News You Can Use
May 28, 2021
Emerging from Crisis, into Opportunity 
Cambria Russell
Cambria Russell
Director of MASFEC
The school year may be winding down but MASFEC and our parent organization, The Federation for Children with Special Needs, are hard at work doubling down on family engagement as a crucial strategy for rebuilding, post-pandemic. During this grueling public health crisis, families have been the connection point between schools, community organizations, and children.

Now, two major pieces of public policy - the Biden Administration’s American Rescue Plan and the Acceleration Roadmap of the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education offer windows of opportunity for making the most of the connections that were forged in the midst of crisis.
It's time for communities to make a choice. Will we heed the lessons learned from the pandemic about the fundamental importance of families to young people’s success and wellbeing?

MASFEC and the Federation stand ready to assist organizations and districts to go deeper in the direction of equity-driven partnership. Check out our statements on opportunities available through these new policy initiatives:

Then, we hope you'll reach out! We'd love to work with you.
Congratulations, FISS Graduates!
We are pleased to congratulate the latest graduates of our Family Institute for Student Success (FISS) program, which educates and empowers parents and caregivers to become effective educational partners and advocates for their children. Launched in 2019 through a partnership with DESE and the Parent Institute for Quality Education, 168 parents and caregivers have completed the 9-week program to date.

Painless Pre-Reading Activities
Before children are ready to start learning to write, they can build fine motor and visual discrimination skills while enjoying simple childhood pleasures. Our beloved guest blogger Mathangi Subramanian, Ed.D. shares a host of skill-builders that families can try at home in her most recent post for MASFEC.

Summer Learning Tips for Families
& for Early Childhood Educators
On our website, we've posted two fact sheets from the National Center on Afterschool and Summer Enrichment aimed at helping families and school-age program providers. Simple checklists and tips offer instructions for things you can do before, during, and at the end of summer to maximize fun and engagement!

June Family Literacy Calendar
Our last family literacy calendar for the school year celebrates many joys of the summer - in part by highlighting the curious and beautiful works of Eric Carle - who was born in June and died this past week. We're also sharing stories of pride, love, and the everyday right to live a happy life - in honor of LGBTQI+ Pride Month and Black Lives Matter Month.

REMINDER: Remote Learning Survey for Educators and Families
We want to be sure to hear from as many people as possible for our annual family engagement survey!

Please encourage colleagues, coworkers and families to participate using these links. It only takes about 10 minutes to share direct, anonymous feedback about your experiences.

For questions or help completing the survey, please contact Ryan Miskell with MASFEC at 202-471-2463.

More Information for Educators
In Case You Missed Them
We've been sharing tons of resources on Twitter @MAFamEngage - on family engagement, anti-racism and teaching during COVID. Here are a few of our favorites.
Education Through a Pandemic: From Kentucky Offering a ‘Do-Over’ School Year to Massachusetts Waiving Graduation Tests for Class of 2022, 9 Ways States Are Confronting COVID Learning Loss
Using a ‘Less Is More’ Approach to Engage Parents: Parents of preschoolers generally want to be involved in their kids’ education—the key is to ease the way.
This Op Ed argues that pandemic adaptations have created new opportunities for authentic conversations
The social, emotional, and physical health
of teachers is a shared responsibility and a
critical component of student learning and
overall community wellbeing. 
Family Voices National offers a free training curriculum titled the Nuts and Bolts of Telemedicine: Essentials for a Family-Centered Experience.
Giving struggling middle and high school students opportunities to help others may ease some of the stress they’re feeing this year.
Help Spread the Word!
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Massachusetts Statewide Family Engagement Center
A program of the Federation for Children with Special Needs
529 Main Street, Suite 1M3 | Boston, MA 02129
617.236.7210 | www.masfec.org