Parent Teacher Home Visits

Year Founded: 1998

The Parent Teacher Home Visits (PTHV) model was co-created by parents and educators using the community organizing principles of shared leadership and recognizing the inherent dignity in all people. The success of PTHV relies on training teachers and staff to develop meaningful relationships with families of their students, starting with voluntary home visits. These are short, 30- to 40-minute conversations, in which educators listen, ask questions, and make observations that they can take back to their classrooms to improve instruction for the learner. As a two-visit model, PTHV encourages the initial, ice-breaking visit to occur in the summer or early fall. This first visit focuses on sharing hopes and dreams. It is followed by ongoing communication throughout the year and a second visit that focuses on academics or any other relevant issue to the student or family.

In 1998, parent and community organizers joined forces with educators to pilot a relational home visit model in an effort to counter deeply-held mistrust and disrupt the cycle of blame between home and school. The model was first introduced in eight Sacramento, CA schools. Success and significant media attention fueled rapid growth and an organization was born. In the intervening years, PTHV expanded to more than 700 communities across 28 states and the District of Columbia. In 2022, with the adoption of the Parent Teacher Home Visits by the Saskatchewan School Boards Association, PTHV has blossomed into an international movement.