BPS announces school sites for new Family and Community Outreach Coordinators

BOSTON - The Boston Public Schools today announced that 17 schools have been selected to pilot new Family and Community Outreach Coordinator positions to help build their capacity to engage families and the community in meaningful ways. There will be 15 positions for the 17 schools with four schools sharing two positions.

The School Department and School Committee worked with parent and community organizations to develop a job description that would best assist schools in reaching the family and community engagement goals identified in their Whole School Improvement Plans and based many of the goals of the job on information gathered from a survey of schools already operating such a position.

The schools were selected after a long process managed by Deputy Superintendent for Family and Community Engagement Karen Richardson and her staff. Schools had to submit a two-page proposal that addressed the following issues:

• The current state of family and community engagement in the school, and the particular needs identified in their Whole School Improvement Plan (WSIP);
• Their preliminary plans for activities to strengthen family and community engagement;
• Their capacity for measuring school-specific outcomes of these efforts;
• Their capacity for supporting these positions by providing space and access to resources.

The goal of the pilot program was to cover a cross-section of schools including level and neighborhood. The 17 schools include eight elementary schools, three middle schools, five high schools and one K - 8 school covering nine different neighborhoods in the city.

The Family and Community Outreach Coordinators will be responsible for developing school-based family engagement systems and activities that create strong supports for teaching, learning and student achievement. They will be responsible for supporting families, teachers and the community in their efforts to assist students in achieving educational excellence. The Coordinator will also provide support for the School Parent Council and the School Site Council in outreach to families, communicating priorities and goals of the school, and engaging parents in the decision-making processes within the school. Ultimately, they will focus on creating a welcoming environment that values parents as full partners in the education of their children.

Coordinators will receive support and guidance from the Office of Family and Community Engagement, including ongoing training and professional development. Schools with other positions devoted to family and community engagement will also have access to these resources, and all staff in these types of positions will be part of a peer network to share best practices.

The 17 schools are: