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These reflections often have me shifting to a completely different reflection about myself-am i just very indecisive? Or not sure where I fall? Or I just truly find truth/identification in all of them? I look through many/most of these lenses, however, the Ethnic maintenance, justice seeking, and non-research human I are the ones that I associated most strongly with. As a Justice-Seeking I, I am deeply motivated by equity and social justice. In my undergraduate career, I traveled the world studying special education and its access across the world (visited South Korea, africa, dominican republic and haiti and Spain to name a few). I believe in advocating for marginalized voices and challenging systemic injustices-locally and globally. This drive compels me to engage in discussions and actions that promote fairness, most recently in my current district. My identity as an Ethnic maintenance I is driven by my Argentinian roots. I cherish the culture, traditions, and values that shape who I am and who my family is. Maintaining a connection to my roots is essential to me, as it not only defines my personal identity but also strengthens my ties to a large part of the diverse population in our special education community. I also deeply resonate with the non research human I, which highlights the importance of interpersonal connections and the human experience over data and statistics. I struggle with this part of my identity daily, because my current role requires that I make a variety of decisions based on data. I tend to prioritize empathy and understanding in my interactions and decisions, and often I have a hard time separating that from data. I know that the most successful person in my position will strike the right balance of both, and that is my ultimate goal.

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I was not in class today and missed a significant amount of this discussion. I wonder if many felt like I did when trying to parse through these descriptions and truly feeling like your school solidly fell within one of these models-or even two. I love my work, I love my new position, and I love where the core people that surround me are trying to head. It's hard to sound like a broken record, but since the core of my work at my current district has only ever been at the district office (minimal time in schools), I've only gained deep perspective into the work WE (as a bilingual team comprised of bilingual providers and administrators) want to do in a district that is only recently heterogenous and requires a lot of forward movement and some perspective from those who are hesitant to do so. I think in my new position, I will have the opportunity to do more work around this, and dig a little deeper. However, from a very limited perspective and maybe making assumptions, I feel that majority of our schools only somewhat fit our "open door" school model. I've certainly witnessed open lines of communication and a welcoming culture intermittently, but this depends on the school. Within our department (special education administration), however, we are a strong combination of a partnership model and family centered, with some aspects of open-door. At the level of special education, our decisions are made with heavy family input, considering family dynamics and needs of the child that go beyond the classroom. Most recently, we are also very focused on incorporating cultural and linguistic needs and factors into all of that we do, decide, and provide. Holistic approach: Recognizes that family dynamics and challenges affect student success and we offer resources for families at the school level and at the community level. There is much work to be done district-wide, but we are hoping the work we are doing will have a ripple effect.

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As someone at my school who wears a lot of "hats" I see myself fitting in to most, if not all, of these "I"s on a daily basis. However, the lens that I see myself looking through the most to support all of my students (MLL, SWD, and Gen-Ed) would be the "Justice-Seeking-I" and the "Pedagogical-Meliorist-I". As someone who is a known advocate for our MLL students, my work throughout the day ensures that they are supported equitably in all of their spaces and be their voice when they struggle to advocate for themselves. I am constantly finding solutions to daily problems with the full intent that the students' needs and priorities remain the center of this work. Additionally, I also see myself looking trough the "Pedagogical-Meliorist-I" when I am supporting teaching in my ELA department creating curricula for new courses that pushes rigor, while also, equitable for the diverse needs of our learners.

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When I think about the caregiver-school partnership that I would want for my school, it would be one that is supportive, meaningful, communicative, and culturally responsible. My goal is for caregivers to know that their students are supported educationally, emotionally, and encouraged to be their most authentic selves. I would hope that they feel that the school environment is welcoming to all learners and their diverse learning needs and can support each scholar holistically. I would also want them to know that their voices hold value in the work that we are doing and growth only happens when all parties are involved.

