Family Engagement Programs

The Family Engagement strategy focuses on the connection between home, school and community. We engage families who have youth enrolled in the Seattle University Youth Initiative (SUYI) mentoring programs and families with early learners.

  1. Center for Community Engagement
  2. Our Youth Initiative (SUYI)
  3. Programs for Local Families
  4. Family Engagement Page

Family Engagement 2023

Family Engagement

The Family Engagement strategy focuses on the connection between home, school and community. We engage families who have youth enrolled in the Seattle University Youth Initiative (SUYI) mentoring programs and families with early learners. We amplify and center family voices in our Redhawk Academic Mentoring Programs at Bailey Gatzert Elementary School and Washington Middle School. We also support Early Learning programming and our Change Makers program.

  • SUYI Family Newsletter
  • Regular communication with families in multiple languages
  • Translated outreach and registration materials

More than half of SUYI's scholars speak more than English at home, requiring all of our work to be multilingual. We have created a pathway of outreach and communication using materials and systems that are easy to read and access for everyone. For example, we communicate with SUYI families through online translation platforms, and we contract with multilingual family leaders to support our outreach and communication.

  • Family art workshops in the Maker Space
  • Collaboration with Seattle University Athletics
  • Community Engaged Learning projects with Seattle University students
  • Quarterly SUYI Family Festivals on campus
  • Supporting community and school events (Yes Fest, Back to School BBQ, Field Day)
  • Weekend family outings (Cirque du Soleil, Sounders)
  • School field trips (school day field trips and experiences, SU's Kids Day, movies on Seattle University campus, 5th grade graduation trip to Islandwood, grade-level outings [for grades preK-8])
  • Classes and workshops hosted by local community members, including art, dance and mindfulness
  • Hosting classes, workshops, field trips and other opportunities guided by families' goals
  • Connections and feedback opportunities with families, teachers, community partners and school staff that inform and contribute to all family engagement programming 
  • Programming designed to include families who are more comfortable with non-English languages

Contact

Family Engagement Manager

Gia Ledesma
206-561-2756