Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence

Thank you to The National Alliance for Father Friendly Schools for being a National Family Friendly Schools Trusted Partner! Father Friendly Schools is an alliance and training organization comprised of multiple national and regionally recognized school-based father engagement programs. We are excited to partner with them to help schools across the country achieve their family and community engagement goals.

Find out more about National Family Friendly Schools here: https://prichardcommittee.org/nffs/
Find out more about The National Alliance for Father Friendly Schools here: https://fatherfriendlyschools.org/

At Lansdowne Elementary, family engagement isn’t a new initiative, it’s long-standing practice, made more visible by the Prichard Committee's Family Friendly Certification.

From strengthening documentation to refining how impact is captured, the process sharpened the school's mission to bring families and community into the fold.

Read how Lansdowne turned everyday engagement into a recognized, sustained commitment to families. https://www.kentuckyteacher.org/leadership/guest-columns/2025/02/achieving-the-family-friendly-certificate-at-landsdowne-elementary-school-a-journey-to-strengthen-school-family-partnerships/

Achieving the Family Friendly Certificate at Lansdowne Elementary School: A journey to strengthen school-family partnerships Family Night at Lansdowne Elementary School. Photo courtesy Naema Shalash My name is Naema Shalash, and I am a Palestinian-American Muslim, born and raised in Lexington. I have been part of the Fayette County Public Schools

Is homework actually helping improve academic outcomes? Or is it just causing stress and taking time away from family activities, extracurriculars, social time and rest?

Brigitte Blom sat down with Ariel Gilreath of The Hechinger Report, who dug into the research behind a growing trend: schools and districts across the country are quietly scrapping math homework.

Here's what the research actually says:

Studies are split—some show more homework = better performance, others show little to no effect, especially for younger kids
The "10 minutes per grade level" rule is widely recommended, but nearly impossible to enforce fairly
The share of 4th graders getting NO math homework jumped from ~5% in the 1990s to over 25% by 2024
AI is now a factor too—nearly 1 in 10 teens say they use it to do most of their schoolwork

As one researcher put it: the real question isn't whether there should be MORE homework, it's whether there should be BETTER homework.

Listen the full interview with Ariel on Eastern Standard to find out what parents and educators think, and what schools are doing about it here: https://esweku.org/track/4849045/june-11-2026_brigitte-blom-ariel-galreath

Thank you to the FACE Learning Network (Successful Innovations, Inc.) for being a National Family Friendly Schools Trusted Partner! Successful Innovations helps schools, districts, and communities build stronger partnerships with families to support student success. FACE Learning Network is a professional learning community for family engagement practitioners and thought leaders. We are excited to partner with them to help schools across the country achieve their family and community engagement goals.

Find out more about National Family Friendly Schools here: https://prichardcommittee.org/nffs/
Find out more about FACE and SI here: https://www.si4all.com/

The Prichard Committee's Groundswell Initiative is community-first initiative responding to the unique needs of learners and families locally.

Across Kentucky, school districts are reimagining how education works—by building deep, local partnerships with families, communities, and organizations. The results are real: better engagement, fewer barriers, and stronger learner outcomes from early childhood to post-high school.

This isn’t a program. It’s a mindset. A way of working together that’s rooted in long-term partnership, not quick fixes. It’s about solving real challenges with attendance, access, achievement, family voice—one school and one neighborhood at a time.

Learn more and join us:

Groundswell – Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence Certification process for building strong family partnerships in Early Care and Education, K-12, and at the District Level

At Tates Creek High School in Fayette County, the journey to becoming "family friendly" was about more than certification. It was about listening to families, building real relationships and creating opportunities for two-way conversation—from home visits to open dialogue events like “Donuts with the Principal.”

For schools wondering how to make family engagement meaningful at every level, this story offers a powerful roadmap. Read how Tates Creek is turning engagement into collaboration and why that makes all the difference. https://www.kentuckyteacher.org/leadership/guest-columns/2025/09/tates-creek-high-school-focuses-on-families-with-family-friendly-certification/

Tates Creek High School focuses on families with Family Friendly Certification Tates Creek High School (Fayette County) hosted an event with families and the school's head principal, Donuts with Dr. Field. Photo courtesy Jay Jones Families matter! That’s why we do the work we do. As we learn

KBE accepting nominations for 2026 Kelly Award for Business and Education Partnership The Kentucky Board of Education (KBE) is accepting nominations for the Kelly Award for Business and Education Partnership. The award is given in the fall of each year to a businessperson or business that has partnered with

Reminder: Strong Start Circles of Trust Information Session

Join us to learn how to empower your community to be part of the Strong Start Circles of Trust movement! Circles of Trust aim to empower Kentuckians who believe in the power of early care and education to connect with one another and build trusted relationships with key policy leaders and decision makers. Civic leaders, parents and caregivers, early childhood professionals and advocates, and business leaders can join forces to learn about what matters most for their communities and speak with one voice to their legislators and public leaders.

Thursday, June 11, 2026 11:00 AM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

If you have already registered, or attended the first opportunity we held in May, thank you!

Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/PQfbYImXS6CaQyAq3hh5MQ?utm_source=Kindful+Database&utm_campaign=50d78a0ab8-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2025_01_28_07_26_COPY_02&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-fefd590c04-388636556 #/registration

Thank you to Center for RelationaLearning for being a National Family Friendly Schools Trusted Partner! The Center for RelationaLearning's programs include keynote presentations, workshops, and professional development initiatives to equip educators with transformative relationship-first strategies for success. We are excited to partner with them to help schools across the country achieve their goals.

Find out more about National Family Friendly Schools here: https://prichardcommittee.org/nffs/
Find out more about Center for RelationaLearning here: https://relationalearning.com/

The Prichard Committee is now enrolling schools nationwide to participate in the Fall 2026 and Spring 2027 National Family Friendly Schools cohorts. Family Friendly Schools is a national certification process that helps schools strengthen, sustain, and celebrate meaningful family partnerships to improve student success and school culture.

Learn more: https://prichardcommittee.org/nffs/