Our Model's Foundation

The SFUSD Family Partnership model outlines six best practice areas that will support you in bringing authentic and long-lasting family partnership to your site. The best practice areas are as follows: Set the Tone, Build Authentic Relationships, Link Student Learning Between Home and School, Create an Equitable School Community, Share Power and Decision Making, and Support Navigating SFUSD.

Setting the tone is often the first step in cultivating an authentic family partnership. Schools, and school leaders especially, are able to develop norms and rules for relating to families; they set the tone for attitudes and behaviors toward families. Ultimately, schools should work towards creating and implementing a schoolwide vision, expectations, and a plan that values families as equal partners. All stakeholders should understand the plan and their role.

Building authentic relationships with families is the foundation for a strong and effective family partnership. Authentic relationships are defined by cultural humility (Lifelong process of critical self-reflection and self-critique, redressing power imbalances, respectful appreciation and attitude towards diverse lived experiences, and advocating for and maintaining institution accountability) and an acknowledgment of the other person’s agency. It is important that we are always “building” towards authentic relationships, as they take consistent time and effort, self-reflection, trust, and two-way communication.

Learning does not begin and end in the classroom. Rather, staff provide regular and timely ways to keep families informed of their students’ progress and help families understand what they can do to support their children’s learning. Staff are proactive in finding ways to hear from families about what they want and need to support their children’s learning. Similarly, staff find ways to learn about their students’ families’ expertise and utilize it within the classroom and/or through take-home projects and learning opportunities.

An equitable school community ensures each and every student and their families get the resources and support that they need, when they need them, and in a way that increases everyone feeling welcomed and valued. Equity is work, and true equity is dismantling the systems and structures that continue to exist in the U.S., resulting in the oppression of our black and brown students.

Schools and students do better when families and staff work together and share leadership. When decision-making and/or advisory groups are representative, inclusive and work in alignment with others, this ensures more voices and ideas are a part of the decisions being made.

Educators must understand how to navigate SFUSD in order to assist families in navigating through transitions into and out of schools, between grades, and between different learning experiences. SFUSD resources should be made transparent and accessible, so all families can use them.