During the autumn of 2024, the Newton Education Support Network (NESN) and the New England Chinese American Alliance (NECAA) jointly organized the School Family Education Forum, held at the Greater Boston Chinese Cultural Association (GBCCA) Hall in Newton on November 1.
The keynote speaker was Dr. Anping Shen, a member of the Newton School Committee. Joining him were Dr. Anna Nolin, the Superintendent of Newton Public Schools, and Mr. Yanshen Xu Lucki, the NPS Assistant Director of the English Language Learning Program, who facilitated English translation for parents who communicated primarily in Chinese.
The forum was simultaneously broadcast live online, bring total attendance to approximately 60 participants in person or online.
Dr. Nolin opened the event by outlining the primary tasks for Newton Public Schools for the 2024-2025 school year. She addressed questions from concerned parents on various topics, including how to strengthen high school courses, incorporate appropriate LGBTQ-related content in lower-grade teaching, enhance literacy and mathematics programs, and improve teaching quality, especially for high school students.
Following Dr. Nolin’s presentation, Dr. Shen delivered a talk titled Communication, Support, Engagement—Thriving for All. He focused on fostering collaboration between families and schools to ensure a high-quality, holistic education for every child.
His discussion encompassed the public school curriculum, home-school communication, and extracurricular activities, emphasizing the importance of holistic development for children and encouraging concerned/needy families to actively engage in both school and community educational activities for the benefits of a whole education for a whole child.
After Dr. Shen’s presentation, attendees enjoyed over an hour of interactive dialogue. Originally planned for two hours, the forum extended to three hours due to the enthusiastic discussions. Many parents expressed gratitude for the candid exchanges with Dr. Nolin and Dr. Shen, and they hoped for similar events in the future, particularly for newly immigrant families.
NESN leaders described the organizations’ brief history and the community activities in which it has engaged.
In conclusion, Dr. Shen remarked that the event was a success and thanked all members of the NESN and NECAA teams, as well as the participating parents, for their warm support, constant assistance, and active engagement.
Shelly Zhang is board chair of the Newton Education Support Network (NESN).
