The Massachusetts Center for Family and Community Engagement in Schools and its Family and Community Engagement Team (FACET) will partner with districts and schools to improve student achievement and school performance through strengthening family and community engagement policies, designing strategies for enhanced family and community engagement and implementing activities directly with families, teachers, administrators, community members and other stakeholders.

• At the district level, FACET will facilitate strategic planning for district-wide policies and procedures for enhancing both family and community engagement.
• At the school level, it will offer professional development for school personnel and help implement hands-on strategies for working with families.
• For individual families, FACET will train volunteers and school personnel to conduct popular family workshops, such as Helping Your Child Learn at Home, Understanding US Schools for immigrant families, and Making Sense of the MCAS.

FACET will provide districts and schools the tools and processes to:

• Identify strengths and needs in partnering with families and community members using the Massachusetts Family, School and Community Partnership Fundamentals)
• Prioritize goals and define desired short-term, interim, and long-term outcomes for district-wide and school-based family and community engagement using a logic model)
• Design strategies to enhance family and community engagement to support student achievement and school improvement
• Implement strategies through technical assistance in the following areas:
  -Professional Development for School Personnel
  -Training of Trainers for Family Workshops
  -Parent Leadership Capacity Building
  -Family Survey Data Collection
  -Student-Level Data Collection
  -Enhancing Communication with Families
  -Providing Resources on Changing Educational Policy and Practice

For more information about FACET and the Massachusetts Center for Family and Community Engagement, contact Margaret O'Hare at mcohare@fcsn.org or call (617) 399-8344.