Our MISSION
Building family-educator partnerships to support student well-being and achievement.
Visit our parent site at www.MAEC.org
Building family-educator partnerships to support student well-being and achievement.
This CAFE guide is designed for families and caregivers to support and lead English Learners through projects at home. The activities within the guide promote communication, collaboration, creativity, and critical thinking while engaging with a child’s culture, family background, and home languages. Each project has the following sections: the purpose of the project, materials suggested, questions for children, instruction to complete each section, and additional activities and resources. Children can complete projects individually or in groups, with more adult support for younger children. In this guide, the term “family member” includes parents, extended family, and caregivers, as we recognize that families are defined in many ways.
We are excited to share amazing resources to celebrate diverse women during this Women’s History Month. MAEC’s resource list highlights diverse women in –
✴️ Articles
✴️ Books
✴️ Lesson Plans
✴️ Leaders to follow on Instagram and Twitter
✴️ Webinars and Videos
✴️ Podcasts
✴️ Movies and Documentaries
✴️ TV Shows
This content is perfect for family engagement specialists, families, and students to learn about diverse women this month.
Join CAFE and FIC as they present workshop 2 in their series of Reunited: Families, Schools, and Communities Making it Work Together.
Explore innovative partnerships and approaches to engaging families in Title I school communities and how community schools use partnerships and wrap-around services to meet the needs of families. In this workshop, attendees will learn how one local school system coordinates across programs while spotlighting two Title I Community Schools and their authentic and innovative family engagement partnerships that are making a difference for students
CAFE is the Statewide Family Engagement Center for the states of Maryland and Pennsylvania. We help build sustainable infrastructure to support healthy family, student, and community engagement. CAFE serves all educators – from state agencies to school districts to school staff and early care providers – and families by developing resources, co-designing learning opportunities, and fostering dialogue designed to help families connect with local schools and support their children’s development and learning.
CAFE implements a co-constructed approach, working alongside our clients, to ensure the effectiveness of our work. Below are examples of the services we offer:
State Education Agencies
- Develop and implement a seamless birth to 21 family engagement framework.
- Establish an advisory committee in each state.
LEAs, Local school systems, Learning communities, Community-based organizations, Educators
- Create partnerships with families, schools, and communities.
- Facilitate parent academies.
- Convene communities of practice.
Families
- Provide opportunities for leadership development.
- Support for literacy skills development.
- Create resources to promote school readiness and academic achievement.
MAEC and the National Center for Family Learning (NCFL) partner with a school to implement two-generational literacy programs for low-income families, predominantly immigrants and English learners, in Queen Anne's County, MD. This program expands parents' role in their children's education, connects families with free WiFi, and supports positive community relationships.
MAEC and Academic Parent Teacher Teams facilitate strong relationships between families and teachers in Indiana County, PA. Through team and individual meetings, teachers and parents practice activities to improve their students' continuum of learning from school to home, leading to student success in key concepts.
Family engagement needs to be more than a series of random acts. It requires a systemic, integrated, and comprehensive approach to working with families in support of children’s learning.
Susan Shaffer,
President, MAEC
© 2022 Mid-Atlantic Equity Consortium, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
