Trust Is Not Soft. It’s Infrastructure. I have spent enough time in American public education to know that we are not short on diagnoses—we are short on the willingness to treat the root cause like an emergency. Chronic absenteeism. Teacher attrition. Declining family trust in public schools. Every superintendent I know can recite these numbers: nearly one in four students missing enough school […]
From “Taco Night” to Transformation – How Home Visits Ignite Deep Learning and Community Connection This week, I came across a research brief from Towson University’s Maryland Center for Community Schools that stopped me in my tracks. Titled “What Does the Community School Classroom Look Like? A Systematic Literature Review of Teaching and Learning in […]
Our Annual Impact: Celebrating Progress Amid Change We’re pleased to share the results of our annual network-wide census, highlighting the impact and reach of Parent Teacher Home Visits during the 2024-25 school year. This year’s data tells a nuanced story—one of resilience, strategic growth, and the enduring commitment of educators and families to build meaningful […]
When Schools Change, Families Must Come Along Change is a given in education. Over my career, which began in the classroom many moons ago, I’ve seen—again and again—how the best-intentioned changes in schools can create chaos when families aren’t brought along for the journey. I learned the hard way that even a joyful innovation can […]
Strengthening Schools with Home Visits: Key Insights from Parent Teacher Home Visits Week 2025 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XEfZMSJGuEA This week, as educators and families across the nation celebrate Parent Teacher Home Visits Week, we hosted a powerful webinar showcasing how authentic relationships through home visits can transform schools and support student success. The conversation brought together practitioners, researchers, […]
From Grassroots Growth to District-Wide Investment: How Cajon Valley Built a Sustainable Home Visit Culture Ten years ago, we started something that would fundamentally change how our district connects with families. Today, when schools reach out to us asking for their entire staff to be trained in home visits—not because we’re pushing it, but because […]
Building Trust When Trust Is Hard to Come By: Home Visits at the Judy Centers in Prince George’s County When people ask me about our home visit program at the Judy Centers, I have to be transparent. We’ve hit a temporary pause. Lately, families have been reluctant to have visits in the home due to […]
From Hesitant Hellos to Lasting Trust: How Home Visits Changed My Teaching Career When I first stepped into a student’s home as a kindergarten teacher years ago, I had no idea I was embarking on a journey that would fundamentally change how I understood education. Today, as the district coordinator for Parent Teacher Home Visits […]
The Power of Allies in Family Engagement Leadership Family engagement leaders know that their work cannot succeed in isolation. Building authentic partnerships with families requires shifting long-held narratives, removing systemic barriers, and creating spaces where every voice matters. But just as important as the message we carry is who stands beside us as we carry […]
What We All Can Learn About Mindsets, Trust, and the First Call Home Yesterday, our family experienced something that left my heart unsettled—and brought back memories of why I’ve spent my career at Parent Teacher Home Visits fighting for trusting, affirming relationships between families and schools. My grandson started middle school this week. He is […]
PTHV advances student success and school improvement by leveraging relationships, research, and a national network of partners to advance evidence-based practices in relational home visits within a comprehensive family engagement strategy.
PTHV is a nonprofit grassroots network that must raise its operating budget every year. Like the local home visit projects we help, our network is sustained by collaboration.
