How can leaders rethink and reimagine authentic family and community partnerships that enable students and families to thrive, especially in the context of current policies affecting Latina/o/x and immigrant communities?
Amid continuing immigration challenges, Latino families navigate schools and communities where it is essential for leaders to recognize, affirm, and uphold their full humanity. As educators and leaders, we have both the responsibility and the opportunity to restore that humanity by reimagining how we engage with families—not as participants to be managed, but as partners whose voices, stories, and cultures enrich our school communities.
Too often, traditional family engagement models focus only on the visible ways families participate—attending meetings, volunteering, or helping with homework. When families face barriers to these conventional forms of participation, they are too easily labeled as “uninvolved.” This framing overlooks the deeper, often invisible ways Latino families nurture, guide, and advocate for their children, even in the face of restrictive policies and systemic inequities.
Leaders can enact affirming and responsive strategies that support authentic Black and Brown family and community partnerships, building relationships in which students and families can truly thrive. But before we can move forward, we must ask ourselves: What does engagement look like now?
In this professional learning community, participants will:
- Collaborate with school leaders across California to explore affirming and responsive strategies that foster meaningful family and community engagement—creating relationships in which students and families can thrive.
- Transform family engagement from school-centric practices to whole child/family-centered practices.
- Rethink traditional family engagement practices to be more inclusive and understanding of current policies affecting Latina/o/x and immigrant communities.
- Expand leader practices around relationship-focused practices that require listening, acknowledging, perspective-taking, and adapting.