Montgomery County Public Schools, Maryland’s largest school district serving nearly 160,000 students, will examine the structural obstacles that prevent families from fully participating in their children’s education.

Effective family engagement requires intentionally inclusive practices which enhance dual capacity building of families and educators and support student learning. In our diverse schools and communities, which span race, ethnicity, culture, language and other demographics, engagement must be based on culturally responsive approaches to planning and implementation of family engagement.

Participants will participate in an interactive game activity to understand the experiences of families; explore structural barriers that keep families out of the spaces they deserve and need to be in to support their children; examine the role race and culture has on engagement; and apply a planning tool for effective culturally responsive family engagement to events and activities in their own schools or organizations.