Executive Summary
The 2024–2025 school year was defined by a purposeful and strategic focus on nurturing strong, lasting relationships within our engaged and diverse community. These connections are the cornerstone of our philosophy within the Department of Collaborative Communities. They enable us to launch new initiatives, align partnerships and collaboration efforts across district departments, and most importantly, build trust needed to lead meaningful work. At the heart of our work lies a singular goal: to deepen our impact and broaden our reach in support of every student in Fort Bend ISD.
We successfully extended our footprint in the community through department key priorities and saw increased engagement across many of our programs and initiatives while adding new opportunities for community engagement. The team assessed challenges as they emerged and responded with timely adjustments to maximize opportunities for collecting key metrics. While many data points were successfully captured to demonstrate impact, certain circumstances limited full data collection. Of notable importance is the following:
223,900 volunteer hours were contributed, as reported by District campuses and volunteers.
44,562 opportunities* were provided to students to receive basic needs (e.g., clothing, shoes, toiletries, etc.).
19,154 school supply kits were distributed to students.
6,500 opportunities were provided to students through the exemplary partnership initiative across 11 campuses.
2,672 family courses and/or engagement opportunities were offered at Title I campuses.
1,454+ families supported through food insecurity efforts coordinated with community collaborators.
1,306 students received mentoring services through department tracking and community partnerships.
588 children received gift and food items through Shared Dreams Holiday Cheer initiative.
3 new school names were established for the consolidation of two campuses and one new campus.
1 attendance boundary established for the opening of an elementary campus.
Building strong connections through relationships, partnerships, and programs allows the department to align with the District’s mission and vision, ensuring our students are propelled toward academic success. As we look towards the future, we strongly invite the community to help us align our efforts and scale out our collective impact. We are better together.
This End-of-Year Impact Report offers a comprehensive overview of the key outcomes and measurable progress achieved throughout the year, highlighting the tangible ways our efforts have supported both student success and community engagement. In addition, the report details the path forward as we look towards the upcoming school year.
*Students may have received more than one opportunity.
Key Priorities
Collaborative Communities has key priority areas designed to align programmatic initiatives and community engagement efforts with the broader goals of the District. These priorities include:
01
Involve community members and students through a collaborative process to provide input and inform District decision-making.
Solution-focused initiatives that address the needs or gaps experienced by our students, families, or District and grounded in data to inform outcomes.
Family Engagement
Cultivate partnerships between the District and families by providing resources and connection opportunities to enhance student learning, attendance, behavior, and graduation rates.
02
04 03 Community Engagement & Impact Initiatives
Exemplary Partnerships
A sustainable partnership between the District, community partner(s) and campus(es) that focuses on the creation of a resource room to address access gaps experienced by students.
Mentoring
Provide dedicated opportunities to students through a focus on socialemotional connection, literacy, peerto-peer, and educational enrichment supports.
Key Priorities Framework
Community Engagement & Impact Initiatives
• Shared Dreams Program
• Food Insecurity
• School Supplies Deployment
• Attendance Boundaries
• Faith Network
• School Naming Committee
• School Boundary Advisory Committee
Exemplary Partnerships
• Faith Partners
• Business Partners
• Community Partners
• Parent and Family Educators
• Volunteers in Public Schools
• Student Leadership Family Engagement
• Parent Organizations Mentoring
• Faith Partners
• Business Partners
• Community Partners
• Community Members
• Students
• District Staff
Student Achievement and Success
The department also prioritized partnerships and collaborations aimed at strengthening community connections to better support students, staff, and families, as detailed further in the report.
Community Engagement & Impact Initiatives
Engagement Tools
Stakeholder Groups
Shared Dreams
Food Insecurity Initiatives
School Supplies Deployment
School Attendance Boundaries
Community Engagement & Impact Initiatives
PRIMARY AIMS
Engaging key stakeholders and the broader community is essential to the district’s efforts to share priorities, gather input, inform decision-making, and build support for student success.
To that end, the Collaborative Communities department implemented targeted community impact initiatives, working in partnership with local organizations to enhance the well-being of students and families and create lasting, positive change.
The following section outlines how the department fostered meaningful collaboration through community engagement and impact initiatives that aligned with the district’s mission.
PROGRESS UPDATE & IMPACT
Collaborative Communities expanded its outreach by launching tools that provided multiple ways for the community to engage with the District including a district-wide central application for stakeholder engagement, a District Partnership form, and guest speaker database. In addition, the department led and facilitated stakeholder engagement groups to engage in key District topics. The following provides an update on progress and key impact by topic area.
