Joseph Corbie, director of the Fletcher-Maynard community school in Cambridge, MA shares about his experience keeping it real and building empathy with parents. Empathy, he explains, is the corner stone of making parents feel welcome and is key to overcoming challenges related to family disengagement: "I try to come from a place of encouragement, whether that person was there yesterday, was there from day one with this child or just got there. I try to say, I'm happy to see you or its good to meet you."

Guiding Questions

• What does it sound like to "come from a place of encouragement" when you can tell that things are hard for the families you work with?
• How do you contribute to creating a compassionate environment for your families?
• What are the strategies you use to build meaningful relationships with families?

Our Takeaway

• Building empathy means knowing families and having real conversations with them, coming from a place of positivity and encouragement - and when the program director models that engagement and approach towards parenting and parents, families can feel the difference throughout the program.