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District
  1. About UPSD
  2. Racial Equity Initiative
  3. Parent & Community Partnerships

Parent & Community Partnerships

REI: Parent & Community Partnerships

To better serve all students in University Place School District, we hope to continue dialogue and increase communication between parents, students and district staff.

Because UPSD staff, like most school districts, is predominantly white, we hope to create avenues for productive conversation with communities of color and listen carefully to these stakeholders about their experiences and aspirations.  We also hope to find sources of expertise and guidance to help us in areas where we lack expertise on matters of race and racism. 

We have received extensive feedback over the last several years from students, alumni, parents, staff and community members.  We continue to engage with those who are reaching out and learn from their stories, hopes, concerns and ideas.  A key source of information to help us better serve all students is the students themselves.  We continue to provide formal and informal opportunities for our students to talk with us about how they experience our schools and what we can do to improve these experiences. 

  • Partnership with outside organizations & regional experts
    We are committed to establishing and maintaining partnerships with outside sources of expertise to guide us in our work. This includes equity experts like Erin Jones, higher education faculty at the Race and Pedagogy Institute at UPS and the Equity Literacy Institute. These individuals and groups have expertise in African American studies and other matters of equity and diversity that can help us do the right work to support our students and families of color.

    Partnership with Parents & Students
    Parents and students are also key partners in the work of promoting equity. UPSD staff and leadership will continue to create opportunities to collect feedback and ideas from diverse stakeholders- including parents and students. Student groups include the Black Student Union, Asia Pacific Union and Cultures United clubs at CHS and the Black Student Union club at CJH.  These groups and others are working with staff to share experiences and viewpoints. Parent input is also welcomed via formal and informal channels.  Other groups creating avenues for parent input include the Native American Education Program and our long-standing At Promise Program at UPP and NVI. 

  • Maintain open lines of communication with parents to ensure that students and parents have a way to tell us what they think on a regular basis.

    Implement systems to collect input and feedback from students and parents as we implement elements of our racial equity initiative.