Family Engagement Plan

Welcoming Environment

Our school has staff member(s) available for families to discuss this plan and ask questions

• Principal : Tracy Buhl 

• Family Engagement & Partnership Committee Lead: Patrick Thuente

Our school communicates with families in many ways. 

● All student work and important papers come home in a Thursday folder. 

● Principal’s newsletter to parents emailed every other week to support family communications. In the newsletter, parents will have access to learning opportunities, resources, school events and messages from the district. 

● View the school website at crossroads.spps.org for important information and links to classroom teachers. 

● Crossroads staff typically respond to parent requests for information within 48 hours. 

● The School Calendar is available on the school’s website and in the school office. The School Newsletter always lists upcoming events. 

● Family Nights focus on increasing parents’ awareness of academic programs, celebrating student successes, and community building. 

● Automated calls, emails, and text messages regarding upcoming events are sent out on a regular basis. 

● Crossroads’ website provides multiple types of information on both school and district events. 

● Staff use a variety of ways to communicate with families: class newsletters, phone calls, e-mails, text messages, Seesaw, Schoology, Class Dojo, and more.

The achievement gap, or rather the “opportunity gap,” between students of color and white students in Saint Paul Public Schools is unacceptable. 

Our school is working to change practices and systems by 

identifying the barriers that make it harder for students of color to succeed and for their families to support their learning. 

Transitions between schools can be challenging, and we work to help families as their children start and leave our school.

● The School Continuous Improvement Plans (SCIP) for both Science and Montessori buildings have specific “Complementary Goals” stated to support monitoring and implementation of practices that target the achievement gap. 

● Parent Teacher Conferences are used as a platform for teachers to share individual student progress and current goals with families. Teachers share ways families can support their child’s academic goals at home. 

● Communication in the family home language is done through contacting people in the building who speak particular languages. We will work toward having audio recording or links within the Family Newsletter for these contacts. School newsletters are written as succinctly as possible to support multiple language speakers. 

● For more about our work on racial equity, contact: 

o Principal: Tracy Buhl 

For new students and families, we support the transition by: 

● Inviting all families to stop in to meet their child’s teacher and to visit the classroom during our Open House in the Fall 

● Offering Pre-K and K opening week conferences in September 

● Engaging families through a family picnic, meet and greet, personal phone calls to introduce oneself and answer any questions families may have in the transition 

For Pre-K students transitioning to Kindergarten we support the transition by: 

● Participating in multiple transition events during the spring prior to attending Kindergarten. This may include an end-of-the-year family celebration and Kindergarten information night. Crossroads invites Pre-K students and their parents to visit Kindergarten classrooms. Additionally, Pre-K classes may visit the Kindergarten classrooms towards the end of the year. Crossroads support staff are available to answer questions from Pre-K care-givers regarding Crossroads's Kindergarten program by calling 651-767-8540. 

For students and families moving to the next school in their pathway, we support the transition by: 

● Counselors from both schools support 5^th grade with Transition to Middle School lessons in May. 

● Montessori students prepare during 5^th grade year, for moving to Middle Schools, including non-Montessori environments. 

● Virtual tours are provided for all students transitioning to Middle School; specifically to Washington Secondary, and Humboldt Secondary complexes.

Family Partnerships

Our school-parent compact 

establishes the shared 

responsibility for student success between the school, families, and students. Families and teachers work together to develop the compact.

Copies of the compact are available: 

● Parents/guardians can access an online version on the school’s website, crossroads.spps.org, and upon request in the Main Office 

● At Fall Parent conferences where they are given and reviewed with families by their child’s teacher. 

● On the bulletin board outside the office.

The compact will be updated: 

● In the fall, compacts were displayed at Title I night and families were encouraged to provide feedback. 

● Every spring families and staff are invited to participate in updating the home school compact through the Family Engagement & Partnership committee.

There are many opportunities for families to build connections to the school and to each other. 

We work to make these meetings and events available for every family in the school.

● October 14, 2025 we have our Title I Annual Meeting. At this meeting, the school shares information about Title I, its implementation at our school, its requirements, and opportunities for family engagement. 

● Family nights which focus on increasing parents’ awareness of academic programs, supporting academics at home, and celebrating student successes. 

● National African American Parent Involvement Day (NAAPID) occurs in February 9th,  2026. 

● Parent-Teacher Conferences held in the Fall, November 5 (evening), 6 (evening) & 7 (day) and in Spring, April 1 (evening), April 2(evening) & April 3 (day). This affords the opportunity for families and teachers to communicate about their child’s growth and successes academically and socially emotionally. 

● Volunteering at the school in classrooms, attending field trips, and at other special events and performances.

● Interpreters are available for Parent-Teacher Conferences and special education due-process meetings. We have bilingual staff on site to support Karen for families and students. Due to the wide range of languages, Crossroads is unable to have bilingual staff on site to support all families. Therefore, we utilize district identified interpreters to connect with families when we know they need language support. We also utilize district-translated materials to communicate information with families along with interpreter connection cards for families to use.

● In 2025-2026 we will continue to refine our outreach efforts for those families for whom English is not the primary language. The number of students and families of English language learners is growing and we are working to develop consistent resources to be able to meet their communication needs. 

● Childcare, food and transportation is offered for in-person family meetings. 

● Meetings and conferences are offered in person or via Google Meet to support attendance and eliminate barriers of attendance. 

● Transportation is available for parent conferences in November and April. 

● In the parent newsletter, emailed every other week on Mondays to families, there is a paragraph offering translations for written documents and interpreters for all events, as needed. 

● Families are invited to events throughout the school year planned by the family engagement committee.

Our school supports families as advocates and provides opportunities for parent leadership.

● There are several ways that parents/guardians can ask for help with their child’s learning. First contact should be made with the child’s teacher. The teacher can help answer questions about the academic concerns, or refer the family to other services. The parents/guardians can also contact the school Principal or main office to be directed to support staff. 

● Families are essential to the planning for school improvement and family engagement. Families participate in the development of the School Continuous Improvement Plan, the Family/School Compact, and the Family Engagement Plan through the Family Engagement & Partnership Team, and in person events. 

● Parents are often asked to answer questions, add to discussions, and complete surveys online to give voice and input on school decisions. 

● Teachers communicate with families through class newsletters, Seesaw, Class Dojo, Schoology, Google Meets, Google Voice and student Gmail to let families know how they can work with their children at home to support their academic growth.