Family Empowerment
We offer strategic planning, earned revenue, and capacity building services. We specialize in supporting our non-profit partners to create earned revenue services to offset traditional development methods and become sustainable.
Thank you to our sponsors and school partners
1. Charter & District Dynamics
2. Family Engagement & Empowerment
2019/2020 Initiative
“I think this is an amazing model for how to bring communities together, how to make schools like the hubs of our neighborhood again.”
– Melinda Bell, Ashley Park PreK-8 School Parent
2019/2020 Project Scope
The scope of this year’s work continued to focus on family insights, 10 total family empowerment events, and community partnerships. Each school also took place in monthly professional development and data meetings as well as two joint professional development sessions to share resources, insights, and best practices. Although the family empowerment nights are the most public-facing aspect of the initiative, 90% of the work that took place behind the scenes is what made this initiative successful.
Professional Development & Collaboration
Data
Community Partners
Highlights
NC Charter School Advisory Board Meeting
Team members from Ashley Park, Movement School, and SchermCo traveled to Raleigh, NC to present at the NC Charter School Advisory Board Meeting.
Broad 2020 Community Engagement EPEx - Memphis, TN
SchermCo was invited to present at the Broad 2020 Community Engagement EPEx conference in Memphis, Tennessee to 12 district and charter school organizations from across the country on this innovative initiative. The presentation was postponed due to COVID-19 and may be rescheduled.
Two District/Charter FEC Meetings
Members of the Ashley Park and Movement School FECs convened twice in 19/20 SY to share resources and experiences, and plan a joint event (cancelled due to COVID-19).
WCCB News Feature - District/Charter Partnership
WCCB Charlotte featured the District/Charter partnership following a successful presentation to the NC Charter School Advisory Board and invitation to present to the State Board in a March 3 news article.
WSOC Feature - Celebrating Dads, Empowering Families
WSOC TV featured an article highlighting a fatherhood and leadership-focused event at Movement School on June 14, 2019.
Erickson Early Math Conference - Chicago, IL
Kristi Thomas of Wells Fargo, Greg Schermbeck of SchermCo, and Tracee Weston of Movement School traveled to the Erickson Early Math conference in Chicago to present on this work.
2019/2020 Goals
Goal: 5% growth in attendance, engagement, and empowerment
Average Unique Families Attending
[visualizer id=”834″]
Average Total Attendance
[visualizer id=”836″]
63% increase in unique families attending events at Ashley Park from 18/19 to 19/20
65% increase in unique families attending events at Movement School from 18/19 to 19/20
Goal: 5% growth in resources and skills provided to families
Community Partners at Family Nights
| Year | Community Partners |
|---|---|
| 2017/2018 | 5 |
| 2018/2019 | 23 |
| 2019/2020 | 33 |
43% growth in community partner participation at family night events from 18/19 to 19/20
40 Families
Received LIEAP stipends
15 Movement School families
25 Ashley Park families
$16,000
Estimated assistance extended to Movement School and Ashley Park families through LIEAP
Goal: Strengthen CMS partnership
“The increased frequency with which your organization has repeatedly drawn large percentages of parents who express feelings of empowerment from having attended is a testament to the effectiveness of the model you have developed and the partners you have engaged… We all know that parents are our first and best teachers and this COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated just how important their involvement in their children’s education is.”
