ABSTRACT
Schools need parents who are amazing, strong advocates for their children. This is foundational to excellent parent partnerships, but the key for growing a powerful parent partnership is being someone who advocates for not only their kid, but for all the kids in the building. Too often collective groups of parents attempting to hold their school community accountable approach the work without bringing all of the ideas together. Schools that are growing need partners and resources. Parents who are powerful partners work together with schools to find ways to access their personal networks to support the school. Being an educator doesn't mean that the parent knows all of the school's answers, but it can be helpful to add parents who are also educators to these networked groups that are attempting to hold school communities accountable. Educators who are also parents can help break through the education language barrier and decode school for parents trying to understand and support.
