In response to their inquiries, the facilitator decided to reassemble the twelve attendees for a shared discussion and essentially a redefinition of our work. The reality is that our district serves a number of communities each of which is unique. If the District truly intends to engage the community , it must be prepared to develop a host of strategies to forge and maintain real connections with the many diverse communities it serves. Engaging families seemed to emerge as the most important focus for the district in its effort to make productive connections outside the school for the benefit of students. Engaging business and industry folks, community organizations and others are important, but not as important as engaging families.
Engagement is a process.
There need to be commitments made at the beginning of the process and opportunities created to assess whether engagement is producing the hoped-for outcomes. Engagement requires follow through with agreements made or understandings established. Engagement rests on relationships. Relationships offer an opportunity to develop trust and a sense of integrity. Engaging parents is essential for school staff people.