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Little Rock School District

Little Rock, AR

Kaye Rainey, Parent and Family Engagement Specialist 

Kaye.Rainey@lrsd.org

Strengthen leadership for partnerships

Summer Professional Development: Engaging Families for Student Success

Arkansas requires certified educators to obtain at least two hours of professional development on parent and family engagement every four years. The goal is to ensure that all teachers and administrators understand family engagement, create welcoming school climates for all families, and have skills in conducting effective and equitable parent involvement programs. District leaders set up opportunities for educators to earn the required credits at the district’s summer professional development conference.

LRSD’s Parent and Family Engagement Specialist contacted NNPS to conduct the PD workshop for its educators and staff for two hours on two different days of the conference. In each session, LRSD leaders welcomed attendees and explained the agenda. Attendees gained an overview of NNPS and ideas for strategies that teachers could use immediately in their own practice to connect with parents in positive ways. The sessions included hands-on activities and Zoom Polls to keep attendees actively engaged. A Q & A session followed for questions or comments. LRSD added an option for teachers to come to the Parent and Family Center to attend the training together. Laptops, ear buds, and snacks were provided to create something of a typical conference environment.

Attendees were actively engaged at the summer workshops. A principal commented, “Thank you for this PD. I learned useful strategies that my school can use.” A second grade teacher reported, “I did not realize how significantly important the work is of my school’s parent facilitator. . . and how LRSD is doing important work on this agenda.” The summer workshops did double duty. Attendees gained examples of research-based practices of family engagement that they could use to in their own schools and classrooms. They also become aware of the good work that LRSD is doing as a member of NNPS and its national network.

Read more about Summer Professional Development: Engaging Families for Student Success in Promising Partnership Practices 2022.

Jana Hunter, District Liaison, Families in Transition

jana.hunter@lrsd.org

Chandra Martin, Auxiliary Program Manager

chandra.martin@lrsd.org

Strengthen Leadership for Partnerships

Title I Families in Transition (FIT)—Summer Care Package

Little Rock School District (LRSD), including several department leaders, organized and distributed a Summer Care Package with useful materials to support homeless families and other families in transition (FIT) throughout the district. Although it is possible to connect with families who live in local shelters, others are more difficult to reach. Some change email addresses and phone numbers several times.

The Summer Care Package project started with surveys of homeless families about items and information they needed most during the summer. The district planning group gathered items and packed about 200 Summer Care Packages for students and families. The district’s custodial staff set up the distribution area for parents to pick up their packets. In LRSD, some families in the FIT program speak languages other than English. They were assisted by the district bilingual staff who served as translators of materials in the packets and location interpreters, as needed.

Summer Care Packages included information on locations for summer meals provided by Central Arkansas Library System (CALS) Be Mighty Program, a list of summer activities for students, and services for summer learning. This included parents’ permissions for older students to enroll in summer school for credit-recovery courses needed to graduate from high school. The boxes also contained school supplies, personal hygiene items, non-perishable foods, books for summer reading based on students’ reading levels, and educational games for students and families to play. CALS also provide a mini-garden kit, Grow & See, to encourage students to grow herbs and vegetables for healthy eating. A business partner donated t-shirts for parents and children.

The project delivered over 170 of the boxes to the FIT families and students. School Counselors, parent liaisons, and other staff delivered Care Packages that were not picked up. One parent’s reactions were echoed by the others, “Oh, this is great! I had no idea the district provided this service. I appreciate it—thank you so much.”

Read more about Title I Families in Transition (FIT)—Summer Care Package in Promising Partnership Practices 2022.