A group of kids paint on canvas boards while a teacher looks on

Children painted as part of Family Art Experience Night at Elsmere Head Start. Photo courtesy Brianna Blauvelt

My name is Brianna Blauvelt, and I am a site manager at Elsmere Head Start (Northern Kentucky Community Action Commission).

As a site manager, incorporating Family Friendly practices is crucial to the success of our program. When I began my journey as a Head Start teacher, the importance of collaborating with families was evident. Becoming the site manager meant incorporating the diversity of each family to create a welcoming and supportive culture within our school. Valuing the diverse backgrounds and strengths of our families has been fundamental in building partnerships. Head Start focuses on the whole child, which makes families a foundational part of their development and growth. Working with families, we can see the perspectives of everyone to ensure that we support and encourage them to reach their highest potential.

As we prepared to apply for our Family Friendly Certification, we first recruited families and staff to be a part of our Family Friendly team. Each member of the team completed a family partnership training. Moving forward, evidence of achieved attributes was gathered. Head Start’s core values are built on family partnership. Working and collaborating with families is essential to the success of our program. Gathering evidence of our family friendly environment involved acknowledging key principles that are embedded in each of our Head Start locations in Northern Kentucky. Incapsulating the impactful work our teachers and families put into the lives of the children was meaningful, as we brought to light the great work done. Collaborating with staff and families was essential to capture the full scope of the Family Friendly work. Documentation of our family friendly practices was collected and organized before beginning the application process. The application process included explaining and describing how the following attributes were met: relationship building, communications, shared responsibility and families as advocates.

Under relationship building, how we have created and maintained creating a welcoming environment was described. Evidence also focused on asset or strength-based relationships and how we utilized this approach when working with families. The aspect of communication included how our families engage in diverse roles. Interactive partnerships with families are perspectives that are used by our Head Start programs to promote overall better outcomes for children and families. Shared responsibility within our program focuses on linking our families to learning in and outside of the home. Data collected through the application process involves taking a collaborative approach to partnering with families. Families as advocates sustained through effective partnerships within our program.

Some pieces of evidence of Family Friendly practices mentioned above included pictures from family events, policies implemented, and statements from staff and families themselves. Once the Family Friendly application was submitted, we awaited feedback from the Prichard Committee reviewer.

Family Friendly core beliefs include that families have the capacity to support their children’s learning, they want what is best for them and that families and staff are equal partners in achieving these goals. There are numerous aspects of the Family Friendly framework that align with Head Start beliefs. Head Start’s goals can be summarized to children’s early learning, health and overall family well-being. Head Start supports early learning through consistent and direct communication with families; meeting with them to create school readiness goals and providing them with tools to help their child achieve the goals whether it be additional visual support, take-home activities, or providing hands-on learning opportunities. In addition to early learning, Head Start helps support children and families by assisting them maintain their child’s health, providing health and developmental screenings, connecting families with medical, dental and mental health services, as well as providing consistent, nutritious meals. Head Start works with every family to create a family goal, something they wish to achieve as a family and connects them to any necessary resource.

As we look back on our journey to achieving the Family Friendly certification, we can build and grow on the fundamental principles that Head Start is built upon. Acknowledging the importance of collaboration and partnerships with families impacts our whole program. Through this process, we have determined our strengths and identified goals to focus on within our programs. We look forward to continuing Family Friendly practices and achieving gold level in future.

Each year, the Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence awards Family Friendly Schools Certification to a group of schools and early care centers. The group at Elsmere Head Start and 53 others earned the certification in 2024. For more details on Family Friendly Schools Certification, visit the Prichard Committee’s family engagement website.