Kennewick Action Team for Partnerships receive awards

Kennewick teachers at Lincoln Elementary School wanted to visit the homes of their students, but weren’t sure what to expect, and didn’t want to make the students’ families uncomfortable.

The school’s Action Team for Partnerships (ATP) followed a school bus home to a neighborhood of about 40 students last spring.

Creating stronger connections between schools and families is the chief purpose of an ATP. Staff at Lincoln, Washington, and Vista elementary schools and Park Middle School were recently awarded Partnership Awards by the National Network of Partnership Schools for their exemplary work.

It’s the seventh year the district and at least two schools have earned awards. The organization is based at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Md.

The groups at Lincoln and Washington Elementary received $500 cash awards to go toward their efforts in the coming school year. District officials recently presented the awards to each school.

District officials plan to begin new ATPs at several schools during the 2016-17 school year.

This story was originally published October 28, 2016 at 8:56 PM with the headline "Kennewick Action Team for Partnerships receive awards."