Keeping it Real in Family Partnership

Keeping it Real in Family Partnership is a storytelling project that hopes to inspire conversations about how Cambridge out-of-school time practicioners and families from diverse cultural backgrounds partner to best support our children. Stories highlight promising practices and explore the experiences of families and OST practicioners. Each story is paired with a set of guiding questions to help you go deeper in reflecting on how families and OST practicioners can create more meaningful partnerships.

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Building Empathy

"I want staff members that are working with my kids to be as real with me as possible. As far as mothers or fathers or both, I just know them. It is so familiar. I have been in their situation so many times."

Building Dialogue

"I don't think there is any single way you can be in touch with a family without really knowing who that youth is... We try to be intentional about making phone calls once a month. To create a space for dialogue."
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Showing Them that They Matter

"Building trust with families and being culturally proficient, run hand-in-hand."

Celebrating Families

"One thing we're trying to push with this age group is parents becoming friends with each other. We do family nights. Just getting to know people as people and not just as parents or caregivers."

Showing us 
What they Know

 "For us, it was just really exciting and fun to be in the garden... mingling with other parents, seeing all the kids working together as teams and showing us what they knew." 

Creating a Welcoming Culture

"I attended Cambridge Community Center when I was a kid, I hung out here. They are always very welcoming, always a sense of family and, you know, they make you feel like your the neighbor next door. I love it here."

For questions about the project or to share a story of family partnership, please send an email to: [email protected]