Parent & Community Engagement

District 19 strives to foster collaborative relationships with parents/guardians that result in parent empowerment. Parent coordinators will attend monthly professional learning sessions to learn techniques to foster greater parent involvement in schools. Ongoing parent/guardians workshops are provided about topics such as Respect For All, to expose parents/guardians to techniques they can use at home with their child. The district facilitates numerous parent/guardian professional development opportunities such as Back to School Family Day, Thanksgiving feast, Winter Celebration, Black History Show, District STEM Expo and Art Showcase where a variety of community resources and workshops are provided for parents/guardians.

The empowerment of parents/guardians enables them to achieve desired outcomes for their family and their children, such as the ability to meet the needs of their family while maintaining the feeling of control. An increase in self efficacy, decision making, group affiliation, positive perception and experience as a change agent has been found to be the result of effective empowerment.