Parent & Family Engagement Archives

Together We Win: A School Board Victory in Croydon

Parent & Family Engagement | 06/30/2022

Stand for Children

We needed 283 votes to save our school. Little Red is a K-4 school, the only school in Croydon. The older students are allowed to choose one of the nearby middle and high schools to attend, and our district covers the expenses. That’s how the original budget worked at least.

We got our last big snowstorm in March, on the day of the annual school budget vote. Anti-public-school extremists used the resulting low turnout to slash the district budget in half. It passed and I was in disbelief. With the new budget, Little Red would close, and Croydon parents would have to pay $8,000- $9,000 per student to send them to public schools. I was devastated thinking of what this meant for my 3 children and all the students I taught every day.

Other parents felt just like I did. Stand up for Croydon Students, the organization we eventually formed, started off as just a group of worried parents trying to figure out how to protect our children. We eventually found a way that would allow for a budget re-vote, but only if we were able to turn out 283 voters. Croydon is home to about 800 people, and in my time on the school board, only about 50 of them usually came out to vote.

So, we got to work. We spent the next few weeks drafting up petitions, posting lawn signs, calling neighbors, and knocking on doors. To see so many people come together to protect our children, it felt good to know that your neighbors really care about the community.

It was the first week of May and the YMCA camp dining hall was packed with friends and neighbors. Still, we couldn’t risk not having enough voters turn up, and spent the morning calling to remind everyone how important it was to come out, vote, and protect our schools. The hall was bubbling with energy as the vote was counted, and in a landslide vote of 377 – 2, we won. Weeks of hard work paid off.

In that moment, we had stood up against extreme politicians to say no to privatizing our schools, that we would fight to make sure that all our students had a quality education. We proved that when we fight together, we win.

Thomas Moore
High School STEM Teacher, New Hampshire

Help Turn Book Deserts into Book Gardens

Parent & Family Engagement | 11/11/2021

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I’ve participated with Home Visit Partnerships for several years, and when I visit a student’s home, I love when they show me their favorite books. As a teacher, I hope every family I visit has a home library for their children, but unfortunately, this is rarely the case. Research has shown a home library increases vocabulary development, academic success, and an overall life success.

During one visit with a kindergarten student, I realized there were no books in the home at all. I began sending books home with the student throughout the fall and, when I visited their home again in the spring, the family had purchased a small bookcase to hold all the books. They were so proud to have a home library for their little reader!

Donate today to provide books for young students!

I will never forget how my student grabbed a book off their shelf and hopped up next to me and started reading. Then, their 3-year-old sibling grabbed a book and hopped up on my lap next to us and started “reading” by flipping through and looking at the pictures.

That moment highlighted the importance of making sure all my students have access to books. My student isn’t just learning how to read, they’re developing their love for reading and the skills to help them succeed in school and life.

Home Visit Partnerships has teamed up with Unite for Literacy to change the book deserts in North Texas into book gardens. By donating today, you are helping HVP teachers to build home libraries for their students and families, changing the trajectory of a child’s life.

With your gift, you will help plant the seeds for a child’s love of reading to flourish.

Sign the Petition to Help American Families

Parent & Family Engagement | 10/21/2021

Last week, Stand for Children put nearly 2,000 families in touch with their representatives in Washington D.C. to talk about how the expanded Child Tax Credit has made a difference in their lives.

Many families who shared their stories have been affected by illness, disability and other major hardships that strained their finances. Thanks to the expanded CTC, these families and countless others are now able to give their children what they need to grow and thrive. But as of now, the expanded CTC is set to expire at the end of 2021.

Sign the petition today to stand with American families and tell lawmakers in Washington that you want the expanded CTC to be made permanent!

Today, advocates and champions, including members of Congress and leaders, are coming together in D.C. to call for an expanded CTC as well as paid family/medical leave, childcare, home-and community-based services for older people and people with disabilities, living wages and a path to citizenship for all care workers as part of the reconciliation package. Tune in to this event on Facebook at 12:30pm ET to hear stories that highlight the urgent need for a care infrastructure to lift businesses, families, and our economy.

I’m Using My Voice to Create Change

Parent & Family Engagement | 10/7/2021

I first got involved with Stand for Children Louisiana because my girlfriend and I wanted to educate ourselves to be stronger advocates for our young children in their educational journey. We didn’t realize how much support our family needed until we joined Stand Louisiana.

The support and guidance we received from Stand Louisiana has helped us transition into engaged parents at our children’s school. My involvement with the organization helped me recognize where I could use my voice to bring about the change I want to see in my community.

One of my proudest moments with Stand Louisiana was joining staff and other members for the March 2021 Caravan for Justice. Juvenile justice reform is something I am passionate about because I’ve been affected by the flaws in our judicial system. Attending the Caravan for Justice made me realize I can bring awareness to the issue and work with others to bring about long overdue change.

I am grateful for Stand for Children Louisiana recognizing my family’s commitment to continuing to raise our voices. The direct payment awarded by Capital Area United Way and Stand Louisiana will be used improve the reliability of our household’s technology and connectivity so I can improve my skills in my current field: auto mechanic. Like millions of families around the world, our finances were affected by COVID-19. This gift will help us as we continue to work for better outcomes for our family.

This is one post in a series made possible by a grant from Capital Area United Way. The grant allowed Stand for Children Louisiana to provide direct cash transfers to twelve qualified members to support quality early education and/or continuing adult education.

