An Expanding Sense of Belonging: Family and Community Engagement
Robert Beam • Cahn Fellow 2021
As Vamba Sharif says, “Belonging begins with the belief, the conviction, that you belong to me.” At Newlon, we are exploring how our shared values, TSEAL (Transformational Social Emotional Academic Learning), equity vision and culture of collective efficacy can be expanded and elevated. We hope to foster a deep sense of belonging through a clearly articulated engagement framework that inspires every student, every educator and every family.
Our Cahn journey has meaningfully increased the way our leadership and our educators approach their relationships with students and families. This approach was born in the chaos and confusion of the pandemic, fostered in the love and compassion of our educators as they fought to connect with their students and families during this unique historical time and reimagined as a consequence of our participation in the Cahn Fellowship.
Today our leadership team is poised to bring Vamba Sharif’s profound statement to life by aligning our Newlon school values, an engaging vision for Family and Community Engagement and a deep commitment to belonging to accelerate learning and the social emotional development of every member of our school family.
