A Maine elementary principal discovered that a family game night, complete with food and door prizes, helps build a sense of community by giving parents an opportunity to interact informally with school staff and students. It is particularly effective with previously uninvolved parents. (MLH)

Even Start Family Literacy Program is a three-part program serving thousands of children from birth to age seven. The federal program supplies parents with the training to be their child's first teacher; allows them to gain needed literacy skills and complete their own formal education; and provides a preschool for young children. Children gain at…

In 1987, Yale University's Edward Zigler introduced the School of the 21st Century (21C), a model designed to enable schools to provide family support and child care services for children from infancy to age 12. Criticized as unfeasible, the decade-old program is now operating in 500 schools in 17 states and has helped redefine the family/school…

Schools in Los Angeles County, Chattanooga, Boston, and San Diego have established family centers offering space (a room, bus, or neighborhood apartment) where family members can meet with parent leaders and school staff to plan and implement programs and partnerships. Varied purposes, activities, funding, and staffing are discussed. (MLH)

A Tucson, Arizona elementary school is one of 45 development sites for the Toyota Families in Schools Program, which brings in parents to learn alongside their children and in their own classrooms for 4 hours daily. Parents also receive vocational instruction aligned with local job opportunities. (MLH)

CoZi, an acronym combining the names of child psychiatrist James Comer and developmental child psychologist Edward Zigler, is a reform initiative to ensure children's success through various systems working together: the family, the school, child care, and the health system. Integrating services fundamentally changes the school's mission and the…