Our Mission The West Virginia Family Engagement Center engages families, educators, and community members in the educational process to enhance student academic achievement. WVFEC is partnering with families to provide SEAMless Family Engagement that: - Supports learning and development.
- Encourages positive self image and a "can do" spirit in WV youth.
- Advocates for improved learning opportunities at WV schools.
- Models lifelong learning and enthusiasm for education.
In this newsletter, we'll cover: - Family Engagement Learning Corner: Building Relationships Between Home and School
- School Spotlights: St. Marys High School, Ritchie County High School
- Resource Round Up
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Family Engagement Learning Corner Building Relationships Between Home and School |
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A major focus of the Dual Capacity-Building Framework for Family-School Partnerships is building respectful and trusting relationships between home and school. Meaningful family engagement cannot be established until relationships of trust and respect are built between home and school. A focus on relationship building is especially important in circumstances where there has been a history of mistrust between families and school/district staff or where negative past experiences or feelings of intimidation hamper the building of partnerships between staff and parents. In these cases, mailings, automated phone calls, and even incentives like meals and prizes for attendance do little to ensure regular participation of families, and school staff are often less than enthusiastic about participating in these events. The relationship between home and school serves as the foundation for shared learning and responsibility and also acts as an incentive and motivating agent for the continued participation of families and staff. Participants in initiatives are more willing to learn from others whom they respect and trust. Source: U.S. Department of Education: https://www2.ed.gov/documents/family-community/partnership-frameworks.pdf Source: Mapp, K. L. & Bergman, E. (2019). Dual capacity-building framework for family-school partnerships (Version 2).
Retrieved from: www.dualcapacity.org |
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School Spotlight St. Marys High School |
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St. Marys High School in Pleasants County hosted a Family Trivia Night with 40 students and family members participating. Students and families were able to learn new information as well as demonstrate their knowledge of standards learned during this school year. St. Marys High School staff members participated by providing questions from their content area to incorporate into the Trivia Night. Fresh popcorn from the new popcorn machine and coffee/cocoa from the new Keurig was provided to students and family members in attendance. |
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School Spotlight Ritchie County High School |
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Ritchie County High School hosted a Family Art and STEAM Night to encourage students, families, and younger students from their feeder schools to participate in arts-based learning and STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics). Multiple makerspaces were provided and facilitated by teachers and staff for students and families to engage in hands-on learning together. Various activities around STEAM were offered to meet the interest and ability levels of a diverse group of students and families of all ages. |
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Resource Round Up Family and Community Engagement – Engaged Families Build Community |
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Raising the next generation is a shared responsibility. When families, communities and schools work together, students are more successful and the entire community benefits. For schools and districts across the U.S., family engagement is becoming an integral part of education reform efforts. The U.S. Department of Education has provided resources on its webpage supporting the framework for building greater support and capacity in schools, homes and communities, so ALL students have the chance to succeed. Families can get ideas for how to bring passion, talents, and energy to help students and to make neighborhood schools stronger. Source: U.S. Department of Education: https://www.ed.gov/family-and-community-engagement?src=rn |
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Get the latest WVFEC news via our social channels! | |
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The West Virginia Family Engagement Center was made possible by Grant #U310A180062 from the U.S. Department of Education. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of the U.S. Department of Education. |
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