PAVE Post: Parent Leaders Strengthen Their #ParentPolicyPower 💪

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Parent Leaders Dig into #ParentPriorities

Missed the Meeting? WATCH THE LIVESTREAM!

On Saturday, October 19, PAVE Parent Leaders in Education (PLE) Board members from across the city came together to dig into the two #ParentPriorities they selected at the Parent Policy Summit in June:

Mental Health Supports and Trauma-Informed Training in All Schools (renewed for a second year!)
Increased Access to Specialized School Programs

Goals of the Day

Examine data to better understand the state of our schools in DC

Gain a shared understanding around our two policy priorities

Explore potential solutions for each issue

Starting off with DATA!

Parents started the day marrying the data about how our schools are performing with their experiences, PLE Board members had conversations about how they can lead the way as partners with policymakers to address the priority issues they selected.

Together we called out inequities and identified how we can and should do this work differently to get to different outcomes and change the narrative for all our kids in every ward and community.

See the rest of the day's photos!

Delving into the ISSUES

PAVE parent leaders presented on Mental Health Supports and Trauma-Informed Training in All Schools. Anise Walker and Yolanda Corbett presented an overview of mental health supports, walked us through the progress we made together on the #DoMoreWith54 campaign, and outlined the work we still need to do together.

Throughout the day, parents continued to share their personal stories about the importance of mental health supports and the urgency of this issue, knowing that kids aren’t able to truly learn and grow until we support them as whole children.

Overheard on Saturday: "Your brain is a muscle. It has to be treated like the rest of your body. You need good mental health to function, just like you need your heart to function."

Then we transitioned into learning about our second issue for the upcoming year: Increased Access to Specialized School Programs. Parents learned about the programs that the District currently offers, and then discussed the opportunities and challenges that lie ahead as we look to increase access for more families and communities.

We asked ourselves,

Are parents aware of all of these programs - and their benefits?
Do all families have equitable access to these programs?
Are parents at the center of the design and planning for those programs?

In these conversations, parents emphasized the need for quality and accountability across all of these programs and the need to make sure students across the city have equitable access to the programs that best meet their needs - from pre-K through high school.

Up Next

Parents will continue these conversations, grapple with the issues, and start to brainstorm solutions they want to see at their next ward-based meetings in November.

You can access the information parents reviewed at the October All-Ward PLE Board meeting below:

See ALL the Resources from Saturday on our Website!

Keep in touch! Sign up to join the PAVE listserv .

Do you have events and opportunities to share with PAVE?
Email us at info@dcpave.org .

PAVE (Parents Amplifying Voices in Education) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that connects, informs, and empowers parent leaders to give families in DC a voice and a choice in the vision for education in our city. PAVE's goal is to create an education system in which parents are partners in developing a diversity of safe, nurturing, and great schools for every child in every ward and community.