District family-engagement staff updated the School Committee Thursday on a suite of programs aimed at increasing outreach to families before children reach kindergarten and on expanded supports for multilingual families.

Laura Fragomeni, preschool and partnership coordinator, and Lauren Berry, family and student engagement and English-learner coordinator, described ongoing work that includes playgroups, caregiver cafés with translation services, partnerships with community organizations (Kestrel Land Trust, Smith College museum programs) and a home-visiting curriculum (Parent Child Plus). The district said these programs are designed to improve preschool-to-kindergarten transitions and to connect families to child-care and nutrition resources.

Language access: Berry summarized recent steps to streamline language access: creating flags in the student information system to track families’ needs for interpretation or translation and improving staff training on ParentSquare and other district-wide communication tools so caregivers receive information in their preferred language.

Key next steps: The district said it will begin year-long outreach for 2026 kindergarten registration, including open houses, daytime tours and tabling at community events, and will invite committee members to participate in a January registration event. Fragomeni said the district is also piloting trauma-informed and evidence-based parent-engagement professional development (Braun or touchpoint-style programs) and will continue to develop collaborations with public-health and social-service partners.

Why it matters: Committee members said stronger, earlier outreach can help families access programs and supports and can improve kindergarten placement and continuity of services for children who have received early-intervention supports.

The district said a recording of an extended presentation will be posted online and that the team will follow up with materials showing how families can request translation and language supports.