District staff and community partners described the Better Together family‑community tour as a strategy to meet families at existing neighborhood events and to bring departments, principals and resources to places families already attend.

Kimberly Burton, chair of the Community Engagement Committee, said the tour was launched after the committee reviewed Panorama survey feedback that asked for more district presence in neighborhoods. “Families overwhelmingly said, we would like to see Wake County Public Schools in our communities, where we live, where we shop,” Burton said.

Dequanta (Duquanta/quantix in transcript) Copeland, a community organizer, described a stop that distributed more than 900 book bags, staged 50 flexible pre‑K backpacks, ran 40 raffles and drew about 2,300 attendees across Southeast Raleigh, Apex and other nearby neighborhoods. “For the first time we had 15 departments from the school system at this event,” she said, and she highlighted mental‑health, grief and substance‑use disorder vendors planned for an October 25 block adoption event.

Staff described two other stops: a Baptist Grove Church education awareness event (about 400 attendees and 280 sign‑ins) and Crosby Community Day at Chavis Park, all of which the district used to collect family feedback and to place departments in front of community members.

Committee members and organizers said the tour is building a community mapping database of partner organizations (more than 150 partners listed) and creates opportunities for principals and counselors to identify students who could benefit from after‑school programs and jobs with community partners. Staff also described plans for a professional learning series beginning in November and a family and community engagement summit in spring.

Organizers asked for continued support from board members and departments to promote events, recruit vendors and help with logistics for future stops.