Flamboyan Foundation

At Stanton Elementary School, one of our longest-term partners, teachers, and staff have a rock-solid commitment to : “It’s everything.”

This month, we are celebrating 2024 graduates of the Family Engagement Partnership. Help us say kudos to Stanton ES!

Profiles of Family Engagement Partnership Graduates: Stanton Elementary School This June, we are celebrating the accomplishments of Flamboyan partner schools that have graduated from the Family Engagement Partnership (FEP). The FEP is an opportunity for schools to develop their culture and practices in REAL Family Engagement, with the support and expertise of Flamboyan’s exp...

Lindy Zeledon with New Brunswick Public Schools is a 15-year veteran and passionate advocate for . She has led the creation of a family and community engagement team, building connections with nearly 10,000 students and their caregivers, truly exemplifying the "L" in .

We're excited to share Lindy's story and how the school district is embracing Flamboyan's strategies for stronger family partnerships. Read more here: https://flamboyanfoundation.org/ourstories/supercharging-family-engagement-in-new-brunswick-public-schools/

🌟 Flamboyan is excited to share insights from the Institute for Educational Leadership's National Community Schools and Family Engagement Conference! 🎉 Discover our team's 4 key learnings, which underscore the importance of collaboration and innovation in fostering strong school-family partnerships. ✨
https://flamboyanfoundation.org/ourstories/leveling-up-family-engagement-4-learnings-from-the-national-community-schools-and-family-engagement-conference

Leveling Up Family Engagement: 4 Learnings from the National Community Schools and Family Engagement Conference by Kimberly Hooper-Twumasi, Rachel Marston, Karima Raharjo, and Sanjay Singh The Flamboyan team was thrilled to join over 5,000 family engagement educators and advocates at the Institute for Educational Leadership (IEL)’s National Community Schools and Family Engagement Conference (CSxFE) in Atlan...

🎉 What an incredible experience at the in Atlanta! 🎉 We’re leaving the conference energized and committed to . We also look forward to sharing more of our inspiring takeaways in the coming weeks! ✨

Our commitment to listening never ends! We're leaning into our work focusing on strategies in middle and high schools and would love feedback from educators in that space to share. If you're interested in participating (or know someone who is), please sign-up here: bit.ly/5thandbeyond

Institute for Educational Leadership

That’s a wrap! Although our “Leveling Up Post-Pandemic: Listening for REAL Family Engagement” session has come to a close, we’re really excited to launch the “Flamboyan Listening Philosophy,” an exciting new resource that will help educators shape their listening practice with actionable steps. To get your copy now, visit https://flamboyanfoundation.org/resource/our-listening-philosophy/.

Thank you to those who attended and engaged with us today!

Institute for Educational Leadership

Flamboyan’s goal for listening was to rethink the way we approach . We surveyed, interviewed, and had focus groups with educators at all levels to understand the barriers and gaps to implementing and to understand how to sustain and embed family engagement. As a result of our recent listening, Flamboyan learned:
💡 Leadership buy-in is essential for sustainability. Successful requires well-defined strategies that are prioritized and fully integrated into the fabric of school communities.
💡 Cultivating community is key. It’s vital for practitioners to regularly come together and share their family engagement strategies with a community.

We also resulted in identifying some common top barriers to their practice. We consider these challenges when planning our support for schools and families. Do any of these #1 barriers from our survey participants surprise you?
💡 Building Trusting Relationships
💡 Time to Engage Families
💡 Funding

Institute for Educational Leadership

TODAY! attendees, join us at 10:30 am in room A405 for a special session, “Leveling Up Post-Pandemic: Listening for REAL Family Engagement.” Kimberly Hooper-Twumasi and Sanjay Singh on our team will discuss best practices around listening and learning and share specific findings around barriers to .
Institute for Educational Leadership

We’re excited to be at the hosted by the Institute for Educational Leadership ’s in Atlanta! This national conference, themed "Level Up for Success!", unites over 5,000 passionate individuals dedicated to ensuring all children have a safe place to live and opportunities to learn and thrive.

