Nurturing student growth and success in school works best when connections between caregivers and school personnel are marked by open lines of communication, earnest partnering, and respectful engagement. At Community Partnership School (CPS) in North Philadelphia, creating a culture of collaboration between home and school has become paramount in our ongoing work of fulfilling the school's mission. After reading The Essential Conversation by Sarah Lawrence-Lightfoot, the school redoubled its efforts at building healthy home-school partnerships, even tackling head-on the politeness and defensiveness that often operate just beneath the surface of this interaction.

1. Generating and Sustaining
Healthy Partnerships
between Home and School
NPEA 4th Annual Conference
April 19, 2012
Regina Young and Eric Jones
Community Partnership School
Philadelphia, PA

2. Presentation Outline
 The Home-School Conundrum
 Barriers to Effective Partnering
 Strategies for Increasing Home Involvement
 References and Resources

3. The Home-School Conundrum
 Community Partnership School’s journey
 Perceived dissonance
 Honest acknowledgement
 Comprehensive redress
 Review excerpt from The Essential Conversation: What
Parents and Teachers Can Learn from Each Other

4. Barriers to Effective Partnering
 Misread or misperception of interest and/or
abilities
 Limited resources
 Lack of comfort and vested interest
 … all of which lead to tension in relationship
between home and school

5. Strategies for Increasing Home
Involvement
 Create an environment where compassion is a
cultural norm
 Outline clear set of shared expectations
 Foster regular communication with families
 Offer suggestions parents/guardians can use at
home
 Include parents/guardians in decision making
 Integrate community resources

6. Strategies for Increasing Home
Involvement
 Create an environment where compassion is a
cultural norm
 Outline clear set of shared expectations
 Foster regular communication with families
 Offer suggestions parents/guardians can use at
home
 Include parents/guardians in decision making
 Integrate community resources

7. CPS Philosophy Statements that
Frame School Culture (1)
 Taken together, our Vision, Mission, Values and Approach statements form the
cultural foundation we seek to cultivate at Community Partnership School. These
principles guide our decisions, inform our work, and inspire our aspirations for
the future.
 Our Vision asserts our reason for existing;
 Our Mission articulates those essential principles that unify us in our cause;
 Our Values reflect the expectations around how we work with each other and the
example adult members of our community set for our students;
 Our Approach clarifies the manner in which we make our Vision, Mission, and Values
reality, detailing how we accomplish our task every day.

8. CPS Philosophy Statements that
Frame School Culture (2)
 Our Values (The 3 C’s)
 Curiosity
 We desire to know more about our community and apply practices that cultivate growth
and well-being among community members
 We foster opportunities for exploration and innovation
 We strive to maximize our potential
 Courage
 We focus resources to achieve our Vision and Mission
 We take a disciplined approach to executing our Approach and applying our Values
 We learn from our successes and failures
 Compassion
 We assume good intentions from our colleagues, caregivers, and students and engage
each other in thoughtful ways
 We seek to position each other for optimal engagement and performance
 We value diverse experiences and perspectives in all aspects of our operation

9. Strategies for Increasing Home
Involvement
 Create an environment where compassion is a
cultural norm
 Outline clear set of shared expectations
 Foster regular communication with families
 Offer suggestions parents/guardians can use at
home
 Include parents/guardians in decision making
 Integrate community resources

10. CPS’ Shared Home-School Expectations
Community Partnership School builds on our students’ natural curiosity to
expand their capacities for learning. Ultimately, we work to position students
for success in school, effectively preparing them for more informed, invested
citizenship. To accomplish this, CPS seeks to collaborate with its families,
recognizing that good communication between home and school ensures
greater student success. What follows outlines our vision for shared
responsibility between our families and school.
CPS families can expect the School to… CPS expects it’s caregivers to …
•Create an environment that supports •Support school policies and engage school
children’s personal development and joy in individual personnel and other families respectfully.
accomplishments. •Actively engage the partnership by volunteering
•Establish and maintain a culture where compassion and participating in school events.
is the norm. •Seek specific information rather than trust
•Collaborate with caregivers in supporting and unverified speculation.
enriching the program. •Provide proper diet, rest and exercise for your
•Communicate promptly to caregiver concerns. child and limit the time allowed for TV, computer
•Inform caregivers of learning expectations and and video games.
specific ways to support their children’s learning. •Ensure your child’s daily attendance at school and
•Coordinate productive conferences in which abide by arrival and dismissal expectations.
caregivers and students get specific suggestions on •Check homework each night and sign the
next steps. homework sheet.
•Seek information on important matters concerning •Attend the five designated Parent Nights during
your child’s general well-being. the school year.
•Uphold consistent values and discipline. •Send child to school appropriately dressed.

