The Story

Education reform efforts in Los Angeles received support in 1994 from the national Annenberg Challenge, which awarded a $53 million grant to the Los Angeles Annenberg Metropolitan Project (LAAMP) to support Los Angeles County public schools. A key to the LAAMP component was the Parents as Learning Partners (PLP) initiative, supported by a $4.9 million grant from the Weingart Foundation. PLP focused on promoting achievement through school-family partnerships in the Los Angeles and Long Beach school districts, engaging three “school families” comprised of 45 neighborhood schools.

The findings, documented through rigorous research, encouraged LAAMP’s Board of Governors to create a legacy organization whose purpose would be to seek family engagement as a critical component of education reform. Families In Schools was created in 2000 deeply rooted in a history of school reform for increasing student outcomes, especially for students from low-income and communities of color.