Family & Community Engagement (FACE)

Philosophy

The KCPS Office of Engagement strives to impact the relationship between students, families, community and civic organizations and KCPS by increasing the number of opportunities for service provision, encouraging family and community involvement in the education process and ensuring a focus on equitable access to education for the Kansas City community.

Vision:

The department will creatively and effectively engage with our diverse community in a timely manner to support the academic, social and emotional development of our students. We will advocate for systemic equity throughout KCPS.

Mission:

• Radiate possibility while actively promoting our strengths
• Connect families with valuable resources
• Build bridges that foster transparent two-way communication with families and KC community
• Promote and provoke critical-thinking that ensures equitable solutions

Engagement and Advocacy - The planned process of building consistent, permanent and positive relationships for the purpose of developing a shared vision, mobilizing collective effort and building capacity within Kansas City for the success of KCPS students and families. Those relationships are built through working N.E.A.R.

Notify: Utilize a variety of strategic methods to proactively ensure complete, truthful, transparent and sincere communication within KCPS and throughout the Kansas City community.

Embrace: Create meaningful opportunities for the Kansas City community to participate, support, network and learn with KCPS as active partners in the creation of successful policies, practices and programs.

Ask: Seek opportunities to listen intently, respond appropriately and act genuinely both formally and informally throughout Kansas City by actively soliciting the views of families and community members.

Revive: Establish viable pathways to organize community support into leadership and advocacy opportunities committed to KCPS improvement and a substantial role in creating community change.

 

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What We Do

• Provide a community-wide network of supports for students and families
  • Increase capacity of families to be advocates for their child’s education, and provide targeted services by expanding promising programs
  • Educate students and parents (and schools) on how to access school and community resources to support academic, behavioral and life success
• Invite the perspectives and embrace diverse voices of parents/caregivers
  • Increase outreach to parents/caregivers to clarify academic and social emotional expectations that would ensure successful transitions
  • Ensure that staff meet with students and families at least twice each year to engage in two-way dialogue about the student’s academic and social-emotional progress, using district-wide developmentally appropriate protocol to ensure consistency and coherence
  • Provide frequent two-way communication with students and families in an increasing number of languages regarding each student’s academic progress toward mastery of all students
  • Implement a series of Family Nights for parents to learn how to support their children in achieving academic success by using critical thinking skills and technology
• Leverage community resources for student growth and school/district improvement
  • Collaborate with business and community mentors to support students in solving real-world problems, exploring new opportunities and using technology to strengthen applied learning skills
  • Partner with governmental agencies, community-based organizations, youth development agencies to motivate and reward positive student behavior
  • Continuously meet with and gather community partners and providers on priority focus areas to align resources for optimum efficiency and impact