Engagement

What Is Family Engagement?

Family engagement in schools is a collaborative effort where schools, community agencies, and organizations actively reach out to involve parents in meaningful ways. Parents, in turn, commit to supporting their children's learning and development. Using a strength-based approach, family engagement fosters change by building and maintaining relationships with families to achieve shared goals. Family empowerment involves engaging, involving, and amplifying the voices of families to support students.

Why is Family Engagement Important?

Effective family engagement significantly improves outcomes for students and families. Think of it as an essential ingredient baked into the cake, rather than just decorative icing. Integrating family engagement throughout a child's school career is most beneficial.

Key Points to Know:

• Family Engagement Coordinators: They interact with all families in their assigned schools across the district.

• Information Sharing: They support schools in sharing information with families and community members about district activities and initiatives, emphasizing timely, two-way communication to improve student outcomes.

• Proactive Support: They work with GBAPS staff and families to enhance their ability to support student success and ensure school accessibility.

• Resource Connection: They respond to individual family requests for support by connecting them with school, district, or community-based resources.

• Conflict Resolution: They meet with parents and principals to address concerns and collaborate with school staff and parents to resolve issues.

---

Family & School Relationship Survey

One of the priorities included in the District's Strategic Plan is family engagement. One of the goals called out in the plan to be met by 2030 is Increase in favorable responses from families regarding engagement as determined by baseline established in 2025.

This past fall, GBAPS families were asked to complete a Family & School Relationships survey which was open from November 3-14, 2025. The survey was conducted through Panorama Education, which is a U.S. based education technology company that is committed to providing schools, districts, and families with the tools to improve student success in school and beyond. School districts use Panorama’s technology platform to improve how they support students across academics, behavior, attendance, and life skills.

The survey was completed by 1,859 families. The survey categories and results are as follows:

Barriers to Engagement

More than 80% of families feel a sense of belonging and engagement with their child's school and that the school keeps them informed

• 84% of families feel confident in communicating with their child's school
• 80% of families stated that the school provides information about involvement opportunities
• 88%  shared that their child's school was welcoming
• 83% expressed that they felt a sense of belonging with their child's school community
• 80% of families had little to no concerns that the school would treat their child differently if they raised a concern

Family Efficacy

More than 70% of families feel confident in their ability to support their child and care for their well-being. 

• 68% of families are confident that they can help their child develop good friendships
• 78% are confident in their ability to make choices about their child's schooling
• 66% of families are confident in their ability to advocate to make sure their child's schools meets their needs
• 80% are confident in their ability to support their child's learning from home
• 73% are confident in their ability to help their child appropriate manage their emotions

Family School Attendance

80% of parents feel positive about their child's school attendance.

• 93% of families felt it was important for their child to have good attendance at school
• 86% are confident that their child will be able to have good attendance for the school year
• 78% are comfortable reaching out to the school for support if good attendance become challenging
• 85% shared that it was not challenging or only a little challenging to get their child to school

Portrait of a Graduate

42% of families had some familiarity with Portrait of a Graduate and felt it reflected the hopes they had for their children's future

Roles and Responsibilities

• 72% of families think schools are principally responsible for making sure their child understand what is taught at school; while 16% thought it was the parents
• 57% of families think parents are primarily responsible for ensuring their child has a good relationship with their peers at school; while 16% thought it should be the schools
• 85% of families think parents are primarily responsible for making time to do fun activities that are unrelated to school
• 81% of families think the school is primarily responsible for making sure their children have an adult to talk to at school
• 55% think schools are primarily responsible for identifying what children are most interested in learning; while 28% think it should be the parents
• 69% of families think parents are primarily responsible for making sure children have enough time set aside to do all of their school-related work; while 21% think it should be school
• 93% of families think it is parents who are principally responsible for helping children deal with their emotions
• 84% of families think schools are primarily responsible to make sure the children's learning environment is safe
• 62% of families think parents are primarily responsible for making sure children are supported to do their best in school; while 34% of think it should be parents

School Climate

71% of families responded favorable regarding their child's school climate

• 66% shared that the school system is fair in evaluating children
• 69% of families stated that their child's school values diversity of children's backgrounds
• 70% shared that administrators at their child's school create a school environment that helps children learn
• 71% of families stated that the children at their child's school respect the staff
• 80% shared that teachers respect the children at their child's school

School Safety

90% of families stated that their child feels safe at school

School-Family Communication

• 82% responded that the school communicated all the time or frequently
• 85% shared that it was easy to understand the information they received from their children's school
• 73% shared that the information provided by the school was useful
• 84% expressed that their child's school was welcoming when they reached out to it
• 84% shared that their child's school was responsive when they communicated with it