Thursday, October 25, 2018
Milwaukee Public Schools has been accepted into Flamboyan Foundation’s National Family Engagement Fellowship. This national expert in family engagement has been working with a team of dedicated advocates for stronger family engagement in MPS to complete a landscape assessment of family engagement in the district. Using information gathered from interviews, focus groups, surveys, and other district data, the team will embark on designing new approaches to the ways schools connect with families.
During a visit this fall, Flamboyan team members met with Superintendent Dr. Keith P. Posley and other MPS leadership to explore a vision for family engagement in MPS. In Dr. Posley’s words, “Promoting student achievement in urban education means supporting strong families and making sure families have a voice in our schools and our district.”
The team of Flamboyan and MPS representatives will work together over the next year to test new approaches for engaging families. Research in the district to this point revealed that families and staff see a need to focus on the quality of engagement rather than frequency of involvement. A target effort will be to help every parent be able to advocate for their child, ensure children are ready to learn each day, and share the family’s hopes and dreams for their child’s future.
The MPS team includes staff in a variety of roles across the district who welcome input and questions about the project.
LaNelle Ramey, Director, Black and Latino Male Achievement
Dustine Walker, Teacher, Alexander Mitchell Elementary School
Leon Groce, Principal, Audubon Middle and High School
Shannon Reed, Director of Innovative Strategies for Boys & Men of Color, United Way of Greater Milwaukee & Waukesha County