November 10,
Hi! My name is Patty Gautier, and I am the Family Coordinator for Realizing Excellence for All Children in Mississippi (REACH MS). We are Mississippi’s State Personnel Development Grant and offer professional learning opportunities to schools and districts across the state that focus primarily on supporting school-wide and district-wide implementation of Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS), Social Emotional Learning (SEL), and Universal Design for Learning (UDL).
The link between families and our REACH MS PBIS, SEL, and UDL initiatives is an important one. Families play an important part in their child's education and social development. When families are meaningfully involved in educational activities, their children do better in school. The participation of parents and family members in schools not only provides additional academic support but also creates community and cultural connections. In many states, family members are part of their state, district, and school planning teams and participate in and support school-wide activities in a variety of ways. REACH MS is working to help create such inclusive, involved, and successful partnerships in homes and schools here in Mississippi and we look forward to working with you and your schools.
In January we will begin offering family members in our Multi-Initiative Cohort (that’s you!) the opportunity to join “Family Connections”, a Community of Practice (CoP) specific to the initiatives taking place in our selected schools and districts. In these monthly half-hour to one-hour online meetings, we will share information that will educate and support families in ways that will have a positive impact on both student achievement and meaningful family engagement. We need your help building this community and would very much like you to participate!
I’ve attached our CoP expectations to give you a better idea of how we will be working together but there will be more information coming your way as we get closer to our kick-off in January.
If you are interested in joining our interactive community, please follow the link below to register.
We are excited about this new endeavor and look forward to interacting with you soon as we work together to raise awareness of our REACH MS initiatives in your schools and increase meaningful family engagement in your communities.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.
Sincerely,
Patty Gautier
Family and Dissemination Coordinator
REACH MS
The University of Southern Mississippi
REACH MS Family Connections
Community of Practice (CoP)
Expectations
It is our mission to empower family members and friends to be actively engaged with schools and districts in improving education for all students!
EXPECTATIONS OF PARTICIPANTS:
- To actively participate in the monthly Community of Practice (CoP) sessions by sharing information and experiences
- To identify ways to use the information and skills gained
- With other family members
- In schools
- In communities
- To use leadership skills to develop and implement projects
- With a focus on involving other family members to improve student achievement
- To be part of a network of family members focused on improving student
achievement
- Support and participate in future CoPs
- Share information about the CoPs with others
- Help recruit participants
- Perhaps be a presenter to share your experiences/expertise
EXPECTATIONS OF SCHOOLS:
- To provide information to help families increase their knowledge of PBIS, SEL, and/or UDL
- To serve as a resource and support to family members
- To provide a network of family members
- To learn from family members
- To help bring families and schools together
- To help create a family-friendly school
