Investments in Student Voice & Community Partnerships

For the 2021-2022 School Year, Highline received additional term-limited funding that can be utilized to provide summer childcare opportunities to our community. However, this project may be funded under ESSER for the 2022-2023 School Year. 

We know that not all families and community members are able to access our electronic communications - and we feel it is imperative that we keep our community informed about district spending and educational programs. To increase access and connection, we will continue our quarterly mailings -  our primary contact with those who are not directly connected to our school, while also investing in alternative ways of communicating how ESSER funds are being utilized in schools.

To authentically engage student and family voice, the district made the decision to designate a committee to oversee a $4 Million fund for community directed investments. 

• Investment Period: 2022-23 SY

• 2021-2022 Milestones for CARE (See CARE web page)

September	October	November	December	January-March	April
Committee Convenes & Norms Drafted	Investment Values Drafted	Investment Options Proposed	Investment Options Prioritized for Proposal	Proposals Brought to Various Stakeholder Groups for Additional Planning & Input	Investments Proposed & Adopted Implementation Planning Begins

 

If we provide summer enrichment opportunities coupled with academic/summer enrichment activities, students can have a robust experience that will accelerate their learning to be at or above grade level standard. In coordination with Summer Academy and Summer Childcare, we will partner with CBOs to provide partial day enrichment opportunities in the arts, tech, physical education, and more.  

• Investment Period: 2021-22 SY; 2022-23 SY
• Accessing this Resource: All families who have eligible summer school students will be able to access this resource.

If we develop the capacity of school and district staff around family and community engagement best practices and honor the expertise of our families and community partners while providing them with critical information about the school system, and schools create the space for families and community to authentically partner, then staff, families and community partners will cultivate relationships built on mutual trust and then staff will implement strong family and community engagement practices in partnership with families and community so that families, community partners, and staff are working together to support students’ academic success.

This initiative supports the expansion of the family engagement specialist role to secondary schools, where the specialists support middle & high schools with implementing effective family engagement strategies in support of afterschool enrichment opportunities (such as extended day).

• Investment Period: 2021-22 SY; 2022-23 SY
• Additional FTE & Staff Support: This investment adds 3.0 Term-Limited FTE to the district to support the solicitation, implementation, and management of our secondary enrichment partners. 
• Accessing this Resource: This is a system-wide support allocated to secondary schools as follows:

Partnership Specialist	Schools Served
1.0 FTE	Evergreen, Highline, Mt. Rainier, & Tyee
1.0 FTE	Cascade, Chinook, Glacier, Pacific, & Sylvester
1.0 FTE	Big Picture, Choice Academy, Maritime, Puget Sound Skills, Raisbeck Aviation, Highline Virtual Academy, New Start, & WELS

 

If we develop the capacity of school and district staff around family and community engagement best practices and honor the expertise of our families and community partners while providing them with critical information about the school system, and schools create the space for families and community to authentically partner, then staff, families and community partners will cultivate relationships built on mutual trust and then staff will implement strong family and community engagement practices in partnership with families and community so that families, community partners, and staff are working together to support students’ academic success. This initiative provides supplemental funds to contracted external agencies who provide enrichment services and opportunities in Secondary schools. 

• Investment Period: 2021-22 SY; 2022-23 SY
• Additional FTE & Staff Support: This initiative pays for 1.0 FTE in a Partnership Manager
• Accessing this Resource: Partners have been contracted for the 2021-22 academic year as follows: