Helping schools
partner with families
to build a future where all children thrive.

Evidence-based family engagement and social-emotional learning

In partnership with school districts and Head Starts, we work to build a more impactful early education experience — one that centers race and culture, engages parents as partners, and supports children's social-emotional well-being – to help unlock the full promise of early childhood education.

Professional Development

supports school staff to form strong, culturally responsive relationships with families and promote children’s social-emotional well-being.

Parenting Program

Parenting Program supports families to promote children’s early learning and development. In a warm, predictable space, parents build community and explore evidence-based ways to support children's development -- with a focus on families' autonomy, race, culture and expertise.

Friends School

Friends School, a classroom-based curriculum, supports children to build foundational social-emotional learning skills. Children learn to navigate strong feelings, develop a positive sense of self (including cultural identity), build healthy relationships, and have fun!

Proven Outcomes

Rigorous studies show that
ParentCorps leads to:

50% lower risk
of mental health problems

44% reduction
in chronic absenteeism

24% lower risk
of reading below grade level

ParentCorps Professional
Development leads to:

Improved
home-school connection

Increased
trust between parents and teachers

Commitment to Racial Equity

In working with families, we aim to interrupt harmful patterns of outsiders telling people of color how to parent, and to honor families' culture and expertise.

In working with educators, we aim to bring race and racism into the conversation to support authentic relationships with families.

In partnering with system leaders, we aim to address entrenched inequities for Black and brown children.

Lastly, we’re dedicated to ongoing learning and deepening these commitments to racial equity - in our work and ourselves.

“If you remember Maya Angelou, it’s like, at the end of the day, people won’t remember what you did, they won’t remember what you said, but they’ll remember how you made them feel… What I got out of that experience [of ParentCorps’ Parenting Program] was how it made me feel… It really just kind of reaffirmed that in our humanity that we could have fun and have joy and build relationships with our own children and build relationships with each other as adults.”

Tom Sheppard, Parent

“My favorite experience is witnessing how the parents bonded and supported each other during and after the sessions. They provided encouraging words, resources and ideas that worked for them in difficult situations. To me, this meant that they felt safe to be vulnerable and they seemed to find comfort in the fact that they were not parenting alone and had someone to listen to and share their experiences with.”

Mary Woods-Miles, Family Engagement Specialist, Starfish Family Services, Detroit