Community partnerships

We build community partnerships to support underserved families’ ability to navigate K-12 systems and advocate for their children through new tools and resources

This work supports families in making the best decision for their child, and supports stronger family-school relationships and stronger schools.

Tools & resources

We create and curate tools, resources, and information that supports families as strong partners and advocates in their children's education.

And we work closely with community organizations to get these resources into the hands of families at the highest-leverage time each year, and support them in making the most of the information. Explore some of our tools and resources:

Minneapolis School Finder

Parents: Find your best-fit school.

How to pick a school

A guide to help walk you through the school choice process, including things to look for and questions to ask when choosing a school.

Readiness Check
A gut check for K-8 families to know if their student is on grade level.

MPS board elections voter guide
Candidates have different priorities, visions, and ideas—it’s our job to get plugged in!

Schools That Work.
Stories of relevant learning, from families and educators.

Grade Level Guides

MN Standards aligned family guides to help parents know what their child should be learning each year in Math and ELA.

We're always looking for additional resources and tools that help families navigate K-12 systems (reach out to Rosie Lais at rlais@greatmnschools.org with any recommendations or ideas). Stay tuned for more!

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Community partners

We provide funding and support to 10 community organizations to support the families they serve in making K-12 educational decisions and advocating for themselves within the school system.

Together, 3,500 families are accessing direct support in navigating K-12 education, such as finding a best-fit school, determining if their children are on grade-level, best communicating with their children's teacher.

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We believe every student deserves a learning experience that meets their needs. And we support parents in making informed enrollment decisions, advocating for their children, and benefiting from an accurate picture of their children’s achievement and development.

If you’d like to learn more about our tools and resource or community partnerships, connect with our director of community partnerships, Osman Ahmed: oahmed@greatmnschools.org.

“Minneapolis School Finder has great information that's useful for parents when choosing the best school to meet their children's needs. Through our training – in Spanish – with Great MN Schools, families learned how to use the unique tool. Parents are eager to continue learning as much as they can to support their children; they know schools, too, play an important role.”
- Maria Padilla, Centro Tyrone Guzman