Professional Development Academy & Programs NSPRA Academies Family and Community Engagement Track

Participants will work with the course facilitator on completing their capstone project, a research-driven strategic communication plan for their school, school district or educational service agency.

This foundational session establishes a shared understanding of family and community engagement across communications and FACE roles. Participants will explore national trust and engagement trends, clarify common misconceptions and map their district’s engagement ecosystem.

Participants will leave with an Engagement Landscape Map to help communication and FACE roles identify who owns what, where gaps exist and where a collaboration is strongest.

Module Learning Objectives:

• Core principles of effective FACE, including trust, consistency, partnership and two-way communication
• The difference between “family involvement” and “family engagement”
• The role of communications in engagement, including messaging, transparency, storytelling and relationship-building
• Mapping district structures, from departmental silos to shared partnership work
• Applying an equity lens to engagement efforts
• Quick wins for districts with limited capacity
• Common pain points such as duplicate outreach, mixed messages and engagement fatigue

This session focuses on how communications and FACE functions strengthen each other when intentionally aligned. Using real district examples, participants will explore shared workflows, coordinated messaging and practical approaches that foster a collaborative environment and elevate engagement outcomes.

Participants will leave with ideas that work just as well for large departments as it does for one-person shops.

Module Learning Objectives:

• Role clarity: what FACE does best vs. what communications does best
• Integrating communication strategy with engagement best practices
• Coordinated messaging that supports trust, participation and belonging
• Shared tools and channels, including newsletters, social media, translation, events and community partners
• Examples from districts: large district co-planning vs. small district prioritizing
• Storytelling as a trust-building strategy
• Transparency as a tool for maintaining relationships

This capstone session shifts the focus from events to systems. Participants will learn how to build durable structures, strengthen school- and community-level partnerships and measure what truly matters in engagement work.

You will leave with a tool that can guide districtwide engagement efforts, regardless of your role or district size.

Module Learning Objectives:

• Creating districtwide systems such as training, protocols, expectations, templates and toolkits
• Building and sustaining external partnerships with faith-based, civic, business, nonprofit and foundation organizations
• Aligning FACE and communications work with district strategic plans
• Measuring trust and engagement through participation, reach, sentiment and relationship indicators
• Supporting school-level engagement with consistent district guidance
• Sustaining engagement work during leadership and staff turnover
• Supporting governance-level trust through coordinated engagement and communication

Participants will work with the course facilitator on completing their capstone project, a research-driven strategic communication plan for their school, school district or educational service agency.