Keeping PACE
April 13, 2021
Coming Soon! Family Friendly School Award Program
This new program is an initiative by the HCPS Customer Service Task Force to tie together all the work happening to strengthen home-school-community connections. We are looking to celebrate schools that best engage all families with inclusive practices. HCPS uses the National PTA Standards for Family-School Partnerships as an indicator of a Family Friendly School. With this new program, schools consistently demonstrating these standards have the opportunity to earn the coveted Family Friendly School Award and special recognition that accompanies that title, including:
- Public recognition on the school’s website and the school system's social media pages;
- Local news recognition;
- Certificate and banner presentation from the Superintendent and a team of leaders/representatives;
- Luncheon provided for the school’s staff by Chick-fil-A of Harford County;
- And more!
More information, including when the program will launch and how to nominate a school, will be forthcoming.
Parent Academy Real Talk: Getting to Know Our Board of Education Members
The HCPS Parent Academy Real Talk show is excited to launch a new monthly series, Getting to Know our Board Members. President Jansen Robinson and Vice President Rachel Gauthier sit down with Parent Academy's Mary Beth Stapleton to share their story - a little bit of their background and ties to the community, why they sought a position on the Board of Education, and what serving the students of Harford County means to them. In addition, they answer some questions from the community. Check it out!
Please help us share the videos in this series with your school communities.
Community Schools Toolkit
Community schools are schools that develop and utilize partnerships to connect the school, students, families, and surrounding community to the resources needed in order to thrive. At its core, the community school strategy is deeply rooted in equity; it highlights the assets in traditionally underserved communities and leverages additional partnerships, ultimately providing students, families, and communities with essential services.
Maryland is home to more than 260 community schools throughout the State, serving students and families from birth to adulthood. Through strategic partnerships, community schools work to provide access to health services, mental health support, academic enrichment, out-of-school time programming, crisis support, adult education classes, leadership development, and more.
MSDE has resources available for all schools in the state, not just Community Schools, working to support families and community partnerships:
Webinar Opportunity: Engaging Families in Re-Entry Planning
Students and teachers have started to return to in-person instruction after an unprecedented year of virtual and hybrid schooling. As schools reopen, educators will need to consider a variety of needs. Those include academic as well as socio-emotional needs. How can schools and districts collaborate with families in the re-entry process? And how can we ease anxieties and smooth the transition?
In this webinar, we'll hear from a panel of school and district representatives. The panel will discuss how they’ve engaged families in planning for the return to in-person instruction. They’ll share what's worked and what hasn't, lessons learned, and tips for those working through similar challenges.
Topic: Engaging Families in Re-Entry Planning
Date: Wednesday, April 21, 2021
Time: 3:00 p.m.
Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_yaJZcd7ORc-WJAccePdw5A
The Success Project - A Community Resource for Families in Need
Office of Communications and Family Outreach
Keeping PACE editors:
Manager of Family and Community Partnerships
Communications Specialist
Email: ParentAcademy@hcps.org
Website: https://www.hcps.org/parents/ParentAcademy/Default.aspx
Location: 102 South Hickory Avenue, Bel Air, MD, USA
Phone: 410-588-5263
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HCPSParentAcademy