Engagement & Education
Family engagement has been at the heart of National PTA’s mission since the association’s founding in 1897. When families and schools work together, they help every student succeed. The Fourth District PTA Engagement & Education committee will highlight best practices PTAs can put into action, along with resources to help your unit strengthen family engagement and provide value to your community.
As a PTA Leader, invite members to get involved by volunteering at the school or serving on an advisory committee. Encourage them to stay informed through official school district and school communications, including websites, newsletters, social media, Aeries, PTA updates, and other channels. Advise members to attend school district board meetings to better understand decisions about budgets, curriculum, and other important matters.
- Family Engagement
- Community Concerns
- Health and Safety
- Education
- National PTA Programs
- California PTA Programs
Transformative Family Engagement
Transformative family engagement is a shared effort of families, schools and community leaders to advance programs, practices and policies that empower families to make their child’s potential a reality.
The Four 'I's of transformative family engagement outline how your PTA can become more inclusive, individualized, integrated and impactful in its approach to family engagement.
When PTAs are inclusive they embrace and value diverse perspectives.
Developing an inclusive approach helps all families understand that their perspective matters. PTAs need to intentionally build trusting relationships with families in order to ensure they feel comfortable and welcome in the community.
Strategies:
- Work on relationship building by using name tents so that you can call people by their names.
- Create a more welcoming environment to newcomers by avoiding the use acronyms or making inside jokes.
- Start to question assumptions by thinking about the calendar for the year and exploring where you can rethink a PTA tradition or to create a new one.
When PTAs take an individualized approach to family engagement they meet the unique needs of every family and child.
When families attend meetings, they are looking to find out information that is relevant to their own child. Every parent should leave a PTA meeting knowing how the information presented is helpful to their family specifically.
Strategies:
- Instead of relying on a mass email, try the old fashioned approach by talking with families directly - the carloop during pick up is a great place to start
- Rather than a long PTA meeting that may not be relevant to everyone, mix things up with mini-sessions led by experts on topics parents care about.
When PTAs have an integrated approach to family engagement they connect and align their efforts with the broader educational system.
When PTAs partner with teachers and link PTA programming to the learning that is happening in the classroom, it is even more effective.
Strategies:
- Evaluate how you can make parent teacher conferences more productive for everyone involved.
- Consider events that go beyond fundraising. For example, consider swapping a bake sale to raise money for science supplies, with a student-led STEM forum for families.
When PTAs are impactful they empower families to support their children’s success.
Because family engagement is complex and relational, it can feel difficult to measure, but even small steps towards understanding the outcomes of your PTA’s work can go a long way.
Strategies:
- After hosting an event, interview families to see what they learned about how they can help support their child.
- Conduct a focus group or listening session to learn about how families feel about their experiences engaging with the school or district
Community Issues Concern Us All
Our children can’t learn, grow and succeed in school if they’re facing major challenges at home, in their neighborhoods and in their broader communities.
PTA’s mission doesn’t say we only focus on schools — it says that we work to “positively impact the lives of all children and families.” That means seeking support for abused children, advocating for foster kids, preventing bullying and much more.
You can help! Join your local PTA, get involved and help make changes for all our kids, at all times and in all places.
What Are Community Concerns?
Community concerns are those issues that impact our families and students in our communities and schools including, but not limited to, child abuse, child-care facilities and personnel licensing, citizenship, coordination of children’s services, delinquency prevention, disaster preparedness, discipline, environmental protection, family preservation, child support, foster care, homelessness, juvenile justice, missing and exploited children, proprietary preschools, safety education, school attendance, school safety, youth violence, vandalism, gangs, cults and the effects of drugs and alcohol.
Families, teachers and researchers know that our kids can’t grow, learn and succeed when they’re not healthy.
Taking Action for Healthy Children
That’s why California State PTA members are dedicated to promoting effective health education programs and services in schools and communities in order to offer children, youth and families the skills, tools and abilities they need to make healthy choices.
California State PTA believes that all children deserve access to a high-quality public education. Quality public education is the foundation of our future, preparing students not just for college and career success, but for active civic engagement and a meaningful life beyond high school.
California State PTA is committed to connecting families and schools by providing a range of information, resources and training to empower parents to actively participate at all levels of decision-making: from the school site, to local school boards, to state and federal government bodies. PTA works to inform its membership about education issues and to empower advocates at every unit, council, and district.
Whether it is understanding California state standards and curriculum, or how to help a child succeed with homework, learning about high-school course options and college/career readiness, or serving on a citizen’s committee for the school district, families need information that empowers them to be involved with their children and community.