ENGAGEMENT TOOLS
CENTRAL APPLICATION
Provides an equitable and streamlined way for the community to use one application to submit their interest to participate on a variety of District committees/stakeholder groups. This year, the platform was used to align stakeholders for five committees:
Calendar
District Parent Advisory Committee (DPAC)
School Boundary Advisory Committee (SBAC)
Special Education Task Force
Superintendent Parent Advisory Committee
DISTRICT PARTNERSHIPS
Organizations interested in partnering with the District complete a Partnership Interest Form to propose activities or resources that are of no cost to the District or students. Collaborative Communities works with internal departments and external organizations to evaluate the desired level of partnership (donation, event sponsorship, or the implementation of program District-wide) and the feasibility to sustain the no-cost relationship. The department engaged with several businesses and formalized agreements with four new partners:
Big Brothers Big Sisters
Sandy Hook Promise
Texas A&M AgriLife
Varsity Tutors
CAREER/GUEST SPEAKER DATABASE
This database was created to help build a pool of interested guest speakers to be shared with campuses as needs arise for Career Days and other activities.
STAKEHOLDER GROUPS
FAITH NETWORK
The Faith Network was established to unite local faith-based organizations with the District in a shared mission and vision—working together to uplift and support our students and campuses through meaningful collaboration and community partnership. This year, the following faith groups were recognized based upon their support of students and campuses.
BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir
Christ Church of Sugar Land
Ismaili Jamatkhana and Center
Maktab Tarighat Oveyssi Shahmaghsoudi
Second Baptist Church
Sugar Land Methodist Church
SCHOOL BOUNDARY ADVISORY COMMITTEE
In accordance with Policy FC (Local), the inaugural School Boundary Advisory Committee (SBAC) was established this year to support the development of one attendance boundary (see the Attendance Boundaries section for details). The committee included two representatives and one alternate from each of the District’s 12 feeder patterns, serving in an advisory capacity to Administration on proposed boundary recommendations. Collectively, SBAC members volunteered a total of 148.5 hours of their time.
SCHOOL NAMING COMMITTEE
In alignment with Policy CW (Local), Collaborative Communities facilitated three Naming Committee meetings to name the consolidated elementary campuses—Mission Glen/Mission Bend and Blue Ridge/Briargate—as well as Middle School 16. The process incorporated community input through name nominations, committee review of vetted submissions, and final recommendations presented to the Board for approval. The newly named campuses are:
Allen Aldridge, Jr. Elementary School
Amy Coleman Middle School
Mission Elementary School
PATH FORWARD: Collaborative Communities will continue to leverage key stakeholder groups to provide information on how they can engage with the District, share key district information, and seek input to help inform decisions. In addition, the department will seek out new partnerships to provide additional supports and/experiences to propel students for academic success.
SHARED DREAMS
Approximately 50% of District families experience financial and other hardships. The Shared Dreams Program was created over 35 years ago to provide basic everyday items to students in need of temporary assistance. The goal of this program is to reduce stressors that students and families experience by addressing these barriers to allow students to focus on daily school activities. This year, the Shared Dreams Program accomplished the following outcomes.
Secured $489,710 via in-kind and monetary donations; increasing support by approximately 28% from the prior school year.
Provided 44,562 opportunities* for students to receive basic need items (e.g., clothing, shoes, toiletries, etc.); increasing opportunities by approximately 23% from the prior school year.
Supported 588 children and their families through the Holiday Cheer initiative, focused on providing gift and food items to designated families during the winter break.
*Students may have received more than one opportunity.
PATH FORWARD: Under the Shared Dreams Program, our commitment remains steadfast: to uplift and support students by meeting their most basic needs. As we look ahead, we envision expanding our reach by continuing to build meaningful partnerships within the community. Understanding that student needs are increasing and barriers to funding and staffing exist, we will need to think innovatively about additional philanthropic funding streams and support. Ultimately, we would like to serve more individuals—ensuring that no student goes without the essentials they need to thrive academically.
Student Leadership 102 - Shared Dreams
FOOD INSECURITY INITIATIVES
Collaborative Communities addresses food insecurity through community support and partnership development to help District families and students access healthy food and nutrition education. The following collaborations have allowed the department to address food insecurity.
BRIGHTER BITES PROGRAM
Over 192,800 pounds of food were provided to 1,484 District families during the school year through Brighter Bites; a local non-profit District partner who brings fresh produce and nutrition education to designated campuses for a 16-week period during the school year.
