School 2 Home Communication Forum eNewsletter
Vol. 1, No. 8 July 2008
Tools You Can Use
Ideas for Family Involvement
The Northeast Foundation for Children (NEFC) has published a new book, In Our School, that includes strategies for building community -- in the school and with community members.
 
Check out the online excerpts. Included is a chapter on involving families. Follow this link to download the pdf file.

In the Spotlight

Creating Family Friendly Schools 
If family and community engagement is so important, why aren't more districts successful at implementing a process that works?
 
This question, posed by Sam Bartlett, the CEO of Family Friendly Schools, reveals the conundrum faced by many school administrators. District leaders have many weighty goals. And, with so many issues competing for attention--making AYP, improving instruction, honing leadership skills--how can school leaders keep parental and community involvement on the radar screen?
 
Participants in a recent S2H Webinar, Creating Success through Family Involvement, explored some answers to this all-important question. Read more.
 
Increasing Parental and Community Involvement
The S2H Webinars and Roundtables offer opportunities for district and school leaders to share successful practices.
 
Participants in a recent S2H Webinar, Creating Success through Family Involvement, had interesting ideas for building better relationships with families and community members. Read more. 

Practitioners' Perspectives

A Keen Look at Best Practices
As members of the School to Home Communication Forum, you understand the value of learning from the experience of others. You also understand that it's often helpful to explore how other school leaders have improved their efforts to communicate with families and community members.

In 2005, the Fayette County (Ky) Public Schools undertook the 2020 Vision Project. Participants were charged with this task: develop a shared community vision for the kinds of learning experiences all stakeholders want for students.
Follow this link to read more about the project.
 
Especially interesting is the collection of Final Reports, which can be found by clicking on the so-named tab in the left-hand menu. Each of the reports summarizes the research that undergirds each work group's recommendations. Each of the reports includes implementation steps and identifies the appropriate person responsible for implementation.

Read the Family Involvement Final Report  for ideas on how your district can improve parent and family involvement in your schools, as well as how to improve your two-way communication effort.