Our Commitment

Transparent communication and deep learning support serve as the foundation of our family and community partnerships. Honoring families as full partners sustains the connections that improve attendance and foster a culture of belonging for every student.

family at community workshop

Build strong partnerships with families and the community to support student success.

Strong Schools Are Built on Strong Partnerships

We know that student success grows when families and schools are connected, informed, and empowered. We are creating more ways for families to engage, be heard, and shape their child's educational journey. This means clear communication, meaningful collaboration, and real opportunities to partner in learning.

Focus Areas

Reduce Chronic Absenteeism: Implement intentional and urgent strategies to significantly reduce chronic student absenteeism.

Enhance Family Learning Support: Offer accessible information, guidance, and resources to empower families to effectively support their students’ learning at home.

family members at community event

Strategies

4.1. Expand parent engagement with the ParentVUE platform by delivering clear guidance and support for account creation and navigation.

4.2. Implement a mandatory, counseling-based re-entry protocol for students returning from suspension to identify root causes and provide behavioral scaffolds.

4.3. Adopt a dedicated “Attendance Ambassador” model to conduct personalized outreach and support for students facing chronic absenteeism.

4.4. Optimize the Parent and Community Advisory Council structure to ensure diverse family representation in district-level policy and budget decisions.

4.5. Establish specialized, time-bound advisory panels to provide the Superintendent with direct community feedback on high-priority topics, such as Special Education and Multilingual Learners.

4.6. Launch specific, multi-channel communication campaigns to engage families and receive feedback across the district.

Blueprint for Maryland’s Future: Pillars 4 & 5

Rationale for Focus Areas

Focus Area: Reduce Chronic Absenteeism

Why is reducing chronic absenteeism important?

Strong attendance is a critical foundation for student learning, engagement, and academic progress. Approximately one-quarter of PGCPS students are identified as chronically absent, indicating a need for systemwide strategies that address barriers to attendance and strengthen students’ connection to school. Research consistently links chronic absenteeism to lower academic performance, reduced graduation rates, and long-term disengagement from school. It is influenced by a range of factors, including health needs, transportation challenges, school climate, and students’ sense of belonging (Attendance Works, 2023; U.S. Department of Education, 2022).

Stronger alignment must be prioritized to ensure students are present, engaged, and able to access instruction consistently. Addressing chronic absenteeism at scale is essential to improving equitable access to learning and ensuring all students have the opportunity to benefit fully from daily instruction.

Focus Area: Enhance Family Learning Support

Why is enhancing family learning support important?

Strong family engagement is a key driver of student achievement and academic success. While families generally report positive experiences with district communication, just over half of K–8 parents indicate that current communication systems are effective, pointing to opportunities to improve the accessibility, clarity, and consistency of information related to student learning and academic progress.

Research shows that effective family engagement is linked to higher student achievement, improved attendance, and stronger student motivation, especially when communication is two-way, timely, and connected to learning goals (Henderson & Mapp, 2002; Harvard Family Research Project, 2010; Weiss et al., 2010). Additional research highlights that student outcomes improve when schools intentionally build trusting relationships with families, communicate clearly about learning, and create consistent opportunities for shared responsibility in student success (Weiss et al., 2010).

Families expressed a need for clearer information on student progress, consistent expectations across schools, and stronger opportunities for timely, school-specific communication. They also emphasized the importance of multiple channels of communication that support meaningful, two-way engagement with teachers and district leadership. Ongoing dialogue was noted as important for helping families better understand academic expectations and support student growth.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

Rate of chronic absenteeism.
Percentage of stakeholders agreeing that they feel welcome at their/their child’s school.
Percentage of families with active ParentVUE accounts.
Percentage of families who engage in at least one two-way interaction with the district/school (webinar, workshop, or other in-person meeting).
Percentage of families reporting satisfaction with the timeliness, clarity, and accessibility of district-wide outreach and information sharing.