The Families and Educators Together Project is engaged in bridging the gap between educators and families. This project provides school communities with coaching, training, and guidance needed to nurture strong family-school partnerships that reach across linguistic, racial, and cultural divides. The project's ultimate goal is to form a unique network of trainer-consultants who will collectively have the skills and experience to help any school both raise academic performance and build stronger ties.

This learning collective will work together to develop a portfolio of projects, strategies, and tools for creating greater synergy between home and school. Our team of practitioners will be especially attuned to connecting with recent immigrant populations that have flooded American cities. Effectively including these families in public school systems will make a pivotal difference in how school districts cope with this current challenge.

Drawing on the pioneering book On The Same Team: Bringing Educators and Underrepresented Families Together, this project helps a diverse array of schools establish more inclusive and equitable communities. It fosters a new generation of bridging leaders who learn how to become more effective facilitators and cultivate systemic and transformative change within their school communities.

This project has two interlocking strategies:

1. Increase educators’ capacity to implement high-leverage, school-family partnership practices; and

2. Support educational and parent leaders to successfully launch collaborative teams that foster more inclusive and equitable school communities.

Project Director Bio:

Ari Gerzon-Kessler is a trailblazer in fostering high levels of collaboration between diverse stakeholders in public education. As a bilingual educator who has worked for a quarter century as a teacher, principal, and district leader, Ari has coached scores of educational leaders in districts to create innovative projects that reach multicultural families. His book, On The Same Team, won the Gold Medal for Outstanding Education Book of 2024 from the Independent Publishers Book Awards.

Ari is a seasoned educational coach, experienced facilitator, and a dynamic keynote speaker. He trains individual schools and districts on how to strengthen school-family partnerships that lead to a host of important outcomes for all stakeholders. He has a B.A. in African American Studies from Wesleyan University and an M.A. in Instruction and Curriculum from the University of Colorado. To set up a call to share how we can support your school community, please reach out to Ari at arigerzon@gmail.com or find him on LinkedIn.