Ari Gerzon-Kessler is author of On The Same Team: Bringing Educators & Underrepresented Families Together, which won the Independent Publishers Book Awards 2024 IPPY Gold Medal for outstanding education book. He is a speaker, trainer, and coach working with schools and districts committed to forging stronger school-family partnerships. Ari also leads the Family Partnerships department for the Boulder Valley School District (CO).    Ari has been an educator since 2000, having served as a principal and bilingual teacher. His leadership efforts to strengthen partnerships with underrepresented families and dismantle unjust practices was featured in Education Week in 2015. Ari regularly presents at national and international conferences on Families and Educators Together (FET) teams and other innovative family partnership best practices. He received his bachelor’s in African American Studies from Wesleyan University and a master’s in instruction and curriculum from the University of Colorado.       Show Highlights   Shifts that translate into higher learning with family access opportunities.  Centering family voices in educational decision-making to improve student learning. 3 minute activities to skip challenges due to time constraints on initiatives. Challenge the status quo in the ways that we engage with families. Same Team Bringing Educators and Underrepresented Families together, to redesign education. Small pockets of time that expose staff to best practices that increase choice. Supportive spaces that increase value because leaders don't provide guidance.        “And the heart of the FET( Family and Educators Together) teams is creating the kind of space where everyone feels like their voice is deeply valued and that we're co-creating transformational change so that we're designing a school for everyone, not just based on what's worked in the past. It's composed of educators and the school leader. And that's a pivotal piece.” -Ari Gerzon-Kessler   Get the episode transcript here!!   Ari’s Resources & Contact Info:   The Families and Educators Together Project — Mediators Foundation Ari's School-Family Partnerships Resources to Support Your Next Steps Linkedin Facebook Solution Tree link for book and free reproducibles: On the Same Team |    Read my latest book! Learn why the ABCs of powerful professional development™ work – Grow your skills by integrating more Authenticity, Belonging, and Challenge into your life and leadership.   Read Mastermind: Unlocking Talent Within Every School Leader today! Apply to the Mastermind The mastermind is changing the landscape of professional development for school leaders. 100% of our members agree that the mastermind is the #1 way they grow their leadership skills. Apply to the mastermind today!   How We Serve Leaders   The School Leadership Scorecard™ Identify your highest leverage areas for growth this year in 10 -minutes or less.    https://betterleadersbetterschools.com/scorecard   Month-to-Month Principal Checklist As a principal with so much to do, you might be thinking, where do I even start?   When you download The Principal Checklist you’ll get 12-months of general tasks that every campus need to do Space to write your campus specific items. Space to reflect and not what worked as well as a space of what didn’t work Go to https://betterleadersbetterschools.com/principal-checklist to download now.   Ruckus Maker Mindset Tool™ The “secret” to peak performance is ot complicated.  It’s a plan on how to optimize the five fundamentals found in The Ruckus Maker Mindset Tool™. https://betterleadersbetterschools.com/mindset   The Positive Spotlight Tool™ Energy flows to where attention goes! If you want to get more of what you want, when you want it as a school leader I have a tool for you…   Download The Positive Spo