Our team looks forward to:
✨ Engaging in learning and networking opportunities.
✨ Sharpening our skills to lead collaboratively and implement effective strategies.
✨ Sharing specific findings related to our own listening work TOMORROW at 10:30 am in room A405. We hope to see you there!

: Earlier this week, Flamboyan joined the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading's webinar with like-minded partners. Together, we share some actionable strategies to help nurture . Whether it's home visits or two-way text messaging, it's important to create the right environment for parents and caregivers to not only be engaged with their child's education, but be a partner in their journey.

Flamboyan Parent Ambassador Shareeda Jones explained it best by saying: "Without family engagement, [supporting our children’s learning] is like lotion that you buy from a dollar store. You have to apply it multiple times [to get any result]. But with family engagement, it’s like that good, thick Vaseline lotion. It keeps you shiny, it works and you don’t have to keep applying it when you do it the correct way."

Watch the whole webinar at https://leo.gradelevelreading.net/event/familyengagement/.

Not Just Nice But Necessary: Family Engagement = A Big Bet That’s Paying Off for Kids - LEO | Learning & Engagement Opportunities Network CGLR has long advocated that strategies focused on getting parents and caregivers to take part in their children’s learning progress are a “big bet” with the potential to make more than incremental change. Yet recently, “family engagement” has become more of a catchphrase than something th...

At Flamboyan, we take listening seriously! On May 30, Kimberly Hooper-Twumasi and Sanjay Singh from our team will discuss best practices around listening and learning at the Institute for Educational Leadership's Community Schools and Family Engagement Conference in Atlanta.

We're excited to share specific findings related to our own listening work related to a recent survey administered nationally around barriers to . Will we see you there?

THIS AFTERNOON: Join us with the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading for a special webinar that will focus on specific strategies to advance student progress. It's not too late to register at https://ow.ly/1Ibi50QolLE.

We're among great company: Vito J. Borrello of National Association for Family, School, and Community Engagement, Yolie Flores of Families In Schools, Shareeda Jones, Flamboyan Parent Ambassador, Roxanne Jones, MBA of United Way of Texas, Lisa Levasseur-Koppes of Elk Grove Unified School District, Sarah Latterner Parker of DC Public Schools, Kierstan Schwab of Texas PBS AND our moderator Kwesi Rollins of Institute for Educational Leadership.

ONE WEEK AWAY: When implemented with specific, focused strategies, can advance student progress in a variety of ways. We're excited to join a diverse group of panelists for the next session with the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading on 5/21. We will explore the most effective outreach + engagement strategies for students. REGISTER: https://ow.ly/1Ibi50QolLE

We're looking forward to conversations with Vito J. Borrello of National Association for Family, School, and Community Engagement, Yolie Flores of Families In Schools, Roxanne Jones, MBA of United Way of Texas, Lisa Levasseur-Koppes of Elk Grove Unified School District, Sarah Latterner Parker of DC Public Schools, Kierstan Schwab of Texas PBS and our moderator Kwesi Rollins of Institute for Educational Leadership.

More info: https://lnkd.in/ghbTRQWM
Join us! https://ow.ly/1Ibi50QolLE

🎉 Introducing our NEW Quick Guide to Ongoing Communication! 🎉 Enhance your practice with actionable ongoing communication tips and tricks. Let's create a thriving environment for students!
https://flamboyanfoundation.org/resources-guidance/new-product-quick-guide-to-ongoing-communication/

New Product: Quick Guide to Ongoing Communication At Flamboyan, educators often tell us that they need digestible, actionable strategies to grow their family engagement practice. That’s why we’re excited to share our newest product, the Quick Guide to Ongoing Communication! This guide highlights the key components of Ongoing Communication that ...

🌸 Spring has sprung and Flamboyan's work is blooming! 🌼 From Puerto Rico to Washington, DC, check out our latest Network Update that shares some of the latest highlights from our teams. https://mailchi.mp/653b16b68359/our-impact-in-year-1?e=855576a971

Team members from Flamboyan recently attended the AASA, The School Superintendents Association's National Conference on Education, a unique opportunity to distill the latest insights, strategies, and best practices for school district leadership. They left the experience with three top takeaways:

🧑‍🎓 Leadership wants to learn.
🏫 Everybody is there for the kids.
💡 Convening is important.

