WSSDA’s community engagement service will help your district…

• Increase community understanding of school improvement, educational reform and accountability initiatives;
• Increase community support of and investment and ownership in their schools;
• Increase parent and community involvement in their schools;
• Create action steps with community buy-in for improving student learning and closing the achievement gap; and
• Create a regional network of districts to collaborate with on community engagement successes and issues.

WSSDA has extensively researched the impact of the community on student learning and the school board’s role in the educational process. Through grant support from Washington Mutual, WSSDA is now offering school districts a facilitated service to design and implement a community engagement plan to achieve the goals outlined above.

How the service works

Step 1: Five districts within a region commit to participate in the service.

Step 2: Each participating district identifies its five-member team to include a board member, the superintendent and three others (such as a parent, a community or business person, and a school principal).

Step 3: Each district completes the online registration form.

Step 4: WSSDA confirms the application is completed for the five districts.

Step 5: WSSDA assigns a consultant to work by e-mail, fax, phone and/or video phone with each of the five participating districts to prepare the teams for a one-day regional mini-institute.

Step 6: Districts agree on a central location and a date to conduct a one-day regional mini-institute/workshop on Community Engagement and Stakeholder Linkages. Districts agree on who will provide the coffee, refreshments, lunch and other meeting details. The WSSDA consultant arrives to deliver the workshop, bringing the concepts and tools for each district to develop its own unique plan. The curriculum will include items such as exploring various community engagement models, effective listening, survey strategies, and learning to use a tool called Community Asset Mapping. Teams then begin their individual district planning process.

Step 7: Back in their respective districts, the teams set the wheels in motion to initiate their community-wide planning process as designed at the institute. The original team is broadened to include 10 – 15 people who represent the key stakeholders. This group now focuses on developing a plan to gain community-wide understanding and support to help address academic performance issues. The team also plans a community wide activity or celebration to launch its Community Engagement plan. The consultant is available electronically, by e-mail, phone and/or video phone to answer questions and assist with this in-district planning process.

Cost

This is an all-new service delivery approach designed to save costs to districts and make services available to all, even those with tight budgets. This approach combines the pooling of resources among several districts, spreading the cost of the consultant and using local resources and locations to keep travel, facilities and meal costs to a minimum. The total cost for this service is $750 per district.

To Get Started

Simply gather together five interested districts within close proximity, have each pull together a team, and register online.

Information and Assistance

For more information regarding WSSDA’s Community Engagement Service or other board development programs, call 360/493-9231 (toll-free in Washington 800/562-8927) or send us an e-mail.