Why Family Empowerment?

Research has continually found that family and community engagement in children’s learning directly and positively impacts children’s academic achievement and well-being. Although there are many ways to involve parents, there are specific activities and behaviors that have a greater impact on increased academic achievement.

The Family Empowerment Team is dedicated to developing educated, engaged, and empowered parents and staff who are partners in creating great schools in every neighborhood where Every Child Succeeds. 

School-Level Initiatives

Academic Standards Events

Academic Standards Events (ASEs) will invite families into schools several times throughout the year to deepen the level of alignment between the home and school learning environments. These events will ensure that families understand the skills that their children need to learn, how their children are progressing, and the role of state academic standards in schools.

Community Progress Monitoring

Sharing meaningful, relevant data with families is vital to student success. Community Progress Monitoring is the process of sharing the ABCs of data: Attendance, Behavior, and Courses/Curriculum. For more information about Community Progress Monitoring and resources to help you plan your rollout, please visit the Community Progress Monitoring Commons page.

Parent Teacher Home Visit Program

Parent Teacher Home Visit (PTHV) Program is designed to strengthen the connection between teachers, family, and students. The Family Empowerment Team provides training, resources and compensation for teachers, including support for connecting the home visit with other family engagement initiatives at the school site. Schools will be able to apply for mini-grants to support this effort. Use this guide to determine which level of involvement works best for your school.

Parenting Partners Training 

Family and Community Engagement (FACE) is excited to announce an opportunity for school staff to get trained to facilitate Parenting Partners workshops for their families. Parenting Partners workshops combine parenting and leadership skills that empower parents to become vital contributors to their children’s academic success. 

If you are interested in bringing this program to your school please fill out the registration form to attend the February training. Please email Mark Fukae or Trevon Brandhorst with any questions.

School Governance

All schools in the Denver Public School system must have certain governance structures to ensure that families and communities have a voice in their schools.  These structures are designed to help promote community involvement and strengthens schools.  They are also required by state and federal law. Our School Governance page is filled with information and resources to help you build these structures.  

District-level Initiatives

Family Leadership Institute

The Family Leadership Institute is a venue for DPS Families across the district to enhance their leadership skills to support their children’s success.  By participating in four separate sessions throughout the school year, participants will hone their leadership abilities creating networks to drive positive change at their home, their school and their community level.  Each session will cater to individual skill sets and will consist of fun, interactive and action-driven practices.

Mini Grants

The Family Empowerment Team is excited to offer schools the chance to apply for mini-grants to accelerate impact with the Parent Teacher Home Visit and Academic Standards Events. Applications will go live this Fall. More information to follow.