Family and Community Engagement
Family and community engagement is a hallmark of an effective community school. In a community school, families and community members participate in decision‐making, hold leadership roles that drive school change, and are partners in students’ holistic development. NYC community schools utilize the Dual Capacity-Building Framework for Family-School Partnerships developed by Dr. Karen Mapp.
Usable Knowledge: Karen Mapp’s Framework for Family and Community Engagement | Harvard Graduate School of Education
At least two annual family engagement events are present at all Community Schools and organized collaboratively by the school and lead CBO.
Back-to-School Event/Family Night: Families are informed of school-wide priorities, services, volunteer opportunities, and engagement strategies.
Community School Forum: This is a large celebratory event as well as a data sharing and collaborative planning session with all community school stakeholders–students, families, administrators, teachers, staff and community partners. Participants get an update from school leadership on the state of the school, review progress made over the last school year in developing and implementing the community school vision and plan for the school, and hold interactive discussions to help determine priorities for the following school year. The data collected from this event is incorporated into the school’s Comprehensive Education Plan (CEP).
OCS & NYC PS Resources
Additional Resources
Through a partnership with Change Impact, a library of self-paced workshops is available to you on the Change Up Learning platform. The platform includes a set of courses designed specifically for NYC Community Schools as well as a broad library of youth development and education topics.
Each community school can set up two accounts on the platform at no cost. Please note only NYC community schools are allowed to use this link, and accounts are available through June 30, 2025.
Activate your account using this link.
Once you register and log-in, you can enroll in courses such as: