Student & Community Engagement
There is a large body of evidence linking student engagement to academic success and increased self esteem. Student engagement is multi-faceted, characterized by behavioral, emotional and cognitive engagement. Family and community engagement are also shown to increase student engagement and achievement. Our Student Services team strives to support student and community engagement in a variety of ways, including those listed below.
Attendance
There is a strong correlation between regular attendance and student success. Missing just two days a month can put a student’s success in jeopardy because they fall behind and begin to disconnect. We offer consultation and coaching support to our districts focused on addressing the root causes of chronic absenteeism. Our student and community engagement specialist offers a suite of services including data and reporting support, coaching for school and district attendance teams, and resources to increase effective communication between schools and families about the importance of regular attendance.
School Climate
A positive school climate is critically related to student engagement and success. It can improve attendance, achievement and even graduation rates. We offer professional learning opportunities to help staff improve school climate from multiple angles, such as strengthening trauma-informed practices, using culturally responsive pedagogy, interrupting bias and developing partnerships with parents. We offer training to staff across school communities, including front-office employees, bus drivers, classroom assistants, teachers and administrators.
Community Engagement Technical Support
We are here to support districts with their community engagement efforts in a variety of ways. We build districts' capacity to solicit community input, as well as directly facilitate input/feedback opportunities such as focus groups, empathy interviews and surveys. We provide data collection, analysis and reporting services to help districts use the important information gathered from their community. We also provide translation and interpretation services for districts as a way to support two-way, ongoing communication with families and the community.
McKinney-Vento Liaison Support
Our crisis prevention and response specialist works collaboratively with partners from the Clackamas County Housing & Community Development to support the McKinney-Vento liaisons in each of our 10 districts. The McKinney-Vento Act is federal legislation that ensures the educational rights and protections of children and youth experiencing homelessness. The liaisons in each district work to help students and families experiencing homelessness access resources and remove barriers so they can continue to attend school.
Program Contacts
Teaching & Learning News
A sold-out AI Empowered EDU 2025 brings together educators from across the region
On May 13, educators from across the region gathered for the second annual AI Empowered EDU conference, a sold-out event dedicated to exploring the evolving role of artificial intelligence in education. Co-hosted by Clackamas ESD, Multnomah ESD, Northwest Regional ESD and the University of Portland, the conference grew [...]
Staff spotlight: Lori MacKenzie, math specialist
The first full week of May is designated as Licensed Employee Appreciation Week. At Clackamas ESD alone, we have at least 20 types of licensed jobs, with many variations in those positions. These are people who have completed higher education and earned licenses to be certified to teach students, lead continuing education training for staff, serve as [...]
Staff spotlight: Diana Jimenez, preschool specialist
The first full week of March is designated as Classified Employee Appreciation Week. At Clackamas ESD alone, we have more than 60 types of classified jobs. These are people who touch every corner of our agency’s work and the districts we support, from providing hands-on help to teachers, children and families, to [...]
