Exploring Elements of Community Networks - Family and Community Engagement Strategy Project as an Innovative Multi-Agency Partnership

Oct 15, 2026

Grounded in the success of the Welcome to KindergartenTM initiative, the Learning Partnership launched the Family and Community Engagement Strategy (FACES) pilot in Cornwall, Durham, and Sudbury, Ontario. Funded by the Ontario Trillium Foundation, the project aimed to build a coordinated community-based model and expand school-readiness opportunities for all children. An evaluation component assessed progress and impact across communities using a qualitative case-study design, identifying network structure, leadership champions, sustainability, challenges, and innovative features.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages19

Reading Time48 min

AccessFree to download

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EXPLORING ELEMENTS OF COMMUNITY NETWORKS: FAMILY AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT STRATEGY PROJECT AS AN INNOVATIVE MULTI-AGENCY PARTNERSHIP GLENDA L. BLACK Nipissing University MARIA CANTALINI-WILLIAMS Nipissing University ABSTRACT Based on the success of the Welcome to KindergartenTM initiative, The Learning Partnership (TLP), a national advocacy organization for public education, initiated a pilot project called Family and Community Engagement Strategy (FACES), in the three Ontario communities of Cornwall, Durham and Sudbury. The overall goal of the FACES Project, funded by the Ontario Trillium Foundation, was to develop a coordinated community-based model and extend and enrich the Welcome to KindergartenTM, a program to help prepare children for school success. As part of the agreement, TLP was to provide evidence of progress made toward the objective of the grant: to increase and expand opportunities for all children to be ready for school. An evaluation component was included in the project to measure the results and impact on each community. The FACES Project is an example of a community network, as it involves a process of building partnerships among schools and agencies for the benefit of children and their families. A qualitative case-study design was used for the research. Themes that emanated from an analysis of the data across the three sites were: the nature of FACES as a community network, champions as leaders, establishing and sustaining FACES networks, challenging conditions, assessment of the impact, and innovative features of FACES networks. BACKGROUND The Welcome to KindergartenTM program is a strategy that brings together parents/ caregivers, children, and educators for orientation sessions at their local school to prepare children for their first day in the classroom (The Learning Partnership, 2017). Educators receive training and resources from The Learning Partnership (TLP) to host WTK sessions. In the year before the child starts school, parents/caregivers and children are invited to attend one or more WTK sessions. At these sessions, they are provided with aWTK bag that is full with early learning literacy and math resources that they can use at home to help prepare their child for school and learning (The Learning Partnership, 2017) . During the WTK sessions, parents/caregivers and children have an opportunity use the resources and to meet the kindergarten educators, the principal, and community support agencies. The FACES initiative was to foster more responsive and active relationships among community partners. As a development project, FACES involved the three communities and TLPina process of knowledge creation (Bruce & Flynn, 2013; Hannay, Wideman, & Seller, 2010) . Each of the three communities co-created a version of FACES, combining community and educational resources to form multi-agency, integrated services within their context to achieve goals and deliverables as identified in the funding agreement with the Ontario Trillium Foundation. The Learning Partnership hired three coordinators to lead the FACES project in each respective community of Cornwall, Durham, and Sudbury. A steering committee was established Educational Planning 7 Vol. 24, No. 4 with members from various publicly funded and private organizations related to early learning at each of the three FACES sites. Although the dynamics and composition of each community were different, there were similarities in purpose and outcomes. Partners in the FACES projects included: project coordinators, steering committee co-chairs and members, school administrators, teachers, early childhood educators, representatives of various community agencies and parents of children registered in kindergarten. A research team of five Nipissing University faculty members was successful in their application proposal to evaluate the impact of the FACES pilot project. The evaluation process collected data about the perceptions of coordina

FAQs

What is the main purpose of the FACES Project?

To develop a coordinated community-based model that extends and enriches Welcome to KindergartenTM and increases opportunities for children to be ready for school.

How was the FACES pilot evaluated across the three communities?

A qualitative case-study design was used to measure results and impact, collecting data on coordinators, steering committees, partners, educators, and parents.

Why is FACES considered an example of a community network?

It builds partnerships among schools and agencies for the benefit of children and their families, emphasizing trust-based relationships, shared knowledge, and collaborative learning.

Oct 15, 2026

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