Starting Strong

Building trusting relationships with families is foundational to effective bryt practice. This is an interactive workshop designed to support bryt staff—and other school-based staff—in applying a mindset of parent accompaniment beginning with families’ earliest contact in the bryt room. The workshop opens with an overview of accompaniment as a foundation for trust and its relevance to bryt family engagement work. Participants will explore how adopting an accompaniment mindset—one that centers relationships, honors the humanity of both parents and bryt staff, and prioritizes parent consent and choice—can help establish and sustain genuine partnerships with parents and caregivers. This introductory section also introduces the Engagement Menu and models how it can be used to identify parents’ needs, hopes, and preferences for communication while their student is in the bryt room, as well as the types of resources and supports that may be most helpful to them. In the practice portion of the workshop, participants will engage in structured role plays using the Engagement Menu. Working in small groups, bryt staff will practice accompaniment-aligned approaches to walking parents through conversations using the Engagement Menu. This hands-on section provides opportunities to build confidence, receive feedback, and experiment with different engagement approaches in a supportive learning environment. The workshop concludes with a large-group discussion focused on reflection and application. Participants will share insights from the role plays and discuss how the Engagement Menu can be intentionally integrated into existing bryt family engagement practices. Together, the group will identify practical next steps for using the Engagement Menu to support sustained family engagement over time. By the end of the workshop, bryt staff will leave with a clearer understanding of accompaniment, increased comfort using the Engagement Menu, and concrete ideas for establishing strong family partnerships from the earliest stages of bryt engagement. Objectives: 1. Participants will be able to describe the three core components of the accompaniment mindset and explain how they support the development of trusting relationships with bryt parents. 2. Participants will apply the Engagement Menu in practice by walking through and role-playing early conversations with bryt parents. 3. Participants will reflect on and identify effective strategies for integrating the Engagement Menu into early parent conversations within the bryt room.

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