Welcome to the Families In Schools Newsletter! | | |
As Families In Schools approaches 25 years of impact, we’re launching this newsletter to bring you closer to the heart of our mission: working alongside parents and partners to ensure children thrive in school and in life.
In this and every issue, look for:
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- Fresh voices and insights in Heard in the Community
- How we’re responding with purpose in Meeting the Moment
- New thinking and trends in Ideas We’re Watching
- A quick look at our progress in Impact Snapshots
- Our work (or stories) featured in FIS in the News
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Throughout the year, we’ll also highlight milestones that reflect our legacy of advancing equity, amplifying family voices in education, and challenging systems to do better by all students.
We launch this platform at a precarious time but with a deep belief that, in moments that feel like the worst of times, it’s not despair that defines us—but the strength we find in each other. Solidarity and community are the lifelines that carry us forward.
Indeed, this moment demands clarity and courage. That’s why FIS is working to forge new alliances to protect public education, push back on harmful narratives, and ensure our shared priorities remain at the forefront.
We are especially disturbed by the recent ICE raids in our neighborhoods—acts that bring fear into homes and schools, and target families who are vital to the fabric of our communities. At FIS, we remain steadfast in our commitment to uphold the dignity and humanity of every child and every family, especially those under threat.
We hope this newsletter becomes a space that informs, inspires, and reminds us of what’s possible when we act together—for the future every child deserves.
Sincerely,
| | As ICE continues to terrorize our Los Angeles communities, we are listening to parents, caregivers, and families on how this crisis is affecting them and their children. No family should live in fear, and no child should be afraid to go to school and be denied their right to an education because they worry that their parents will be taken by ICE. This is why FIS is committed to fighting to keep children, families, and schools safe, inclusive, and free from intimidation. We must stand united with our communities so we can support and defend one another during these difficult times. |
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“I’m a single mother with two kids—one in elementary, the other in middle school. We’ve lived in Los Angeles for four years, and just when we finally started to feel stable, the ICE raids happened, and everything crumbled. I’m too afraid to leave the house, so I can’t work. My children are scared to go to school because they worry I won’t be here when they come home. We’re behind on rent and depending on friends and neighbors just to eat. I try to keep a brave face for my kids, but we’re emotionally exhausted. Every night, I lie awake wondering how I’ll keep us safe. We’re not living—we’re just surviving.”
— LAUSD Parent
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In Los Angeles—and across the state—far too many children are unable to read on grade level by the end of third grade.
Research shows that third-grade reading proficiency is a critical milestone. Those who are not reading at grade level by this point are four times more likely to leave high school without a diploma (Hernandez, 2011). For children living in poverty, Black or Latino students, and English learners, the reading proficiency levels range from 37% to 17% (CAASPP Data Analysis, 2025).
The research is clear: if kids can’t read, their chances of success in school and in life are limited. We live in the information age, and almost every job requires that one have the ability to read. Parents know this, too. They are keenly aware that, if their children cannot read, they cannot succeed. This is why Families In Schools (FIS) launched the Read LA! campaign!
We invite you to read the full story here.
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Powered by ReachWell, the Read LA! app will bring early literacy information and activities to families across Los Angeles to equip parents and caregivers with the tools they need to support their children’s literacy at home and advocate for them at school.
The app makes content available in over 130 languages and requires no personal information, reducing any barriers to entry. All content has been carefully curated to bring only the highest quality tools and information to LAUSD families, including activities that align to their school's reading instruction curriculum called CKLA.
Read more here and watch the "how to download" video here.
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AI is everywhere—shaping how we work, learn, and even parent. While its potential to simplify daily life is undeniable, it also raises serious questions, especially when it comes to our youngest children.
At Families In Schools, we’re closely watching how AI may affect early childhood development. These early years are critical—setting the foundation for lifelong learning and well-being—so any new technology must be approached with both curiosity and caution.
To better understand the promise and pitfalls of AI in early learning, we spoke with Dr. Dana Suskind, founder and co-director of the TMW Center for Early Learning + Public Health at the University of Chicago. Read on for her insights and why families and early childhood advocates need to stay alert as this technology continues to evolve.
Under your leadership, the TMW Center has emerged as a leading voice on the intersection of artificial intelligence and early childhood development. How would you summarize your thinking on this issue?
Put simply: we do not yet know the impact of introducing young brains to responsive AI. The most likely outcome is that it offers genuine benefits alongside unforeseen risks. If we are to avoid making the same mistakes we made with social media, i.e., allowing our children access to a technology with far-reaching and unknown consequences, we need robust, well-funded research into AI’s effects on developing brains and regulation that centers child safety.
Read the full interview here.
