Spring Family Engagement That Sets Up Success: Finish Strong, Launch Stronger

Presented by Amanda Ensor, Former Teacher, Current Senior Content and Learning Manager, TalkingPoints; and Kate Pechacek, Former Teacher, Current K12 Strategic Advisor, TalkingPoints

Sponsored by TalkingPoints

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Spring in schools is full—testing windows, credit checks, fall registration, summer planning, staffing shifts, and transition conversations. It can feel overwhelming. The instinct is to communicate more. But volume doesn’t build confidence; relationships do.

In this final edWebinar of our three-part series, we explore how district leaders can use a simple family engagement formula to navigate high-pressure spring moments with clarity and cohesion while setting up summer and fall for success.

1. The Trust → Reputation → Improvement Playbook

Spring interactions either strengthen or strain trust. When trust is protected in everyday moments—grading conversations, transition messaging, and summer planning—district reputation grows organically.

2. Implement the Playbook at Two Levels

Effective engagement must operate both around the classroom (district systems and alignment) and within the classroom (classroom-family partnerships). Digital engagement is essential to making this work at scale.

3. Accelerate Through Co-Creation

Co-creating your spring-to-summer-to-fall story with families deepens partnership and strengthens momentum into fall, and helps you accomplish all of your spring goals more effectively.

When districts prioritize trust and partnership, spring tasks become smoother, summer engagement deepens, and fall launches stronger.

This recorded edWebinar is of interest to K-12 school leaders, district leaders, and education technology leaders.

View part one: Nourishing a Strong School Culture with Sustainable Family Partnerships
View part two: 5 Midyear Moves for Family Engagement: What to Keep, Shift, or Strengthen

About the Presenters

Amanda Ensor is Senior Content & Learning Manager at TalkingPoints, an education nonprofit strengthening family-school partnerships through an innovative digital platform. A former elementary teacher and 2013 Queen Anne’s County Teacher of the Year, she has 20+ years in public education. She previously served as a Family & Community Engagement Specialist with Scholastic and as Title I Family Engagement Specialist for Queen Anne’s County (2018–22). Amanda also founded It Takes A Village, LLC, consulting with districts and early childhood providers. A nationally recognized presenter, she has led national sessions, including the 2024 National Assembly for Family Engagement. She holds degrees in human development and learning and elementary reading and literacy, plus an administrator certification. At the core of her work is a clear mission: to help schools and districts cultivate effective, equitable partnerships between home and school, ensuring every student receives the support they need to thrive.

Kate Pechacek currently serves as K12 strategic advisor to systems-improving edtech organizations and school districts, including TalkingPoints, and is the founder and CEO of OpendoorsEd. Prior to founding OpendoorsEd, Kate served as Head of Impact at TalkingPoints, one of several roles she has held in education technology over the last nine years. She began her nearly 30-year career in education as a secondary math teacher. In addition to 15 years as a teacher, Kate has served in districts nationwide, holding multiple site and district leadership roles in curriculum, instruction, assessment, and MTSS. She is passionate about ensuring equity, disrupting predictability, and narrowing opportunity gaps.

Learn more about earning a CE certificate and our accessibility features.

Join the Community & Family Engagement community to network with educators, participate in online discussions, receive invitations to upcoming edWebinars, and view recordings of previous programs to earn CE certificates.

TalkingPoints is an edtech nonprofit dedicated to driving student success by unlocking the power of effective family-school partnerships. TalkingPoints’ communications and family engagement platform provides capacity-building guidance, time-saving tools, and universally accessible, two-way, text-first communication in more than 150 languages. This unique approach removes barriers like language, time, mindset, and capacity, fostering positive and purposeful family engagement. Unlike traditional communication tools, TalkingPoints is purpose-built to improve student outcomes by guiding partnership efforts toward the practices that matter most for student success. The platform empowers educators at every level—from district leaders to classroom teachers—to engage every family, in their home language, through barrier-free, multilingual communication.