Family Engagement

Introduction
The Family Engagement Office exists because CPS is committed to equity. The Family Engagement Office is here to support family liaisons, faculty, staff and our administrators to work directly with families, in ways that are compassionate, respectful and effective. Building capacity in families to support their child's learning at home is key to children feeling good and being successful at school and in their futures. We believe in the Massachusetts Family Engagement Principles and Dual Capacity building (Mapp, 2014) and the office strives to embed these principles authentically, in our district and our community. We understand developing equitable and meaningful family engagement practices takes time and we are committed to co-generating plans and activities that will support our end goal. Our hope is rigor, joy, a sense of belonging and success for all of our scholars and their families.

Massachusetts Family Engagement Principles

1. Each family is unique and all families represent diverse structures. Family engagement includes genuine efforts to understand each family's beliefs, values, priorities, goals and aspirations. Families and practitioners make joint decisions and share responsibility in a successful partnership.
2. Diversity is expressed and experienced at multiple levels such as (but not limited to) race, religion, ethnicity, culture, language, family structures, ability, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, and educational level. Acknowledging and accepting the need to engage all families is essential for successful engagement of diverse families and includes recognizing the strengths that come from their diverse backgrounds.
3. Building a respectful, trusting, and reciprocal relationship is a shared responsibility of families, practitioners, organizations, and systems. This positive relationship has the individual family's strengths and assets at its center.
4. Families are their child's first and best advocate. This premier role puts families in a unique position to nurture their children's growth and development and to help practitioners become knowledgeable about their child.
5. Equity is the eradication of privilege, oppression, disparities, and disadvantage. Family engagement must be equitable. Equitable family engagement comprises intentional and meaningful engagement activities and systems for all families or groups of families irrespective of families' level of or approach to engagement. Providing equity-based opportunities for family engagement can help family members become effective advocates for their children.

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Our Projects
School Council Handbook
A School Council is a representative, school building-based committee composed of the principal, parents, teachers, community members and, at the secondary level, students, under both state and federal law (MGL Chapter 71, Section 59C, ESSA). The School Council improves student outcomes by engaging its community in site-based decision-making to develop a shared vision of the school. This type of collaborative decision-making also allows teachers and administrators to work with parents and the community to become more responsive to the needs of a particular school's population.

School Councils make decisions that affect the entire school community and are tools for the advancement of all students in Cambridge Public School. School Councils are a high leverage place for parents to make a positive and meaningful impact on the achievement and wellbeing of their children, as well as all children in the community. Advocacy skills that parents and students learn through involvement in the School Council can prepare them for civic engagement and public office at any level, and it is the intention of the district to galvanize parent and student advocacy through School Councils.

The Village
Vision, mission, values
The vision defines the future state that the teams are working towards; the mission articulates how Caregiver U will contribute to that vision; the principles guide the ways in which this group/organization will work. Learn more >>

CPS Friends of Groups

• Understanding current Friends of Groups
• Explore possibilities of city-wide Friends of Groups or create guidelines/policy to support existing and newly formed Friends of Groups

Supporting Affinity Groups
CPS Latinx Familes Group
Contact: Debbie Bonilla, Xiomara Nunez

CPS Muslim Families Group
Contact: Heba Aby, Zakkiyya Witherspoon

Cambridge Families of Color Coalition

Cambridge Families of Asian Descent

Staff Resources

• Family Care Resources website
• CPS Bilingual Family Liaisons Assistance Request Form
• Family Conferences 2020-21 Presentation
• Family Engagement Listening Conferences Presentation
• Family Engagement Update: November 2021