11. Strategies for Increasing Home
Involvement
 Create an environment where compassion is a
cultural norm
 Outline clear set of shared expectations
 Foster regular communication with families
 Offer suggestions parents/guardians can use at
home
 Include parents/guardians in decision making
 Integrate community resources

12. Family Outreach Rubric for CPS
Teachers
Needs Does Not
Expert Proficient Improvement Meet
The Teacher: Standards
Makes sure caregivers hear Promptly informs caregivers Lets caregivers know about Seldom informs caregivers of
Communication positive news about their of behavior and learning problems their children are concerns or positive news
children first and immediately problems, and also updates having but rarely mentions about their children.
flags any problems. parents about good news. positive news.
Frequently involves Updates caregivers on the Sends home occasional Rarely if ever communicates
caregivers in supporting and unfolding curriculum and suggestions on how with caregivers on ways to
Involvement enriching the curriculum as it suggests ways to support caregivers can help their help their children at home.
unfolds. learning at home. children grow.
In conferences, progress Uses conferences and Uses conferences to tell Crafts progress reports and
reports, and informal talks, progress reports to give caregivers the areas in which expects parents to deal with
Reporting gives caregivers detailed and caregivers feedback on their their children can improve. the areas that need
helpful feedback on children’s progress. improvement.
children’s progress.
Deals immediately and Responds promptly to Is slow to respond to some Does not respond to
successfully with caregiver caregiver concerns and caregiver concerns and gives caregiver concerns and makes
Responsiveness concerns and makes them makes them feel welcome in off an unwelcoming vibe. them feel unwelcome in the
feel welcome any time. the school. classroom.

13. Strategies for Increasing Home
Involvement
 Create an environment where compassion is a
cultural norm
 Outline clear set of shared expectations
 Foster regular communication with families
 Offer suggestions parents/guardians can use at
home
 Include parents/guardians in decision making
 Integrate community resources

14. School Initiated Contact with
Families - Examples
 Goes beyond the traditional twice-per-year parent/teacher
conference
 See handouts for examples from weekly class
newsletters
 Parent/guardian education initiative
 Five “Parent Night” sessions per academic year
 Compulsory
 Dinner and child care provided

15. Strategies for Increasing Home
Involvement
 Create an environment where compassion is a
cultural norm
 Outline clear set of shared expectations
 Foster regular communication with families
 Offer suggestions parents/guardians can use at
home
 Include parents/guardians in decision making
 Integrate community resources

16. Parent/Guardian Leadership
Opportunities at CPS
 Family Council model
 Governance structure
 Class Parents
 Collaboration with Development office
 Board of Trustee representation
 Ex-officio membership
 Volunteering

17. Strategies for Increasing Home
Involvement
 Create an environment where compassion is a
cultural norm
 Outline clear set of shared expectations
 Foster regular communication with families
 Offer suggestions parents/guardians can use at
home
 Include parents/guardians in decision making
 Integrate community resources

18. At CPS, the “P” Stands for
Partnership
 Founding Partners
 Germantown Academy
 Project HOME
 Resource Partners (partial list)
 Philadelphia Zoo  ESF Dream Camp
 Wagner Institute of Science  Philadelphia Magazine
 Constitution Center  The Vetri Foundation for
 University of Pennsylvania Children
 Temple University  Smith Playground
 Haverford College  The Campaign for Working
 Free Library of Philadelphia Families

19. References and Resources
 “Family-School Partnerships: National Standards for Family-School
Partnerships.” 2012. National PTA. 6 Apr 2012. <
www.pta.org/national_standards.asp>.
 Grant, Kelly and Julie Ray. Home, School and Community Collaboration:
Culturally Responsive Family Involvement. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage
Publications, Inc, 2009.
 Henderson, Anne. A New Wave of Evidence: The Impact of School,
Family, and Community Connections on Student Achievement. Austin,
TX: National Center for Family & Community Connections with Schools,
2002.
 Lawrence-Lightfoot, Sara. The Essential Conversation: What Parents and
Teachers Can Learn From Each Other. New York: Ballantine Books,
2003.