Understanding how school systems work increases the likelihood of parent and community involvement, which makes education more effective and responsive for students.
Easy-to-Use National PTA Programs
Explore National PTA programs that are simple to implement and designed to support your unit’s success. Each program includes practical resources such as plans, templates, and examples to help you get started, stay organized, and follow proven steps.
- Ready-to-use program plans
- Customizable templates
- Examples your unit can follow
PTA Connected
Parenting in the digital age is complex.
PTA Connected strives to help children act safely, responsibly and thoughtfully online.
National PTA has been a partner to parents on digital parenting topics for over 5 years, exploring in-depth the issues that are on the minds of today’s families, and connecting parents with tools, research and supports to make the best decisions for their children.
The Smart Talk
Ready Tech Go
Create with kindness
National PTA School of Excellence Program
Over 40 years of research shows increased family engagement is linked to school improvement and student achievement. The National PTA School of Excellence recognition program helps PTAs open lines of communication and use critical thinking to make data-driven decisions to increase and sustain impactful family engagement.
By completing the program, PTAs earn the two‑year national designation as a PTA School of Excellence recognizing their leadership in creating welcoming, inclusive school communities and lasting change.
Family Reading Experience
National PTA is committed to helping families support their child’s development of literacy skills and encourage a love of reading. By providing helpful information, resources and ideas, National PTA helps empower PTAs to host literacy activities that improve book access and book choice and incorporate a lens of diversity and representation. Family Reading Experience
National PTA’s STEM Initiative
National PTA's STEM + Families® initiative aims to deliver access and hands-on exposure to science, technology, engineering and math to engage families and inspire students to pursue career opportunities in STEM fields.
Healthy Lifestyles
National PTA is committed to improving the overall health and well-being of families across the country because we know living a healthy lifestyle is a key component to our students' ability to thrive.
The Healthy Lifestyles initiative offers educational resources and engagement opportunities that empower students and families to make better-informed health decisions.
School Smarts Family Engagement Program
Parent engagement is crucial to student success. School Smarts graduates report feeling more likely to support, encourage, monitor and advocate for their children. Feeling more informed, confident and comfortable, graduates serve in their PTAs and on school or district committees such as the School Site Council (SSC), English Learner Advisory Committee (ELAC), or Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP) Development.
Learn more about School Smarts
ED 100
California’s education system is changing fast. You want to help. Learn how it all fits together with Ed100!
California State PTA and Ed100.org teamed up to help parents learn more about education so you can help create better schools.
Explore the education system in easy-to-understand language. No jargon. No partisan slant. Written by education experts who know Sacramento and local schools.
Ed100 is a free online resource that prepares you to make a difference in your school or school district. It helps you learn what you need to know to be informed, credible and ready for action.
Every California child deserves a great education. With Ed100, you can be part of the solution.
FCP Network Meetings
Fourth District Community Corkboard
The Fourth District PTA maintains a community page to share materials related to activities, events, and public notices relevant to Fourth District PTA communities. Priority is given to materials that most closely align with PTA’s mission.
Important Dates
Orange County Department of Education - Family and Community Partnership Network
FCP Network Meetings (no cost)
Tuesday, October 13, 2026
Joint Network meeting
9:00 am - 3:00 pm
Vanguard University
55 Fair Dr., Costa Mesa
Registration Required
Tuesday, December 1, 2026
9:00 am - 12:00 pm
OC Dept of Education
200 Kalmus Dr. Costa Mesa
Registration Required
Monday, Februrary 1, 2026
9:00 am - 12:00 pm
OC Dept of Education
200 Kalmus Dr. Costa Mesa
Registration Required
Friday, May 14, 2026
9:00 am - 12:00 pm
OC Dept of Education
200 Kalmus Dr. Costa Mesa
Registration Required
Community of Practice (no cost)
Thursday, September 17, 2026
11:30 am - 1:30 pm
Virtual via Zoom
Registration Required
Thursday, November 19, 2026
12:00 pm - 2:00 pm
Virtual via Zoom
Registration Required
Thursday, January 21, 2027
9:30 am - 11:30 pm
Virtual via Zoom
Registration Required
Thursday, March 18, 2027
11:30 am - 1:30 pm
Virtual via Zoom
Registration Required
Family and Community Engagement (FACE)
Certification Program
FEE Required for 4 day Training
November 16 & 17, 2026
Janaury 4 & 5, 2027
8:00 am - 4:30 pm
OC Dept of Education
200 Kalmus Dr. Costa Mesa
Registration Required
Creative Edge Lecture
TBD