FACE at APS

 FACE Family Engagement Goals

School Board Policy I-11.1 Family and Community Engagement defines family and community engagement as a shared responsibility of families, schools, and the community to support students and their learning and to nurture students’ intellectual, personal, social, and emotional development to help them achieve their full potential.

The evidence is beyond dispute. When schools forge strong relationships with families to support learning, all students have the opportunity to succeed both academically and socially. Over 60 years of research shows that when families and educators are engaged in meaningful, two-way communication and collaboration, students have:

• More positive attitudes toward school
• Higher grades and test scores, which equals higher achievement
• Better attendance
• More homework completed
• Higher graduation rates
• Greater enrollment in post-secondary education

APS Family Engagement Pyramid

Traditionally, family engagement events are structured so that families are mostly ‘talked at’ by teachers and administrators, the main focus is on providing information. We encourage you to see all family engagement events as opportunities for staff and families to build trusting relationships by implementing high-impact family and community engagement strategies that are collaborative, culturally competent, and focused on improving children’s learning.

• • Building personal relationships, respect, and mutual understanding with families through home visits, community walks, and class meetings.
  • Sharing data with families about student skill levels.
  • Modeling effective teaching practices so families can use them at home.
  • Listening to families about their children’s interests and challenges, then using this information to differentiate instruction.
  • Incorporating content from families’ home cultures into classroom lessons.
  • Aligning family engagement activities with school improvement goals.