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.
The National Association for Family, School, and Community Engagement (NAFSCE) published a major report: Catalyzing Family, School, and Community Partnerships: A Review of the Work of the Statewide Family Engagement Centers. This report explores the vital work that the twelve Statewide Family Engagement Centers (including CAFE) are doing to strengthen connections between home, school, and community to support students, families, and schools. CAFE is featured on pages 33-34.
Change is in the air for families across the United States. Vaccines are being administered and students are engaged in various types of hybrid schooling.
Join CAFE, the Maryland State Department of Education and Maryland Families Engage on August 5, 2021 for the 6th annual Maryland Family Engagement Summit.
The 2021 Summit, Building Back Together: Reimagining Family Engagement, will offer virtual workshops that: 1. discuss researched-based strategies to meet the ongoing academic and socio-emotional needs of children and students. 2. Explore strategies and considerations to prepare providers and teachers to reimagine partnerships with families.
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
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