For more thoughts, visit https://flamboyanfoundation.org/ourstories/3-top-takeaways-from-the-aasas-national-conference-on-education/!

3 Top Takeaways from the AASA’s National Conference on Education by Rachel Marston and Emily Garcia The team at Flamboyan is always looking for ways to learn and grow for the students and families we seek to impact, the educators we partner with, and ourselves. We recently attended the School Superintendents Association’s (AASA) National Conference on Education...

That's a wrap! 🎬 Flamboyan spent yesterday at KIPP DC Inspire Academy on our final day of filming a new feature highlighting DC educators and how they live out for students and families.

We look forward to sharing Mr. Nunez's story and more from his school community!

SNEAK PEEK from our video shoot at McKinley Middle School yesterday! We're working on a new feature highlighting educators in DC and how they live out for students and families.

A special thank you to Assistant Principal Webster, Principal Stafford, and Ms. Pineda for sharing their perspectives on . We can't wait to share the final product!

Did you know that beyond our work fostering , our team in Puerto Rico champions strong and joyful reading and writing? Learn more about our team’s K-3 reading initiatives as we close out !

https://flamboyanfoundation.org/ourstories/todos-a-leer-marking-national-reading-month-with-k-3-reading-in-puerto-rico/.

¡Todos a leer! Marking National Reading Month with K-3 Reading in Puerto Rico March is National Reading Month, a month-long spotlight on the joy of reading and the importance of developing strong readers and writers. At Flamboyan Foundation, we couldn’t be more excited about celebrating the power of reading and literacy all year long. You may know about our work fostering R...

Thank you to the 80+ DC educators who joined us yesterday for a successful Community Practice, our final one of the school year! We hope you were able to leave the experience with motivation and encouragement as you champion in your schools.

Some key takeaways we heard:

✏️ Depending on your role in the school, you may have different challenges from your colleagues. It's important to tap into informal power networks to align missions and goals, and to find a way to share power so all students can succeed.

✏️ To help with language representation, modify modes of communication to match a family's preferred preference. Teams can also incorporate professional development to ensure staff is more aware and inclusive. Providing various outlets can increase comfort and engagement with families.

✏️ Home visits are great ways to initially connect with families, but the true test lies in consistently nurturing and reinforcing these bonds over time. It's important to generate diverse ideas on how to maintain strong relationships with families.

✏️ Be open to reevaluating your current approaches to decision-making when analyzing data to share to staff.

✏️ Success looks different for each educator and school leader and sometimes there might be competing priorities, and that's okay.

A huge shout-out to our coaches and Flamboyan team that helped carry meaningful conversations during our Community of Practice. We're looking forward to a new season next school year!

Kicking off Flamboyan’s Final Community of Practice this morning! We’re looking forward to a day filled with collaboration with all our FEP partners focusing on championing .

🌟 Learn how can change the game in student attendance! Join us with National Association for Family, School, and Community Engagement, Learning Heroes, and Attendance Works on March 28th for a compelling webinar that unveils research on the relationship between pre-pandemic family engagement and the current chronic absenteeism crisis.

Sign-up now at: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_buz71MTIQomdA8WtUz5BJQ #/registration.

📈 Active family involvement correlates with improved attendance rates! On March 28, we're diving into the power of in tackling chronic absenteeism with National Association for Family, School, and Community Engagement, Attendance Works, and Learning Heroes✏️

Get actionable insights on how you can make a difference in student success! https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_buz71MTIQomdA8WtUz5BJQ #/registration

The last day of the SXSW EDU Expo kept the Flamboyan team on their feet with a steady stream of visitors! We had educators stop by to learn from our demos, engage with our gallery wall, and take our Assessment Tool on the spot. We're so excited to digest all of our own takeaways from to continue championing for all.

The Flamboyan team is keeping busy on day two of SXSW EDU! We're also sharing our Family Assessment Tool with visitors. Stop by our booth to take it in-house on one of our iPads, so you can analyze where you're at with your practice, or take the tool at https://www.engageyourfams.org!