Parent Engagement Collaborative (PEC) Lifts Up Parent Voice

The Morningside Parent Engagement Collaborative (PEC) began in 2014 as a collection of five (5) local nonprofit agencies and three (3) foundations seeking to make an impact in the Fort Worth neighborhood of Morningside. With a focus on families with children from birth to age 5, the PEC has spent the last four years working with over 200 families, tracking improvement year over year in parent confidence, parenting skills, knowledge of available community resources, and closeness of the parent/child relationship. Parent focus groups (in both English and Spanish) have provided insightful family perspectives on engaging with schools, community needs, and parent priorities that have informed the work of the PEC since its inception.

In 2018, the five nonprofit agencies (AVANCE, The Concilio, Fortress Youth Development Center, The Parenting Center, and NewDay Services) and three foundations (The Rainwater Charitable Foundation, The Morris Foundation, and The Miles Foundation) took a step back to reflect on their programming and approach to date, and discuss key opportunities for continued impact moving forward.

The result was a collective decision to broaden the PEC's geographic scope to serve families (both inside and outside of Morningside) who are uniquely aligned with each of the agencies' focus areas and service offerings -- and to focus on lifting up parent voice to influence broader community change.

In the 2018-2019 school year, the PEC is partnering with Fort Worth ISD and the Fort Worth Children's Partnership to integrate parent voice into a six-week feedback loop with principals and school leaders who have signed on to a continuous improvement process. The Fort Worth Children’s Partnership (FWCP), led by The Rainwater Charitable Foundation and Fort Worth ISD, is an expansion and evolution of the Morningside Children’s Partnership (MCP), which has focused on supporting a culture of success through connecting early childhood, academic instruction, and family and community services. The FWCP is now partnering with Morningside schools, in addition to other select schools within the FWISD network, that are committed to integrating real-time data and feedback to improve student outcomes and elevate family engagement. 

We are thrilled to be a part of this innovative initiative being led by the Fort Worth ISD and The Rainwater Charitable Foundation, and look forward to sharing what we are learning from parents and school leaders through this process upon its launch in September 2018.

For more information, please email us at info@fortworthpec.org.