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Seattle Public Schools (SPS)

Home » Seattle Public Schools (SPS)

18 Jan 2015, 2015 Partnership District Awards, Partnership District Awards | Comments

In Seattle Public Schools (SPS), the Neighbor to Neighbor (N2N) Program strengthens family and community engagement by fostering trust, two-way communications, and activities that require collaboration. In 2013, SPS collaborated with Seattle University to inaugurate the first class of diverse parents from the district’s five regions in the Family Connectors University (FCU).

Seattle Public Schools (SPS)

Seattle, Washington

(Left to Right) Gail Morris (Native American Education Manager), Ziyao Yang, Alesia Jesse,  Anita Koyier-Mwamba, Bernardo Ruiz (Director of School Family Partnerships, Equity and Race Relations and Native American Education), Dr. Larry Nyland (Superintendent), Ina Howell (President of the Seattle Alliance of Black Schools Educators),  Chris Ray-Merriweather,  Jesse Johnson

District-Level Leadership for Partnerships:

Neighbor to Neighbor (N2N) Program

Families are empowered when their opinions are sought and respected as part of the decision-making process.  In Seattle Public Schools (SPS), the Neighbor to Neighbor (N2N) Program strengthens family and community engagement by fostering trust, two-way communications, and activities that require collaboration.  District Leaders for Partnerships see N2N as a way to reach out to engage ethnically and linguistically diverse families who make up about 60% of the student population.

In N2N, all stakeholders in education may participate in informal small-group discussions led by others with diverse backgrounds who have been trained by the district to know and speak about important school and district initiatives.  N2N discussions may be scheduled anywhere—at families’ homes, community centers, libraries, workplace lunch areas, and/or in schools.  Last year, an SPS School and Family Partnerships Coordinator conducted multiple Train-the-Trainer Workshops throughout the five regions of the district.  The parents, educators, and community members in these sessions learned to lead discussions about district policies and programs.  The resulting community discussions give families and community partners a way to contribute their opinions and suggestions for policy decisions that may affect the whole district.

Neighbor to Neighbor (N2N) is featured in Promising Partnership Practices 2015.

Facilitation of Schools’ Action Teams for Partnerships:

Expanding and Institutionalizing Family Connectors University (FCU)

In 2013, SPS collaborated with Seattle University to inaugurate the first class of diverse parents from the district’s five regions in the Family Connectors University (FCU).  Since then, several cohorts have attended the 10-week program, including many immigrant and refugee families.   FCU aims to strengthen Family Engagement Action Teams (FEATs) by helping parents and other family partners gain knowledge about SPS before they become members of their school’s partnership team.  With good information, they are able to navigate the school system and use tools and resources to help their own children and to enable other parents to support their children’s success in school,

The new and expanded offerings of the FCU include innovative strategies that can help all SPS families support their school-based FEATs and assist their children’s learning at home.  The FCU graduates now include many new immigrant and refugee families who are able to teach one or more topics in classes for other parents, and encourage their children to do their best in school.  The FCU has opened up two-way communication channels between the district and its families, and provide ways for schools and families to work together to improve students’ academics and school behaviors.