WHAT WE DO

I just wanted to thank High Expectations for that fantastic workshop yesterday for AUSD. They gave us such tangible ways to think about the simple, but important steps we can take to create more welcoming spaces for all of our families, students, and colleagues. I loved the presentation style— it was so relatable and affirming. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

The thing I am most excited about is I have a whole slough of folks who can stand next to me now and lead this school. They can come right alongside of me, either at home working with their children, on campus working with other children, or working directly with me in parent leadership. I know that many of our parent graduates can come and stand next to me and change the face of Roosevelt Elementary School. And that is so exciting!

High Expectations has been an excellent partner in this work. Because of their collaborative approach and teaching experience, teachers and Principals have come to trust High Expectations. At the beginning of the year, teachers were overwhelmed and leery of taking on “more work”. High Expectations helped teachers and Principals repurpose and tweak their existing practices to better align with research. This style of professional development resulted in school-wide shifts in the way family-teacher conferences were conducted at each site.

In San Mateo-Foster City School District, I thought we had too much on our already full plates to focus on family engagement. After our first school team professional development, I realized that none of the other initiatives would be successful, if we were not working alongside families, specifically families that did not feel welcome in our schools. High Expectations is well respected and regarded by teachers because this organization affirms the hard work that they do every day AND encourages next steps to improve partnerships with families.