District details expansion of family‑school‑community partnership work, family centers and outreach pilots

District staff and school leaders presented more than an hour of examples showing how Thompson School District R-2J is reshaping family engagement through federal and state improvement grants, Title I parent set‑aside funds and local partnerships.

Jesse Tiorina, the district’s director of state and federal programs, said the district intentionally braids federal funds (Title I, McKinney‑Vento, ESSA improvement grants and others) to support family centers, family‑engagement specialists on site at Title I schools and targeted services for prioritized student groups such as highly mobile youth and students in foster care. “Being invited does not mean being included,” Tiorina said, describing a shift toward inclusion‑focused practices and two‑way family engagement.

School examples included a family pantry operated through a partnership with a county food bank and local nonprofits; the family center reported more than 150 pantry visits since July and distributed donated shoes and coats that staff said totaled several hundred pairs. Gabby Salvador, an FCP specialist, described walk‑in services, empathy interviews and outreach methods that connect families to housing, food and clothing resources and help them navigate services.

At Mountain View High School, assistant principal Dan Calgill described a secondary‑level pilot that required teachers to make introductory phone calls to every family and to receive training and supports (including time given back to teachers to complete outreach). Calgill said the school produced a 7% increase in families logging into the district’s student‑information system and saw strong positive feedback from families and staff after early outreach efforts.

At Lincoln Elementary, principal and family engagement staff described transforming a classroom into a family resource hub with clothing, food pantry access, notecatchers and materials to help families participate in conferences. Lincoln staff reported reduced chronic absenteeism and improved family–teacher conversations after emphasizing home or 'connected' visits and training families on how to ask specific questions during conferences.

District leaders said targeted supports for McKinney‑Vento and foster youth included successful college‑access work: staff reported that 70% of highly mobile youth expressed interest in college and that the district had supported students gaining college admission and financial support (including in‑state tuition eligibility for students identified in foster care). Staff also said the district had cleared Head Start audit findings and that Title/Federal programs had been integral to program compliance and service delivery.

Board members praised the work and asked how to scale successful pilots beyond Title I schools; staff said they are exploring districtwide expansion, additional partnerships and a possible centralized family‑community center in a future facilities master‑planning effort.

The district did not take formal action; board members encouraged public communications to raise awareness among families who might not otherwise learn about the services.