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After reading about the 4 representations of school partnership, I believe that my school falls under "Open Door School" with some aspects being a "Partnership" school. With the work of our family and community engagement team (our parent coordinator, recruitment coordinator, and main office staff) we have made great strides in filling the gaps with school-community and school-home partnerships. For example, this year the team introduced "Parent Square" an app that creates stronger communication with families and staff. Additionally. FSA (Family School Alliance) provides families at our school with support each month at their monthly meetings, they have even started a club with student ambassadors to help at school and community events. While, we have translations and translators at our school readily available in many languages, I believe that one area that we continue to struggle in is outreach to familys' of MLLs and newcomer families to help provide additional support in their acclimation to living in the United States. Lastly, with our new curriculum of AP Gov and AP seminar supporting the seal of civic readiness, we are headed to be a "partnership" school in working with organizations to improve school and neighborhood as well as having students and families engage in more active decision making.

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My school would fall under Open-Door school although I believe it is close and aiming to become a Partnership school. The PTA is amazing and is always thinking of ways to support students and staff. Some examples include raising money for school updates (we just got a new playground), providing families in need with school supplies throughout the year, cultural celebrations, math nights, and organized play dates for students outside of school hours. We have also been making changes to diversify our libraries. The school could improve in its translation services as we only have a Spanish district translator and making sure linguistically diverse families understand the grading system.

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In an ideal world, I would love to build a partnership school. Building relationships with parents and the community is critical to a successful school. Many parents, especially newcomers, must be aware of the social services available to them and their families. By combining both forces, each can work simultaneously to support the best outcomes for students. Beyond the bake sale, it mentions that many parents don't know how to help their child in school, and this is where linking family activities to what the students are learning is key. This two-fold approach will allow students to feel supported at school and home and give parents control over their child's education. The data shows that “ by 2000, immigrants represented one in nine of all US residents, and their children represented one in five of all children under 18.” Schools must provide translators for the parents. To truly build Community Partnerships within a school between staff, students, parents, and the community, supporting the needs of the community you serve is essential.

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While I have only been at my new school for the past two weeks, I can already tell that it's an Open-Door School. My school is a reasonably large High School in the middle of Flatbush, Brooklyn. The community could be considered high need; we have many students living in shelters and ESL students who are recent migrants to the United States. While I have not had the full experience at AOHT, you can tell immediately that the school has an open-door policy for parents and the community.  The school has a Community Food Bank within the school itself, which has open hours.  Staff members often take advantage of these open hours to build relationships with the parents who come in. The school uses its budding culinary arts program to reach out to community members through lots of volunteer dinners. When you walk into the school building, the office staff are amiable, and the staff have built a community of support systems within the school to welcome parents. Our school has a community calendar with all of the dates for curriculum nights mapped out, and the school reaches out to parents and multiple languages to ensure the furthest reach. Well, I have yet to attend a PTA meeting. I have heard that the PTA meetings are relatively open-sided and diverse. Parents feel comfortable raising any concerns at the PTA meetings. While I'm still learning a lot about my school, it has been an exciting experience to compare to high schools in Brooklyn serving minority populations. I believe that open-door Schools and partnership schools are the way to go.

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As it will come to no surprise, my Ethnic-Maintence and Community-Maintence I's always take over when I am observing in a space. While I wear many hats throughout my school day, my most prideful hat is the one of an ally to my Deaf students, families, and colleagues. Therefore, everything I do is under the lens of maintaining the cultural ties to the Deaf community that is important to my school. When thinking about my colleagues and administrators, I can very often de-value the ideas of those who do not seek to maintain that culture first and foremost. This leads to a less than objective retrieval of information and response when collaborating. I often have to check myself about what knowledge they have that I am shutting off from, simply because they are not fighting for the Deaf community fight with me. Additionally, and on the flip side to that, a Community-Maintence I can also lead to a narrow understanding of the wants, needs, and challenges facing my hearing staff. Often, as I am so aligned with the Deaf staff, I can miss the shortcomings that are present for other members of my community.

