1. All families have dreams for their children and want to see them succeed.
2. All families have the capacity to support their children’s learning.
3. When families are equipped with accurate, relevant, and timely information, they are properly positioned to partner to support their children’s learning.
4. Families and school staff should be equal partners with support from the community.
5. The responsibility for building positive productive relationships between school and home rests primarily with the school staff, especially school and county leaders.

The resources provided through Family and Community Engagement will help families and community members as we all work as partners in making all WV students successful.

Since 1983, the Office of Special Education has coordinated the WV Family-Educator Resource Center (PERC) Project. The purpose of the project was to build partnerships between families and educators to ensure that children with disabilities receive the highest educational opportunities and achievement possible. In 1983, we started with 37 counties participating in the project. A family member of a student with a disability and a special education teacher teamed to staff each PERC. Counties continue this work with a few only funding the family coordinator position due to budget constraints. Nonetheless, the need for this work has soared and is more demanding. The family coordinator and teacher coordinator working as a team support families and their students through a number of activities as well as resources, often working with Title I Coordinators and the entire school staff. Today they are known as Family and Community Engagement Centers (FCERC).

County FCERCs (or PERCs) are housed in each county, usually in a centralized, accessible location such as a school, community center, board of education office or library. County Coordinators are trained to work with all families, gather and distribute information, and provide programming and support to families and teachers to enhance their ability to equip all students for academic success.

• Hand In Hand With Special Education; A Guide For Families
• The SAT Process
• IEP and Personalized Ed Plan PEP
• WVABLE Brochure 2018
• WVABLE Handout WVDE 82018
• Surrogate Parent Guide Book

• Online Resources for Families of Students with Exceptionalities
• Online Magazine for Families of Students with Exceptionalities
• 2017 Resource Guide for Families
• WVSingleMothersGrants
• WVACEEC
• WVABLE

WVDE Resources:

• Parent Hand in Hand Booklet
• math4life
• College and Career Readiness

Other Resources:

• National Standards for Family-School Partnerships – National PTA
• Successful Family-School Partnerships
  • Raising awareness about the power of family and community involvement.
  • Taking action to cultivate involvement through specific programs and practices.
  • Celebrating success as your school sees increased involvement and its impact.
• National Standards Implementation Guide
  • PTA’s process for building successful partnerships starts with the National Standards for Family-School Partnerships and consists of three steps:

The WV Legislature sets forth policies that guide the work of WV schools.  These policies are regulations that the WVDE and county school districts must follow.  There are many policies.  We have provided links to the policies that families of students with exceptionalities most often have questions.  Additional policies can be found by using the All WVDE Policies link.

Ginger Huffman
Phone:  Phone: (304) 558-2696
Email:  vhuffman@k12.wv.us