Family and Community Engagement

The Hawaii Department of Education (HIDOE) has adopted the National Family, School and Community’s (NAFSCE) Definition of Family and Community Engagement. Effective Family Engagement is:

1. A shared responsibility in which schools and other community agencies and organizations are committed to reaching out to engage families in meaningful ways and in which families are committed to actively supporting their children’s learning and development.
2. Continuous across a child’s life and entails enduring commitment but changing parent roles as children mature into young adulthood.
3. Cuts across and reinforces learning in the multiple settings where children learn- at home, in prekindergarten programs, in school, in after school programs, in faith-based institutions, and in the community.