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Family, School, and Community Partnerships�Coffee Chat

Please Rename Yourself:

Name, District

Enter in the Chat:

What was your kindergarten teacher like?

November 14, 2025

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Welcome and Introductions

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Office of Family, School, and Community Partnerships

Systemic

Support

Structure

Office of FSCP

Coordinate family engagement across the Colorado Department of Education

Work with district-level staff to support their unique needs

Staff the State Advisory Council for Parent Involvement in Education (SACPIE)

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FSCP Coffee Chats

Coffee Chats:

10 years and counting!
Specific for district points of contact
Opportunity to learn from each other
Highlights promising practices
Creates a community of collaboration

Logistics:

Meets monthly August-May
Third Friday of the month (mostly)
Most virtual, some hybrid
Problem of Practice during virtual chats

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Small Group Introductions

Name

Role and District

Share one word that describes relationships with families in your school/district now.

Share one word that you hope will describe relationships with families in your school/district by the end of the school year.

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Office of Family, School, and Community Partnerships 2025-2026 Theme

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Family, School, and Community Partnerships:�An Essential Improvement Strategy

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A Thrifty School Improvement Strategy

Figures suggest that in most places, the total cost for all three policy levels—school, district, and state—of between $26.85 and $46.78 per pupil per year will support the leaders and expenses for basic programs of family, school, and community partnerships, including:

FSCP activities/initiatives in schools’ UIPs.
Salaries, benefits, and program costs for district leaders at a ratio of 1 facilitator:30 schools.
Salaries, benefits, and program costs for state leaders.

Dollar amounts adjusted for inflation in 2023.

Schools

$19-$30

Districts

$7.60-$15.20

States

$.25-$1.58

Overall

$26.85 - $46.78

Epstein, J. L., Sanders, M. G., Sheldon, S. B., Simon, B. S., Salinas, K. C., Jansorn, N. R., ... & Williams, K. J. (2018). School, family, and community partnerships: Your handbook for action. Corwin Press.

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The Why: A Strategy – Not a Goal!

Families as Stakeholders

Family Engagement as an Improvement Strategy

Student Success

Improved Attendance

Greater Sense of Belonging

Smoother Transitions

Better Grades

Everyone Wins, 2022

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Benefits of FSCP:�Wins for Families, Districts, and Schools

Families have:

Better rapport with teachers and school staff.
Greater understanding of student progress and how to help.

Staff have:

More positive school climate.
Higher morale and professional satisfaction.
Greater retention of teachers.
Increased multicultural awareness and appreciation.
More support from families.
Better reputation and more support from the community.

Everyone Wins, 2022

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Source: Flamboyan Foundation

Darcy

Flamboyan has focused specifically on family engagement for more than 10 years…. Research and practice have taught us that important these five roles are…
The five roles that families play to accelerate student learning are communicate high expectations, monitor their child’s performance, support learning at home, guide their child’s education and advocate for their child.
These 5 roles that come from the literature and research on effective family engagement and provides a clear direction for what effective family engagement aims to achieve.
Effective family engagement is when educators share the information and resources that families need to play these roles well.
For example, it is important for parents to communicate to their children that they have high expectations and that they value education. One very simple but effective way parents do that is by asking children what they learned in school that day. Many of you are parents; when you ask your children what they learned at school today, what do they say? But…If your teacher sends home an email describing that they’re studying ancient Rome that week and suggests a list of three questions, like “ask your child who was his favorite emperor”, then you can have the conversation and do your job communicating the value of learning.
If you get info about how your son or daughter did on the last quiz or test – you can be monitoring and holding kids accountable, but if you don’t find out that they didn’t hand in any homework until the end of the grading period, then you can’t help

All parents play these five roles in some form or another. However, some parents have more access to resources, information, and relationships to play them well than others, and that’s where our focus on students most impacted by inequity is grounded.

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CONTINUUM OF IMPACT

Celebrations

Fundraisers

Potlucks

Performances & showcases

Family help on administrative tasks

Parent resource rooms

Family support services

Generic school newsletters

Parent training events

Back to school night

Interactive homework

Goal-setting talks

Regular, personalized communication

Positive phone calls home

Data sharing

Modeling of learning support strategies

Relationship building

Academic partnering

Home visits

Ongoing communications

Source: Flamboyan Foundation

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FSCP Trail Map

FSCP Trail Map for Schools

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Colorado’s P-12 FSCP Framework

Essential Element Two: Build Trusting Relationships

Trusting relationships enable families and schools to partner about the education outcomes for children and youth.

Guiding Questions:

What do trusting relationships look like in your school/district?
How are you ensuring effective use of two-way communication with your families to sustain positive relationships?
How do you leverage relationships with families to achieve your school/district goals?

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Building Trusting Relationships

at Sand Creek High School in Colorado Springs D49

Welcome, Amy Sanchez-Martinez!

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Building Trusting Relationships at SCHS

Family and School Partnership in Education

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What is your driving force in your work with students and families?

What are your greatest hopes to achieve this work?

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Trusting relationships enable families and programs/schools to partner about the education outcomes for children and youth.

What do trusting relationships look like in your program/district/school?
How are you ensuring effective use of two-way communication with your families to sustain positive relationships?
How do you leverage relationships with families to achieve your program/district/school goals?

FSCP Definition