Engagement Tactics

We have the opportunity to engage our families, our staff, our students and the broader community in meaningful and intentional ways using multiple tactics.

• Civic Dinners:
• Facilitated conversation with community and elected to discuss opportunities for collaborative partnerships.
• Family Bus Tours:
• Tours for youth and families in transitioning grades, 5th to 6th, 8th – 9th (or school closures), to visit different school models with the choice guide evaluating from a lens of equity.
• Community events:
• Attendance, tabling and speaking at community events to share DPS initiates and listen to understand community experiences, needs & concerns.
• Soul Stories:
• Facilitated conversation around personal story telling, with a panel of community and district as well as invitation to those in different sectors to explore education from their sectors.
• Street Team (targeting):
• Deploy teams of staff across the district to engage the broader community, via door knocking, providing information at bus stops, connecting with businesses, recreation centers, libraries to collect and share information.
• Personalized Engagement
• This is an opportunity to learn form leaders where they believe there needs lie. Then working with individual families to bubble up themes within the school community (or boarder community) that can be shared with school leaders as recommendation for improvement.
• Regional Town halls:
• Superintendent dialogues with youth and families, region specific information, that is both fun, inviting and informational. These events include spoken word, graphic illustration, learning sessions, and a Q&A with the Superintendent.
• Community Coffees:
• Coffee in the community, includes coffee chats with school leaders, district staff and broader community to build relationships and spark dialogue.
• Lunch and Learning:
• Small conversations to discuss school level topics with students, youth, families and school staff to better inform school level practices and decision-making.
• Parent Organizing and Training (with grant funding):
• A opportunity for parents and families to access formal organizing training that they may use to help inform other parents of issues or DPS initiatives, such as the graduation requirements. These trainings will require stipends. This should lead to train-the-trainer as parents would lend themselves to training other families.
• Coffee Chats:
• Consistent “office hours” in community with an open invitation to connect with district staff on all topics. The hope is to both build relationships and learn of issues to proactively address them.
• Walk and Learn:
• Guided conversations to learn and experience the historical context within each region and school community. An opportunity to share stories, learn stories and understand the context for which individuals have experienced the district.
• Living Room Chats:
• Small community conversations hosted by school families to discuss issues specific to individuals schools to inform proactive engagement and strategies