Seven elementary campuses participated in this initiative during the school year.
Three targeted and/or community-wide food distributions were held at two elementary schools and Shared Dreams to address food insecurity during the summer months.
OTHER FOOD INSECURITY PROJECTS
The department continued to leverage community support, notably partnering with the Ismaili Jamatkhana and Center and ABC13 through the Share Your Holidays initiative, which yielded over six pallets of non-perishable food for District students and families.
PATH FORWARD: Collaborative Communities plans to further engage with partners and the community to collaborate on and create new initiatives that provide support to campuses and individual students. Our goal is to expand the partnership with the Brighter Bites Program to at least one new campus in the 20252026 school year. State and national funding plays a vital role in this endeavor, and the department will aim to work creatively with partners to ensure students can continue to be supported.
SCHOOL SUPPLIES DEPLOYMENT
Collaborative Communities leverages community donations (both monetary and in-kind) as well as grant funds to provide school supplies for students. While support may not look the same each year, the team successfully leveraged Title I funds and other grant funding to coordinate the distribution of school supplies. Community and local business support combined with Title I funding allowed the department to provide 19,154 school supplies kits to students during the 2024-2025 school year.
PATH FORWARD: The department aims to secure additional external funding to continue the support of thousands of students and equip them with school supplies at the start of the school year.
SCHOOL ATTENDANCE BOUNDARIES
School attendance boundaries exist to provide structure for educational pathways through consideration of the unique student needs on each campus to help ensure equitable, effective, and efficient use of facilities. Policy FC(Local) guides the boundary planning process.
During the 2024–25 school year, the department led a successful Request for Proposal process and secured Board of Trustees approval to engage with a District boundary planner. This collaboration resulted in the development and approval of a new attendance boundary change process for Ferndell Henry Elementary School, aimed at relieving overcrowding at Heritage Rose by reassigning students to a new elementary campus beginning in Fall 2025.
Additionally, the department launched a district-wide, three-year long-range boundary plan and timeline to balance enrollment and ensure more efficient use of district facilities.
Planning Blueprint
Stakeholder engagement is vital to the process!
PATH FORWARD: The department will launch the Year 1 portfolio of work for the long-range boundary plan, focusing on a comprehensive review of all highly utilized campuses. A top priority is addressing overcrowding at Neill Elementary, which is currently under cap and overflow measures. Additional key objectives include establishing an attendance boundary for Amy Coleman Middle School and collaborating with the boundary planner, SBAC, and the community to develop, refine, and finalize boundary recommendations for approval by the Board of Trustees.
Exemplary Partnerships 02
Exemplary Partnerships
PRIMARY AIM
The primary aim of an exemplary partnership is to support a feeder pattern with continued resources to help address the “access gap” experienced by many of our students by establishing a resource room on campus to provide students with necessary and basic everyday items, including food, toiletries, clothing, shoes, and school supplies.
PROGRESS UPDATE & IMPACT
Collaborative Communities launched one new exemplary partnership room in the 2024-2025 school year; thus, providing support to 11 total rooms across the District. Nearly 6,500 opportunities for students have been recorded by partner campuses.
Our department also partnered with the Organizational Development Department to engage with the Student Leadership 102 cohort. While traditionally exemplary partners have been faith-based entities or community partners, the department launched an innovative approach to engage students in this initiative (“for students by students”). Furthermore, we were successful in receiving a $20,000 grant from the Fort Bend Education Foundation to leverage this idea and ensure that Student Leadership 102 could implement a soft launch for a resource room in the Dulles feeder and further expand as a District exemplary partner in the upcoming school year.
PATH FORWARD: For the 2025-2026 school year, the goal includes expansion of the partnership with Student Leadership 102 into the Dulles feeder pattern while providing continued support to existing exemplary partner rooms. Data will continue to be collected and analyzed on the rooms to determine future expansion efforts in the subsequent academic school year.
Family Engagement 03
Family Engagement
PRIMARY AIM
Family and community engagement is about partnerships to support student learning. This year the focus has been to streamline efforts to provide information to families that is tied learning to build parent/guardian capacity to support their student’s academic success at home. This includes informing families of state academic standards and testing requirements as well as sharing District/school resources, processes, and how to get engaged with Fort Bend ISD.
PROGRESS UPDATE & IMPACT
The department engaged in a formal program evaluation process of the Title I family engagement to help assess its effectiveness and inform key learnings for future decision-making. In addition, the following outcomes were achieved in partnership with Parent/ Family & Community Educators at Title I campuses.
