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Some of the events held during the school year were Reading Nights, Maker Faire, STEM assembly night, a Coding program, a Hot Steppers Student Jump rope show, and several fun evenings for families sponsored by the PTA such as a LEGO night. We have involved parents in Career Fairs as presenters. Those programs that seem to have built a positive sense of community have been those Career Fairs, Variety Show fundraisers I have run (kids perform to raise money for Kids Helping Hopkins), drama events sponsored by (costumes made, etc.) the PTA and parents, school concerts, and Art display nights. These latter events were often well attended and parents were demonstrating pride in their students' contributions to these programs.
- Melanie McHale

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EKreutzer
I am not really sure what we do as a whole school. I feel it is ab bit fragmented.
We use connect ed
We had a math and science night with very little turn out.
we have a PTA that retired at the end of last year. All of their kids are moving on to High school. So our PTA will be very new.
We had a preview night for incoming magnet students- which was well attended. This was well attended.
Basketball games,
play, fashion show,
and spring concerts bring parents in.

I think we had a few parent university workshops.
I feel like we only see parents if their kids are spotlighted.
Kindly,
Elizabeth

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At Woodbridge ES we have a family math night each year. We usually have it at school, but we have also held it at the local Giant. Each grade level was responsible for creating a packet with activities students could do with their parents throughout the store which involved real-life math skills.  Giant even provided each student with a goody-bag! (Type 4 & Type 6) This year we were at school and the theme was an Escape Room. Each grade level planned a parent presentation targeting a math standard. Then students had to complete a math activity related to that standard with help from their parent. The final activity was creating some kind of make and take to use at home for help with that standard. (Type 2 & Type 4)
-Jessica Campbell

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I'm really not sure what my home school does in relation to parent involvement so I compiled what I have seen in the schools were I actually taught all day.

-Workshops were held called "Parent University" where parents rotated to various rooms to learn strategies that would help their child become successful in school. There were 8 breakout sessions for parents to attend. They were given handouts, participated in scenarios and had a chance to work with the technology that their students used in school

-Email and Connect Ed of school events and reminders

-Encouragement of parent volunteer through workshops and trainings
-appreciation lunch for parents who have consistently volunteered throughout the school year.

-Completion of parent surveys
-PTA participation

-Social media page
-Parent representative in meeting with community partners.

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At my school we try to provide many activities to get parents into the building.  At this time it I don't know that you can really call it being involved, it is more just getting them physically there.
Back to School Open House- parents can come in and learn about academics, the magnet program, being a Title 1 middle school, and meet the staff.  This is really geared to 6th graders and students new to LMS.
Trunk or Treat- This is a community event that the staff of LMS, Lansdowne Elementary, and community businesses participate in
Showcase nights- Associated with our concert nights.  Student work is displayed for parents to see.
Title 1 nights- There is a math night and STEAM night.  There was a third night but I don't remember what it was.  At these nights dinner and child care is provided.
Diversity Day- This was geared towards our ELL parents and celebrating the over 30 countries represented in our building.
We have also done Family Amazing Race Nights, Family Board Game nights, Family Music night.
In addition, we invite parents in for quarterly Honor Roll breakfast celebrations.
We offer a lot of events that are all well done and the parents who do attend are nothing but positive and appreciative however, the majority of events are not well attended.

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At my school, we try to involve parents in a variety of ways. One way is hosting separate Reading & Math nights, in which we invite all parents into the school to share information about the curriculum and ways that parents can support their child both at home and in school (Type 4: Learning at Home). Further, we communicate with parents through a monthly newsletter, Wednesday folders, and provide translated letters or translator at important meetings, such as at conferences (Type 2: Communicating). In the newsletters, parents are provided with extensive lists of resources that they can utilize with their child to reinforce that month's learning, or to enforce their own understanding of the content (Type 4). Lastly, to involve parents in school decisions and to give parents a voice, our principal hosts quarterly Parent Voice Meetings and invites parents into the school to share their thoughts, feelings, and ideas. These meetings are hosted three times throughout the school day, both during and after school hours to allow all parent the opportunity to come, despite varying work schedules (Type 5: Decision Making). To further this, all parents are encouraged to join to PTA, though parent support can be hard to garner.

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At Villa Cresta, we held a Parent University during a PTA meeting to outline and discuss Conscious Discipline. In doing so, the hope was to build a partnership to support this county/school initiative. This aligns with the Capabilities (knowledge), Connections (social networks), and Confidence (self-efficacy) capacities of the framework.  Unfortunately, this was not well attended. The reasons why it was not attended should be explored.

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At my school (Cromwell Valley) we have several family oriented nights such as Family STEAM nights, dances, watch a movie, BINGO nights. Our PTA is actively involved by organizing fundraisers and sending out newsletters about events for the month or anything surrounding the school. My school also offers workshops for parents on conscious discipline and I believe on schoology as well. It is always great to see new parents attending those events. I think it strengthens the relationship between the school/staff and the parents. This year, I had a lot of new students from the community and more than half of them came to Sneak-A-Peek and Back to School night.

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At my high school (Franklin), teachers nominate students for special recognition at our Student of the Month breakfast, which occurs before school. Parents, students, and their nominating teachers have coffee and breakfast together, and then the students are called up for a special certificate presentation from our principal. Finally, students gather for a group picture, which  our Good News Ambassador (me) sends to the local paper and to our school's twitter account. The breakfast allows students, parents, and teachers to meet for a positive reason, and the little bit of press makes students and parents feel noticed and special. (Kelly Boyd)

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At the middle school level (Hereford) we try hard to empower the students to be independent. Parent involvement takes a back-burner. Our PTO maintains a FB page that informs our community of happenings to bridge the gap/account for the lack of communication that occurs at the 11-13 year old level!  Many school organizations combine their events with fundraising to both promote school spirit and increase funds for future projects. Within the framework, these enhance the capacity of connections between families and school staff.
_Katie Comber Hereford M.

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As Katie shared, the ELA Committee planned a Reading Night for parents with the goal of teaching parents how to help their child become a stronger reader. Regarding the framework, our Reading Night increased the Capabilities of our parents as their content knowledge increased. It also increased their Confidence as they felt more comfortable helping their child improve his/her reading skills.