Home > Special Insights Archive > August - September 2003 > A Message from Max

Is your child's school effective in finding innovative ways to partner with families to help increase student achievement and life-long learning?

A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of being part of the NYS Education Department's conference on Family Engagement in Albany, which focused on identifying strategies to increase family involvement in the schools. Besides identifying typical barriers, there were a variety of resources provided by NYSED, Children's Aid Society (NYC), Parent Network of WNY, and Baker Victory Services' Parent Advisory Board. Building the trust necessary to establish a climate that supports effective parent/school partnerships is no small task. Issues such as leadership, relationships, communication, information sharing, and developing the measures to help determine outcomes were among those discussed.

With school not far around the corner, we at the Parent Network will dedicate our energy to helping schools and districts improve how they work with parents. Helping establish the kind of atmosphere necessary to encourage student achievement and life-long learning is a process that takes the support of educators and families alike. Therefore, starting with this issue and our article on Special Education PTAs, we plan to share some of the best practices that are happening right here in Western New York and elsewhere.

Please feel free to contact us to find more resources on this topic as well as on special education and disability-related topics.

Send Max an email at: med@parentnetworkwny.org

Click to go back to Archive Page