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When I think about my caregiver-school partnership at school, I want it to look trusting. Working in the Deaf community in NYC brings in a large portion of migrant Deaf caregivers who grew up with little to no education in their home countries. They have historically been told they are inadequate parents, illiterate employees, and a burden to their families. I want to be able to build a relationship with families that gives them the agency to advocate for themselves, and their children. I want them to trust that we are here to guide them, learn with them and their children. Our partnership should be built upon the mutual respect that we both hold funds of knowledge fundamental to their child's growth.

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When reflecting on The Color of Strangers, the Color of Friends, I see myself through the “Justice-Seeking I” and the “Pedagogical-Meliorist I”, especially within the context of our school community. As someone who advocates for ELLs, I often see my role through the “Justice-Seeking I”, which focuses on ensuring fairness and equity for students who face challenges beyond language learning. Many of our ELL students come from low-income backgrounds, and some have been separated from their families, adding emotional and social complexities to their academic experience. Some have IEPs that add another layer of complexity to their learning needs. These intersecting identities present challenges that go beyond language acquisition and require thoughtful, tailored support. My school does a great job of providing resources for ELLs, but one of the ongoing challenges is ensuring that we recognize the diversity within this group.

The “Pedagogical-Meliorist I” reminds me that there’s always room for growth in how we integrate their diverse needs into the curriculum and school community. It pushes me to think beyond traditional methods of support. It’s about evolving our strategies to be more inclusive and responsive to the varied needs of ELLs, whether they are newcomers adjusting to a new culture, or students with IEPs who need both language and special education support. This involves encouraging collaboration among staff to create learning plans that address the full scope of each student’s needs.

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I’d say my school falls somewhere between a “Partnership School” and an “Open-Door School”. As a community school, we engage families through events, services, cultural celebrations, and workshops with translation, which are all positive steps. However, much of the communication is still school-initiated. What’s unique in our school is that the parents typically viewed as “minorities” - whether racially or economically - actually make up the majority of our community. These immigrant parents have formed their own networks, showing strong community ties. But this also highlights the need for us to rethink how we collaborate with them. Instead of just offering services, we should focus on making them active partners in decision-making and school initiatives. We also need to bring their rich experiences into the classroom, so their voices and backgrounds are reflected in our students’ learning.

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I found myself identifying with the Pedagogical-Meliorist I the most. I always saw myself as a teacher of Ells, it never crossed my mind that I would be in a program like this one. When I worked in NYC I worked mostly alone, and therefore never really got to be in classrooms with other teachers, which may have caused me to be oblivious to the Pedagogical-Meliorist I. Once I went back to work, I was mostly in other teacher's classrooms, and much like Peshkin, without any intention of doing so, I started noticing that there was a lack of support for the Ells in most rooms and started finding myself wanting to share what I knew in order to support the teachers to support the Ells all day. Now, I have a hard time keeping the Pedagogical-Meliorist I caged, I think that I now see myself as a teacher of teachers of Ells and there is no turning back. It is funny because although I had come to this realization about a year and a half ago, which is why I joined the program, I never thought that I would see the same evolution of thought written out in an article discussing subjectivity.

I also find myself often encountering the E-Pluribus-Unum I and the Ethnic-Maintenance I, although unlike Peshkin, I don't find that mine conflict. I personally think that we can think of the human race as unum and still value the ethnic varieties that exist within it. Therefore, being able to celebrate one's culture and identify with a certain ethnicity shouldn't keep us from being able to be part of the whole. The Riverview example is a perfect microcosm of this idea. There was "ethnic clustering" but also "mingling", therefore, the ethnic-maintenance I and the Pluribus-Unum I coexisted in beautiful harmony. That's what should be studied, the why and how it can be replicated.