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FIS Champions Early Literacy Legislation Impacting Millions of CA Children | Building on FIS’s co-sponsored bill AB 1121 (Rubio), AB 1454 is an early literacy bill that will bring paid teacher training, updated instructional materials, and administrator preparation to evidence-based literacy instruction across CA. More than 1,350 Californians and over 90 organizations support AB 1454, with the bill passing unanimously through the CA State Assembly and the Senate Education Committee. The bill is continuing to the full Senate and, if approved, to the Governor for his signature. Show your support here! | |  |
FIS Brings Comfort to Children Affected by LA Wildfires | In response to the LA wildfires, Read LA! launched our “Bringing Comfort through Stories” initiative—also called Read LA! Storytime—to offer a moment of joy and healing by reading stories and giving away backpacks of donated books to children affected by the fires. Since February, this program has reached over 1,500 students across 14 events, given away over 2,300 books, and trained over 45 volunteers in trauma-informed practices. | | |
FIS Launches Literacy Ambassadors, Supporting and Equipping Families Across Los Angeles | Read LA! Literacy Ambassadors are parents, caregivers, educators, and more who engage with parents throughout Los Angeles to promote early literacy and support families with knowledge on how to support their children's reading development. So far, we have recruited 46 Ambassadors to date across four cohorts—a number that continues to grow as over 20 Ambassadors joined in our most recent cohort! | | | |
FIS Releases Bright Spots Report, Showing How Four LA Districts Are Solving the Early Literacy Crisis | In April, FIS released its second literacy landscape report, Bright Spots in Los Angeles: School Districts Leading the Charge to Solve the Literacy Crisis, which highlighted two “bright spot” districts—Bonita Unified and Garvey Elementary—and two “districts to watch”—Long Beach Unified and LAUSD. This report has been viewed by over 500 people, garnered 16 media mentions, and was featured in our webinar with over 170 attendees. | | |
FIS Helps Lift Up the Voices of Families to Inform LAUSD Efforts | In March and April, FIS’s Training and Capacity Building team held five sessions—four in-person and one online—with LAUSD families across the four regions to gather feedback on the Title I mandates so that LAUSD can better support the families they serve. This work followed up on the feedback we collected in the fall with around 450 families across those original five sessions. | | |
FIS Leaders Go to Harvard; Elevate Family Engagement Practices | This past July, FIS's Executive Vice President Azucena Hernandez and Director of Training & Capacity Building Ashley Johnson joined over 130 education leaders from the U.S. and abroad at Harvard Graduate School of Education for Dr. Karen L. Mapp’s Family Engagement in Education: Creating Effective Home and School Partnerships. The learning from this program will continue to fuel how we build trust, foster communication, and strengthen family–school partnerships at FIS. | | | | | In an interview with LA School Report, Read LA!’s Senior Campaign Director Olga Corona De La Cruz talks about her experiences growing up as an English learner student, the science of reading, and the work LAUSD is doing to address the literacy crisis. Read here. | | | | The Los Angeles Daily News highlights legislative efforts (AB 1121) championed by Families In Schools that are focused on addressing the literacy crisis in California. The bill, sponsored by Assemblymember Blanca Rubio, would provide TK–5 teachers with professional development aligned to the science of reading to help improve literacy instruction in the classroom and would require instructional materials to align to that science. FIS CEO Yolie Flores and others share why it’s a game-changer for kids. Read here. | | | | In response to the current administration’s efforts to dismantle the Department of Education, FIS President & CEO Yolie Flores penned an op-ed for The 74 on the historical significance of the department and the harmful effects this dismantling will have on students—especially those most at risk. Read here. | | | | The Los Angeles Daily News featured the Altadena Library’s Welcome Back event with LeVar Burton. Interviewed for this story were FIS’s Director of Advocacy Sandy Mendoza and our Storytime volunteer Liz Weissmann, who both shared about the healing power of reading in children’s lives. Read here. | | | | As featured in L.A. Parent, our new “Read LA! Storytime” initiative is bringing comfort and joy to children impacted by recent wildfires. With generous donations from Scholastic and PaperPie, thousands of books and storytime sessions are reaching young children—offering healing, hope, and the magic of reading when it’s needed most. Read here. | | As Twitter/X has become a platform misaligned with our values, FIS has moved to Bluesky. We invite you to follow us @familiesinschools where we will continue to share updates on all the exciting work and progress across our three pillars: 1) Building Community Capacity; 2) Elevating Family Voice; and 3) Activating Coalition—all in service of ensuring students succeed in school and in life. | | For 25 years, Families In Schools (FIS) has served low-income, immigrant, and communities of color, knowing that education remains the single most important opportunity for them. The mission of Families In Schools is to involve families and communities in their children’s education to achieve lifelong success. | | | | |
