About Us

We are a grassroots group of parents, educators, trainers, counselors, psychologists, legislators, and school administrators who believe the meaning of parental involvement must expand beyond bake sales and volunteering at school.

We think it is time to acknowledge that although volunteer work makes a significant contribution to schools and kids, it is not the full picture of what it means to be an "involved parent." For children to reach their full potential, parents must teach respect, discipline, and a love of learning at home. They must hold their kids accountable for their behavior and academic performance and provide an atmosphere at home that is conducive to learning. Schools, too, must be advocates for meaningful family and parental involvement. They must listen to parents, help them understand their role in education, collaborate with them about their children, and teach them to become effective advocates and problem-solvers within the school community.

So how does this type of parental involvement happen? Not overnight. Not through money spent on quick fixes. Not through one workshop or event. It happens through small collaborative steps, one step at a time, over many years.

How do we know this? We have been working in more than thirty schools for eleven years to develop the type of process that would help parents and schools do exactly what we just described. Over 8,000 families and 2,000 volunteer leaders and educators have participated in ParentNet, now freely available from this website to any school wishing to launch the program or adapt it to their needs.

Rather than following "prescriptive" solutions, we believe parents and schools are capable of developing their own collaborative communities where children can thrive. This takes proactive rather than reactive efforts on the part of both parents and educators. When a school commits itself to increasing meaningful family involvement and partners with parents to help lead the effort, we know that extraordinary results can be achieved.

When we completed the development phase of ParentNet in 2006, we wanted to make sure it would be freely available to everyone. And we saw a need to encourage collaboration between advocates for parental involvement and the schools and parents they serve. Our hope is that this website will become an incubator for new and innovative ways to increase meaningful parental involvement in schools and in homes across the country.

The responsibility to help our children succeed in school and in life belongs to all of us -- parents and educators alike. We hope you will get involved!