– Thelma Byers-Bailey, District 2 Representative and Vice-Chair, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education
12+
Letters of Support
2019/2020 Outcomes
Key Metrics Across Both Schools
7
Family Empowerment Events across both schools
1897
Total scholars and family members attending
44%
Unique families attending a Family Empowerment Event across both schools
Pre-survey Data
[visualizer id=”847″]
92%
Families who reported attending a family night reported feeling more empowered
[visualizer id=”849″]
89%
Families who reported attending a family night reported more involved in their child’s school
[visualizer id=”855″]
70%
Families that reported attending a family night also indicated that they had used the resources or skills learned from these nights at home
339
Pre-surveys collected from Movement School
377 or 78.5% of Movement scholars were represented by pre-survey responses
155
Pre-surveys collected from Ashley Park
178 or 36.9% of Ashley Park scholars were represented by pre-survey responses
Resources requested in pre-survey (across schools)
Student resources
[visualizer id=”800″]
Adult resources
[visualizer id=”828″]
Family Empowerment Event Data
Ashley Park PreK-8 School
3
Ashley Park Family
Empowerment Nights
39%
of Ashley Park families have attended at least one family night
83
Average NPS at Ashley Park
Family Empowerment Nights
Ashley Park PreK-8 School Family Empowerment Attendance Data
| Family Night | Theme | Families | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Passport to Success | 64 | 145 |
| 2 | Soaring to New Heights | 135 | 301 |
| 3 | Milestones in African-American History | 90 | 239 |
| AVERAGE | 96 | 228 |
Ashley Park Grade-level Attendance Data
| Grade | Attd. | % |
|---|---|---|
| PreK | 8/32 | 25% |
| K | 16/43 | 34% |
| 1 | 18/40 | 45% |
| 2 | 19/52 | 37% |
| 3 | 24/43 | 56% |
| 4 | 13/51 | 25% |
| 5 | 27/49 | 55% |
| 6 | 33/65 | 51% |
| 7 | 16/61 | 26% |
| 8 | 16/50 | 32% |
Movement School
4
Movement School Family
Empowerment Nights
50%
of Movement families have attended at least one family night
87
Average NPS at Movement School
Family Empowerment Nights
Movement School Family Empowerment Attendance Data
| Family Night | Theme | Families | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Curriculum Night | 131 | 299 |
| 2 | Planting Seeds for Success | 83 | 181 |
| 3 | 2020 Vision & Goal Setting | 126 | 259 |
| 4 | History Comes Alive | 108 | 309 |
| AVERAGE | 112 | 262 |
Movement Grade-level Attendance Data
| Grade | Attd. | % |
|---|---|---|
| K | 67/114 | 58% |
| 1 | 41/95 | 43% |
| 2 | 47/96 | 49% |
| 3 | 39/87 | 45% |
| 4 | 44/87 | 51% |
COVID-19 Response
In mid-March of 2020, schools across Mecklenburg County turned to a virtual model in response to COVID-19. Without a school to gather in, the family empowerment initiative and family night model shifted to meet the changing needs of students, families, and schools.
Ashley Park Family Relief Fund
“We’ve been at Ashley Park since my daughter was in kindergarten and we feel a deep connection to the scholars, faculty, and this neighborhood. I am thrilled to offer perspective based on my lived experience. I know this type of hardship and I want to be able to pay the opportunity of stability forward.”
– Parent, Ashley Park Family Relief Fund Review Team
38
Ashley Park families applied for funding
$6,422
funds allocated to Ashley Park families
18
Families receiving funds
Review Team
The Review Team was comprised of 11 Ashley Park stakeholders including parents, PTA members, teachers, and administrators
Movement School EOY Drive-Thru Event
Scheduled for June 12, Movement School plans to celebrate the end of the school year with a drive-thru event. Teachers will distribute academic workbooks for all grade-levels.
Evaluation
2018/2019 Evaluation Data
Movement scholars whose families attended 2 or more events exhibit better achievement outcomes than scholars whose family had only attended one family night. Significant for literacy, math, and integrated subject areas.
The percentage of Movement scholars who scored 70 and above in literacy and math was higher among those whose family attended two or more family nights.
The percentage of Movement scholars that were chronically absent was lower among those whose family attended 2 or more family nights.
Movement scholars whose family attended 2 or more family nights averaged fewer absences when compared to scholars whose family attended only one night (no significant differences).
2019/2020 Evaluation
Evaluation Questions
Strategies
“I think the partnership is a great way to maybe change the lens of how charter and district schools view each other.”
– Teacher at Movement School
“[as a result of the partnership] we can compare the best teaching, testing, and parent engagement techniques to better serve our demographic. Without these comparisons, we would be wasting vital time and underserving
our students well-being.”– Teacher in evalutation interview
“During school hours they are teachers and have to put on their teacher persona. But at family nights, you can see who they are as people. If you have question you can ask during family night, they invite you to use that time, that opportunity. It gives you a different perspective on who your child is seeing every day during school.”
– Family in evaluation interview
2019/2020 By the Numbers
33,703
Total Social Media Impressions
16,536 Impressions
14,919 Impressions
5,190 Total Views
22,512 mins
375 hours
1,940 Impressions
308 Impressions
Looking Ahead
In the 2020/21 school year, we intend to focus our efforts on joint back-to-school PD, grade-level or content-level focus areas, and advocacy.
Toolkit
These documents were created to present many of the systems and structures from the district/charter collaboration project focused on family empowerment. These documents are intended to be actionable, and easy to use for key stakeholders wishing to implement a family empowerment initiative in their community.