Families In Schools

10/08/2026

What does a day in the life of an LAUSD principal look like? FIS got a firsthand look during the Los Angeles Unified School District’s 2026 Principal for a Day! 🏫

FIS’s Executive Vice President Azucena Hernandez joined Brentwood Elementary Science Magnet, and Vice President of Programs Olga Corona De La Cruz visited the Sherman Oaks Center for Enriched Studies, partnering with these schools’ principals to visit classrooms to see students actively learning and help lead parent meetings.

Our biggest takeaway? Strong schools are built through strong partnerships between educators, families, and communities. A huge thank you to both schools for welcoming us and to LAUSD for bringing us together!

Engage LAUSD

10/05/2026

Celebrate the freedom to read during this year’s Banned Books Week from October 4-10! 📖

Americans have marked Banned Books Week for over 40 years. Unfortunately, efforts to ban books are on the rise—not just at public libraries but in schools as well.

At FIS, we believe that every child deserves to feel safe, seen, and supported and to have books that reflect diverse families and identities. In 2025, according to the American Library Association, nearly 4 out of every 10 challenged books featured content related to people of color and LGBTQ+ people.

We invite you to honor in 2026 with your child by reading some of these examples of children’s books that have faced ban attempts.

10/02/2026

Happy Latino Heritage Month to all the families, educators, community members, and partners we work with every day so that students can achieve success in school and in life! 🥳

To celebrate, several of our friends from the Read LA! Coalition picked out their favorite children's books by Latino authors that you can enjoy with your child. 📚 Waterford.org, Ready, Set, Read, Los Angeles Education Partnership

Join us in honoring the rich and diverse cultural heritage, contributions, and stories across our Latino communities! 🧡
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¡Feliz Mes de la Herencia Latina a todas las familias, educadores, miembros de la comunidad y aliados con quienes trabajamos cada día para que nuestros estudiantes puedan tener éxito en la escuela y en la vida! 🥳

Para celebrar, algunos de nuestros amigos de la Coalición ¡Leamos LA! compartieron sus libros infantiles favoritos escritos por autores latinos que pueden disfrutar en familia. 📚 Waterford.org, Ready, Set, Read, Los Angeles Education Partnership

¡Acompáñanos a celebrar la riqueza cultural, las contribuciones y las historias que representan la diversidad de las comunidades latinas! 🧡

09/30/2026

Join us tomorrow for a FREE webinar unpacking California's historic TK-12 governance reform with the California Education Promise Alliance, Children Now, Policy Analysis for California Education, EdTrust-West, Para Los Niños, and Families In Schools!

Brooks Allen from the Governor’s Office, Lupita Cortez Alcalá from PACE, Ted Lempert from Children Now, and Yolie Flores from Families In Schools will discuss what this reform means for the future of public education in California and how parents, family engagement professionals, education leaders, and advocates can help shape this reform’s implementation.

📅 Tomorrow, October 1, 2026
🕛 3-4:30 pm PST
Don’t miss out—register today: bit.ly/caedgovreset

09/29/2026

The Read LA! Bookmobile visited families in Boyle Heights to celebrate the start of the fall season with brand-new books for each child in the preschool and early childhood program! 🍁🚗📚

FIS partnered with the Weingart East Los Angeles YMCA to bring the Read LA! Bookmobile and our Read LA! Storytime program to parents, caregivers, and their young children. A special shout-out to Literacy Ambassador Jovanna, who read to the kids!

By visiting schools, parks, community centers, and neighborhoods across LA County, the Read LA! Bookmobile is working to make sure every child has access to books at home, supporting them to build stronger language and literacy skills.

Thank you to the YMCA for welcoming us and to all the families for joining and supporting your children’s literacy development every day! 💙

09/29/2026

09/25/2026

Books are good for you, too! 🏥 📚

At Kaiser Permanente’s East LA Health Fair, we shared free books and early literacy resources with families and health care workers because reading is an important part of how children grow, learn, and thrive.

Reading together is a healthy habit from the very beginning! The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends that parents and caregivers read with their children beginning at birth and through kindergarten. At Read LA!, we help make that practice possible by bringing books directly into communities and giving families tools to build strong early literacy skills from birth.

Thank you to all the families who stopped by and to the doctors, nurses, and health care workers who help keep Los Angeles families healthy every day! 🧡 📖 ✨

09/24/2026

📣 Literacy legislation milestone alert: the READ Act has passed in the U.S. House of Representatives! 🎉

This bipartisan legislation—supported by Families In Schools, the National Parents Union, and more than 120 parent organizations, literacy and dyslexia advocates, and national education organizations—will modernize the federal government’s largest literacy grant program and make evidence-based literacy instruction the expectation for states receiving federal literacy funding.

The READ Act now heads to the U.S. Senate. Tell your Senator to vote yes so that every child has the opportunity to become a confident, successful reader!

09/23/2026

What does CA’s historic TK–12 governance reform mean for students, families, educators, and communities—and what happens next?

Next week, join the California Education Promise Alliance, Children Now, Policy Analysis for California Education, EdTrust-West, Para Los Niños, and Families In Schools for a free webinar where Brooks Allen, Lupita Cortez Alcalá, Ted Lempert, and Yolie Flores will have a timely conversation about the new governance structure, the implementation timeline, and the opportunities and challenges ahead.

📅 Thursday, October 1, 2026
🕛 3-4:30 pm PST
🔗 Register to attend: bit.ly/caedgovreset

09/22/2026

“As my child begins middle school, I want him to know that I love him, support him, and believe he can achieve anything he sets his mind to.” — Edison Middle School parent

FIS’s Training & Capacity Building team recently partnered with School2Home to lead a workshop for parents and caregivers at Thomas A. Edison Middle School in South LA focused on supporting children in the transition from elementary to middle school.

Thank you to all who joined us and shared their questions, experiences, and hopes for their children as they begin this next stage of their education. 💙