It’s About What’s Best for Students

Access to High-Quality Schools | 09/22/2021

As a school trustee, I participate in the governance of an incredibly diverse district in San Antonio, Texas – rich with tremendous cultural wealth. I appreciate Learn from History’s work to ensure that all students are taught an accurate and thorough history to ensure we don’t repeat the mistakes of the past. And that requires that we teach all of our history, both the triumphs and the tragedies.

While serving, I have engaged with parents and guardians on both sides of the discussion who have bonafide concerns and fears. I can relate as a parent to three exceptional children. Unfortunately, we have been put in these challenging positions by policymakers who focus more on the outcomes of their elections rather than the outcomes of students. It should go without saying, but all students deserve a rich academic experience.

I am also a firm believer in educating parents and guardians to ensure issue distortion and misinformation don’t blind them to the realities of what balanced, responsible, and age-appropriate classroom discussions can be when talking about fact-based history with our children. I think one of the best ways to do that is through sharing your story so we can get past the rhetoric and be reminded of what we have in common — that we all want what is best for students.

That’s why I’m sharing my story and am asking you to share your story too.

Having support from the Learn from History coalition has motivated me to be more proactive as an advocate for this issue and help bring others along. Dozens of teachers, students, and parents have spoken up about how this issue is affecting them. But we know they aren’t the only ones out there.

I hope you’ll share your story today and take a stand for students’ right to a high-quality education.

How Is the Child Tax Credit Helping You?

Parent & Family Engagement | 08/25/2021

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Millions of families across the country are now two months in to receiving the expanded Child Tax Credit (CTC) payments. Are you among them?

Stand for Children wants to hear how your family is spending these extra funds so that we can show lawmakers in Washington how investing in families pays off.

Hear from Devony Audet, a parent fellow with Stand for Children Washington, about how the tax credit is helping her family gear up for back to school season.

We’d love to hear from you, too! Record your own video and send it to [email protected].

Raising a Family Shouldn’t Be Unaffordable

Legislation | 07/15/2021

Did you know that starting today, families all across the country will start receiving payments from the expanded Child Tax Credit?

When I heard this news, I was so relieved! It’s going to help out my children so much and will cover the costs of everything they need to be happy and healthy kids.

Raising a family is so expensive, but that shouldn’t be the case. I’m the mother of three little ones, and while I would love to have a job and bring in income, right now I need to stay home with them because daycare just costs too much.

My husband is the main provider, but being a family of five on one income makes it difficult to pay all our bills month to month and buy groceries, medicine, clothing, and all the things kids need as they grow up.

The Child Tax Credit payments will help us cover the cost of child care so I can join my husband and earn money for our family.

Go to whitehouse.gov/child-tax-credit to learn more and find out if your family will receive the benefit.

Home Visits Boost Attendance, Engagement

Parent & Family Engagement | 06/22/2021

A research analysis released this week by the Annenberg Institute at Brown University speaks to the positive impact the Home Visit Project (recently renamed as Home Visit Partnerships) has on student attendance, educator-family communication, and student engagement. Home visits are a family engagement strategy that typically involve teachers visiting students at their homes and creating open channels of communication between educators, families, and students. This study observed the outcomes of visits by teachers to the homes of their students during the 2019-2020 academic year, and was made possible by a generous grant from the W.W. Caruth, Jr. Fund – Communities Foundation of Texas.

The study involved 580 teachers in five Texas school districts – the Carrollton-Farmers Branch, Dallas, Fort Worth, Hurst-Euless-Bedford, and Richardson Independent School Districts. Researchers identified these key findings:

Participation in the Home Visit Project reduced students’ chronic absenteeism, particularly among early elementary students.
Participation in the Home Visit Project improved teachers’ connections with their students and students’ families.
Teachers feel home visits improved students’ engagement and achievement.
Participation in the Home Visit Project made teachers feel more confident in the ability of students to grow.
Parents and students who participated in the Home Visit Project had overwhelmingly positive experiences.

Researchers conducting the study underscored the particular impact that home visits had on students and their families in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic: “We also found that despite the interruption of the COVID-19 pandemic on home visit implementation during the spring of 2020, that early elementary school students receiving home visits were significantly less likely to be chronically absent than their non-visited peers. The disruption from the COVID-19 pandemic has left many students disconnected from school and has resulted in higher rates of chronic absenteeism across the country; this study suggests home visits could be an impactful approach to improve student-school relationships and engagement in the coming recovery years.”

The Home Visit Project began in 2015 when a group of Stand for Children Texas educator fellows identified authentic family engagement as their top need to better support students. After much observation, listening, and learning within the program, especially while navigating the past year, it was clear how important partnerships are between educators and families and how success is based on those partnerships. The Home Visit Project team therefore made the decision to officially change the program’s name to Home Visit Partnerships.

Standing Strong for 25 Years

Who We Are | 06/1/2021

Stand for Children

Twenty-five years ago today, on June 1, 1996, 300,000 people stood together for children at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.

What began as an historic rally has become a bold and vital organization impacting the education and lives of children furthest from justice across the nation.

Stand for Children’s 25th anniversary comes at a time of unique possibility to make progress toward racial and social justice.

For the rest of our lives, we may never have a better chance to reduce child poverty, increase economic mobility, root out individual and systemic racism, and close our nation’s racial wealth chasm.

Stand is passionately committed to seizing this opportunity to achieve lasting positive changes for children, for families, and for society as a whole.

We know you are, too, and look forward to standing strong together in the crucial weeks and months ahead.

Thank you for doing all you can, in every facet of your life, to meet this moment.