#FamilyPartnershipMatters: Let’s Work Together
Family partnership is a key ingredient to educational equity and student success. Research states that when schools effectively partner with families— when student learning is connected between home and school— students do better. They go to school more often. Their behavior improves. They achieve more long-term successes. As outlined in SFUSD’s Vision 2025, it is a district priority to support families in advocating for their children and to ensure all families are valued and respected members of the SFUSD community.
For teachers and school staff, partnering with families deepens schoolwide relationships, and it improves communication, teacher morale, and commitment to their roles. Authentic family partnership is one of the five essential supports needed to improve overall school performance.
What We Do:
Everything we do as the Student & Family team has to do with "building capacity for partnership." This means we offer resources and training opportunities for both SFUSD staff and SFUSD families to develop skills that support effective partnership between home and school. Effective partnerships support student's academic, social and developmental success, and authentic family partnership is one of the five essential supports needed to improve overall school performance.
Currently, the Student & Family team works with other teams to design and implement professional development opportunities for school site staff. We write and send one monthly newsletter for both a general audience and for family liaisons. Our team also supports the SFUSD Family Resource Link.
Working towards authentic family partnership is challenging and takes time, and the Student & Family team offers clear, intentional ways to practice what we, as a district, value.
Scroll to the bottom of this page or click here to check out our new page on Parent-Teacher Conferences, Enrollment and Culturally Responsive Holidays!
The SFUSD Family Partnership Model
We're excited to introduce you to the SFUSD Family Partnership model! It is a community garden: one where family members, school staff, students, and the larger community all come together to build and sustain multiple garden plots.
When we work together, we can cultivate a healthy and equitable system that promotes family partnership as an essential piece of student success.
You might be thinking: okay, but why a garden? A few years ago, a team of family partnership practitioners interviewed stakeholders (inclusive of families, school staff and CBOs) and asked, "What do you think of when you think of family partnership?" The image that resonated most with all stakeholders was a community garden.
Here, we have people of varying ages, races, genders and job titles working together to make sure our garden flourishes! What do you see when you look at this garden?
Family Partnership Best Practices
Anti-Racist Family Partnership Google classroom
When we authentically partner with our students’ families, and when we use an anti-racist stance, we transform our practice, move away from the status quo and promote educational equity-- all in support of student success. Click below to register for the "Family Partnership 101" Google Classroom. Join the class with class code nhnkv6d
Distance Learning Resources for Families
SFUSD Family Distance Learning Guide Fall 2020
Technology Resources
Family Technology Resources, including videos in multiple languages, are available at sfusd.edu/familytechnology.
With the expansion of technology access for PK-2 students who need it, we’ve created new resources specifically designed to support PK-2nd families with technology:
- Family Technology Tutorial Videos: Tutorial videos in English, Spanish, Cantonese, Mandarin, Filipino, and Arabic.
- Family Packets to Support Home Learning: Printed copies of these materials have been delivered to school sites to share with families who are receiving district-issued Chromebooks (English, Spanish, Chinese, Filipino, Arabic, Vietnamese)
- Distance Learning Best Practices: Guidance and strategies for families.
Check out more Family Partnership resources here!
Parent-Teacher Conferences, "Enrollment Season," and lots of holidays are comin' up. Want to know how to move through the next few months using a family partnership lens? Click below!
Please reach out to familypartnerships@sfusd.edu if you have any questions, need any support, or would like to see additional resources.
This page was last updated on October 1, 2021