Traditional family engagement models often look like school staff up front presenting, families receiving and sharing feedback. The ParentCamp model transforms such stand-and-deliver sessions into facilitated dialogues “where the entire room is the expert and everyone brings important and unique perspectives to the table.”
Kuumba Academy Charter School was the first Delaware school to launch a ParentCamp during the 2021-22 school year. This fall, Great Oaks Charter School – Wilmington, Odyssey Charter School and Sussex Montessori School also will engage families in this new model. The U.S. Department of Education has used ParentCamp as a model to provide examples to bring families, educators, and community leaders together in a professional manner.
The design of the ParentCamp model is two-fold: equality conditions plus purpose. Equality conditions mean every person can talk, listen, encourage, and connect with others as feels right to them. Purpose means family, school and community decide not only the session topics but also the purposes around the topics–connect, strengthen and collaborate.
The goal is for participants to have their “universal human needs” met. Participants identified such needs as things such as acceptance, connection, hope, understanding and support.
Kuumba’s first ParentCamp in August – held virtually due to COVID-19 precautions – drew 75 family, school and community participants. Afterwards, parent Jenna Prosceno said she felt “overjoyed
“Such a great support system of educators, parents and community for our children,” she said. “Everything that I heard tonight was so valuable. I’m really excited for this move for my son. I have no worries about him going to a new school this year.”
School staff also value the sessions.
“I’m grateful for the interaction with parents. And most valuable to me was hearing feedback,” Kuumba staff member Christopher Caldwell said after the August session.
Learn more about the great things happening in Delaware schools in this month’s Take Note: Education in the First State eNewsletter: https://conta.cc/3Nw3BBA. Sign up to receive Take Note at Take Note Newsletter – Delaware Department of Education. Take Note is published the final Wednesday of each month. Media contact: Alison May, alison.may@doe.k12.de.us, 302-735-4006.