Our Partnership Philosophy
Turning the Page carefully selects its community and school partners, believing that partnerships must be mutually beneficial, drawing on each partners’ strengths for an overall gain. TTP also builds effective relationships with school community members, recognizing that these are the bedrock of a lasting impact. On a daily basis, families and schools can count on TTP to follow through on its commitments, both small and large. At the same time, TTP expects trust and investment in the relationships in return. Principals and teachers must commit to engaging parents and the school community via the TTP model.
School Partners
TTP’s school partners are selected based on their investment in engaging families, the capacity of their staff to support parent leadership and advocacy efforts, and the percentage of families enrolled in the school who are eligible for free breakfast and lunch programs (Over 90% of students at our school partners qualify for these programs). TTP recognizes partners who both have a vision for engaging families and have a need for additional engagement to bridge the communication divide between educators and caregivers.
Community Partners
Turning the Page partners with many DC and Chicago organizations to expand opportunities for families to support their children’s education. Our partnerships with museums, libraries, environmental and community centers provide a crucial link to the vast educational resources available beyond school walls.
Library Partners
Turning the Page is proud to partner with the library systems in both DC and Chicago. We have collaborated with the DCPL who shared TTP content to DC families to encourage summer reading. DCPL representatives have also previously visited with TTP families, providing access to library cards and information about library programming, both during the school-year and summer. Check out our interviews with Joanna Harris, DCPL Teen Services Coordinator; and Shilo Jefferson, the Director of Legler Regional Library in Chicago. We’ve also partnered with DCPL for two Family Room events including an event with Daniel Handler (aka, Lemony Snicket!) in April 2021 and one with Sharon Langley and Amy Nathan in April 2020.
Digital Hub Partners
Turning the Page’s Digital Resource Hub, accessible via phone app or website, features our partners’ educational resources, including our museum and library partners, across subjects such as reading, science, math and social emotional learning. We are also actively including our colleague non-profit organizations and groups in our Digital Hub community, to ensure that the resources that the Hub offers can be accessed by a wider audience of parents and families. Especially for organizations that primarily serve students, the Digital Hub can provide a place for these groups to further strengthen their relationships with parents, as our partners can communicate directly with the parents of students in their programs. The Hub also provides partner organizations with the ability to tap into Turning the Page’s broad array of parent workshops, and its home library project can dramatically increase the resources that it can provide to its students.
Institutional Partners
Throughout our 23 year history, we’ve partnered with various cultural institutions in a variety of ways. We have worked with our partners to provide Summer Learning Experiences for families as well as Family Room events. Recent highlights have included Planet Word who set up dates with free admission for TTP families; the Hillwood Estate, Museum, and Garden who also offered free admission as well as an online art-based Family Room event for TTP families; and the Shedd Aquarium who led a kayak tour of the Chicago River as well as a virtual Penguin Encounter! These partners are additionally featured on our Digital Resource Hub.
Author Partners
TTP hosts Author Visits, where renowned children’s book authors share their inspiration, challenges, and books with families. These authors include Caldecott, Newbery and other award winners. During these visits, parents are able to learn directly from authors and illustrators about the writing and publishing process and about creative ways to inspire children to love books and reading. At the end of each visit, parents receive a signed copy of the book to share at home with their children. Learn more here.
Does your organization want to join our Digital Resource Hub to connect with parents in new ways? Are you a teacher at one of our partner schools that would like to stay connected with parents of your students? Are you an author or illustrator interested in interacting with families? Do you have other ideas for creative partnerships? Send us an email to mail@turningthepage.org to learn more!