Lawrence Public Schools cut the ribbon Monday on a new Family Engagement Center, giving families across the district a single place to connect with school, health and community resources. The center opened at the district offices, 110 McDonald Drive, and is meant to serve as a welcoming front door for every USD 497 family, not just those new to the district.
Lawrence school board members, staff and district students gathered for the ribbon-cutting ceremony, according to the Lawrence Journal-World. The center is designed to be a centralized hub where families can find support, connect with resources, ask questions, share ideas and build relationships, per the Lawrence Times' report. Families can reach the center through the entrance on the side of the building closest to the local city bus stop, the Lawrence Journal-World reported.
A District-Level Welcome Point
Superintendent Jeanice Swift framed the new space as an extension of work already happening in Lawrence's school buildings, not a replacement for it. “We know that every one of our schools is a family engagement center, but at this place we can represent and welcome at the district level,” Swift said, according to the same Lawrence Times account.
School board president Bob Byers echoed that sentiment at the opening, describing the center as a way to deepen ties between the district and the families it serves. “It is about opening doors, building relationships and strengthening the connection between our schools, our families and our community,” Byers said, per the report. He added that students are more successful when families feel welcome, supported, heard and included in their child's education, and said families are partners whose voices, experiences and perspectives matter.
Resources Aimed at New and Longtime Families
The center could provide resources for students who are new to the district, along with health and wellness resources and connections to community services. It could also help facilitate partnerships between families and the school district.
District planning documents described the center as a complement to the district's existing enrollment center for new families, with the goal of extending services to all district households. The same account quoted district staff saying the center is not meant to replace anything currently happening in individual school buildings.
Longer-Term Plans Include Parent Classes, a Mobile Van
Earlier planning discussions laid out a broader vision for the center, including potential parent and caregiver classes and cultural affinity spaces for families, according to Lawrence Times' coverage of an April school board meeting. District staff also presented a parent engagement model built around the idea of family engagement rather than family involvement, the outlet reported.
District leaders also described a long-term goal of launching a mobile van to carry the center's resources beyond McDonald Drive. The mobile outreach plan could bring those resources to families where they are.
