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.
CAFE is excited to announce our partnership with Ready4K! The initiative will be implemented in Somerset and Garrett County in Maryland.
Ready4K provides an evidence-based family engagement curriculum delivered via text messages. Each week, families receive facts, tips and strategies to help families support their children’s learning at home and build on existing routines. The text messages might encourage families to point out letters on a cereal box, count the number of steps as they walk to the car or to school, or make feeling faces in the mirror.
Ready4K is geared for families with children up to fifth grade and is available in English, Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese, Arabic, and Russian.
What education data is important to YOU? Do you know how to access your child’s data?Fill out MAEC’s survey to share your thoughts
The CAFE Family Newsletter is back! Check out the latest family events in PA & MD and CAFE news.
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 Prince George's County, MD. 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.
