How does an Alaskan district move the needle in the area of family engagement? “By not letting up on the gas pedal,” says Ashley Crace from the Lower Kuskokwim School District. The district includes 23 different rural school sites, which can only be accessed by plane, boat, or snow machine.
School district leadership saw in the data from the School Climate and Connectedness Survey a need to strengthen partnerships with the families and reached out to the Alaska Family Engagement Center (AFEC) for support.
This work started by forming a leadership team with district leaders, school principals, and classroom teachers. The team developed a multi-year plan with support from the AFEC team and continues to meet regularly.
An important element of the plan was providing professional development to the leadership team through national family engagement conferences, trainings, and a professional learning community using the Stronger Together framework. AFEC then worked with those district leaders to provide principals with five hours of professional development in family engagement, followed by additional trainings at their monthly principal’s meetings facilitated by the district’s leadership team. The AFEC team also offered family engagement training during the district’s annual professional development conference. The following year, the district continued to provide monthly family engagement professional development to the principals and AFEC provided training to school staff in September and their Advisory School Boards in October. Each school’s advisory board developed a plan to strengthen relationships between the school and community because research shows that relationships matter.
Through planning, providing ongoing professional development, and strengthening partnerships, the Lower Kuskokwim School District is making a difference in the lives of the children and families in their region.