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I believe that in order to build caregiver-school relationships an equitable,  and supportive learning environment is crucial where everyone feels valued, heard, included, and represented. I don’t want there to be any barriers so that all families feel comfortable to fully participate within the school community. I recognize that our school currently is not operating this way.  Our leadership team has identified some gaps and we are working to solve the issues that are at hand. We are working to improve communication so that there is no language barrier, plan activities and events so that families can participate and there is no/minimal conflict with work schedules and /or transportation, have regular and meaningful communication, and have clear goals and responsibilities that we can work towards together. Our school currently holds many events, training sessions, workshops, and offers resources that support learning at home through several grants and we will be looking at attendance at events and coming together with all stakeholders to figure out how to deepen and improve what we already have in place.  The school started this initiative last year after collecting data from surveys that were geared towards all stakeholders. The responses on the family and student surveys were eye opening and are driving the work we are currently doing as individual buildings, and as a district as a whole, to build a stronger and more equitable school community.

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I would like caregiver-school partnerships to be equitable, diverse, and have strong communication with each other and with the school community.  In this partnership voices should be heard and members should feel safe to share their opinions and ideas about how to improve the school community.  The goal would be for caregivers and school staff members to feel comfortable with each other and come to meetings with a solutions-oriented mindset.

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The Color of Strangers, the Color of Friends:  In Search of  Subjectivity–One’s Own (Peshkin,  University of Chicago Press, 1991)

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The Color of Strangers, the Color of Friends:  In Search of  Subjectivity–One’s Own (Peshkin,  University of Chicago Press, 1991)

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I thought the ideas about subjectivity in this article were interesting because I had to really dive deep into my psyche to think about how subjectivity is correlated to my role within my school community and my sense of self. One of the "I's" I look through is the Welcoming School Environment for MLLs I. Because I am a part of the LPT (Language Proficiency Team), my principal asks my team and I to register all the newcomers into the school. I realize that because of the role I play, I tend to be more focused on welcoming MLLs as opposed to native speakers. My role within the school subjects me to focus on one particular subgroup which may impact the interactions I have with other student populations.

Another "I" I look through is the Need For Diversity I. Since I am a Dominican American who grew up in the Bronx, I've always been surrounded by diverse groups of people. Therefore, I am always excited to meet students from different cultures and backgrounds because I too exhibit and can identify with these multicultural traits.

A third "I" I look through is the Pedagogical Focus On High Leverage Writing Skills I. Whenever I am observing a teacher's lesson and/or reviewing curriculum to assist in differentiating for ELLs, I tend to focus on how/if they are teaching writing skills. This one came about because writing is the most challenging modality for students to grasp and the extensive work I've done in the previous semesters to decrease the writing achievement gap. What are your "I's"? Looking forward to hearing about it!

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 Intro:  Why Bother to Read this Book AND Ch. 1, pgs. 1-24, What is Family-School Partnership Supposed to Look Like?

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Beyond the Bake Sale (Henderson, Mapp, Johnson & Davies, The New Press, 2007), 

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Beyond the Bake Sale (Henderson, Mapp, Johnson & Davies, The New Press, 2007), 

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See Response Here

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After reading about the four different representations of school partnership I determined that my school is an open-door school. However, as I was trying to determine where the school falls in the below-basic to advanced scale I had more difficulty because although I was checking off boxes, the school does not meet 100% of the components of each box.  Most components were being met and therefore I believe my school is proficient.   Grade teams hold math nights 1-2 times a year and writing celebrations are held every once in a while depending on the classroom. Parent-teacher conferences are held twice a year but the teachers at the school do communicate with families consistently throughout the year and are asked to track that communication in a document.  We have many staff members that are able to translate for parents and all members of the office staff are able to translate for the hispanic families.  We do not currently have any translators for the families that speak French or other languages represented in our school population so if translation is needed for those families the school uses the translation services provided by the DOE. There are a few components in the open-door representation that are done differently in my school such as, supporting advocacy; the principal only gets involved in a behavior meeting if the behavior is leading to a suspension.  However, the assistant principals are more involved in the communication with families and can be more supportive in family outreach if there is an issue with a student.