:  2/13/2023. Annie E. Casey Foundation.  

The Importance of Family Engagement   (Video)  This video features a parent from the Danville, VA school district addressing the importance of family engagement as well as some of the tools that the school district is using to engage parents.   Source:  5/31/2024. Danville School District, Virginia. 

Welcoming Families from Day One   2 strategies:  1. Welcoming Phone Call suggestions.  2. Restructure Open House to Involve Families.  Check it out.  Source:  Shafer, Leah. 8/17/2017. Harvard Graduate School of Education. 

*Whole School, Whole Child, Whole Community   The  16 page document referred to in this article places the child at the center of health and education. Additional attention is placed on the effect of the Social and Emotional Climate in addition to the Physical Environment as well as family engagement and community involvement.  Source:  2/9/2023. CDC. 

* Note:  The CDC has "archived" several of its former resources so links within various pages may no longer work.