2Gen Practice Institute Takeaways: Parent Engagement At Every Level

One of my main takeaways from Ascend at Tulsa was how to engage parents and give their voice meaning at every level of an organization. I was also fortunate to have a parent representative from my organization, Luz Marrow, attend the conference as well.

As a 2Gen community provider, I am sure we would all say we value our parents’ voices. However, I was very impressed by our visit to Disney Pre-K, CAP Tulsa and the parent representative who spoke to us about their parents’ council. The parents’ voices were not only heard but also played an active part in leadership decisions.

Ms. Marrow’s comments and insights definitely left an impression on me. While I was busy asking questions on curriculum and program design, Ms. Marrow pointed out that parents were welcome in the school and the classrooms at any time. They could spend part of the day doing activities with their children and the teachers didn’t miss a beat.

Ms. Marrow particularly loved the following parent engagement breakout session where she could discuss various engagement strategies with attendees from the around the country. I cannot thank Ascend enough for the opportunity to attend and their generosity in making Ms. Marrow feel so welcome.

I definitely left inspired and with renewed enthusiasm for opening The Family Place Public Charter School – with Ms. Marrow as hopefully as our newest board member.

Shawn Chakrabarti
Assistant Director of Education/Adult ESP Instructor
The Family Place

and

Luz Marrow
Parent Representative
The Family Place