Collaborating with Communities and Caregivers: Conditions for Building Authentic Partnerships

This paper explores insights from the Building Equitable Learning Environment network's (BELE) equity initiatives in partner districts. It focuses on the critical importance of cultivating and sustaining relationships with caregivers and community stakeholders. Given the roles parents and caregivers play in a child's education as their first educators and their primary educators, this brief focuses on building partnerships that cross the boundaries of schools, communities, and homes. When school and community educators build relationships and make conscious and continued efforts to learn from families and communities, they become more adept at creating educational experiences for students that are nurturing and grounded in an understanding of the whole child. These efforts should be sustained year-round and prioritize designing schooling experiences with input from families and using school resources to support the families and communities themselves. [This report was produced by the Building Equitable Learning Environment (BELE) Network.]