Provided support, capacity-building, and training to 25 Parent/Family & Community Educators to ensure meaningful engagement opportunities were provided to District families.
Collaborated cross-departmentally to develop training/courses that can be used to inform parents/families regarding District processes, procedures, and engagement opportunities.
Mentoring supports at 18 Title I campuses supporting 306 students.
Offered a total of 2,672 engagement opportunities on Title I campuses with 35,793 counts of participation from parents/guardians.*
*Parents/guardians may have participated in more than one event or engagement opportunity.
The department also engaged different family engagement stakeholders under the Collaborative Communities umbrella. The following is one example of a group the department has engaged with this year.
Volunteers in Public Schools (VIPS): The department consistently provided valuable support and guidance to VIPS, helping to develop effective strategies for volunteer recruitment bringing guest speakers to provide clarity on many District topics and ensuring accurate documentation of volunteer hours— recognizing the essential role volunteers play in enriching our schools and communities.
PATH FORWARD: Collaborative Communities aims to enhance and align family engagement efforts to support families and increase involvement across the District. Internal coordination will play an important part in streamlining initiatives, communication, and support more District families.
Mentoring 04
Mentoring
PRIMARY AIM
The District mentoring program has been rebranded as the UPLIFT Mentor Program to articulate a clear and focused mission of encouraging, supporting, and inspiring students. The new name was developed through input from mentors and mentor liaisons.
The UPLIFT Program offers students and the community the opportunity to engage to provide social emotional learning, academic supports, and/or language learning activities to assist students in being successful. The program includes three different mentoring models:
District to student
Community to student
Peer-to-Peer
PROGRESS UPDATE & IMPACT
Due to strategic prioritization in leading mentoring program efforts on behalf of the District and capturing metrics directly from campus mentor programs, overall the UPLIFT Mentor program has grown to 1,306 mentees in participation from the prior school year.
Additional metrics and descriptions include the following:
District Mentoring: 19 District employees served as mentors across elementary, middle, and high schools, fostering the growth and development of students across the District. Together, they have dedicated over 190 hours to mentoring, providing literacy, social-emotional, and/or goal-setting support in collaboration with campus staff.
Community Mentoring: Trained community members are matched with a student where mentors spend time reading, other academic related activity, and/or guiding students with opportunities to propel academic success. A total of 128 community members mentored students across 29 elementary and secondary campuses.
Peer-to-Peer: student-to-student mentoring offers mutually beneficial learning and growth opportunity, with mentees receiving student led support with guidance from a teacher sponsor, while upper-classmen mentors develop lifelong leadership skills. In the District, it was reported that, 83 middle students were mentored by their upper-classmen peers, while 696 elementary and middle school students received guidance and academic support from high school students through the Peer Assistance and Leadership (PALs) program.
PATH FORWARD: This year, the UPLIFT Mentor Program saw an increase in the total number of mentors supporting students across the District. To build on this progress, Collaborative Communities will focus on expanding mentor participation by leveraging existing relationships, engaging new community partners, and building relationships with campus leaders to support recruitment. These strategies will help deepen the program’s reach and impact – reflecting the spirit of UPLIFT and its mission to encourage, support, and inspire every student through meaningful mentorship.
Additional Highlights
Adopt-A-Classroom
Camp Allen
Children’s Museum
City of Sugar Land
Typhoon Texas
Tokyo Fest
Additional Highlights
ADOPT-A-CLASSROOM
Awarded over $70,000 in grants to support newcomer students with targeted materials across multiple campuses.
CHILDREN’S MUSEUM
Hosted 12 Family Nights featuring engaging learning activities, pizza and drinks, and family passes—an estimated value of $136,950.
TYPHOON TEXAS
Contributed over $2 million in in-kind student ticket donations.
The department implemented several community engagement and partnership initiatives to enhance support for campuses, students, and families. These efforts included collaborations with the following organizations:
CAMP ALLEN
Provided a field trip opportunity for 90 Gifted & Talented students from Dulles and Sartartia Middle Schools.
CITY OF SUGAR LAND
Donated 370 tickets for staff and students to attend musical performances and sporting events as a token of appreciation for their dedication.
TOKYO FEST
Offered more than 130 festival tickets, valued at $3,325.
Closing
Collaborative Communities leveraged teamwork and a focus on key deliverables to expand our impact across the community. By fostering strong relationships, strategic partnerships, and meaningful programs, we equipped our students for success and kept their needs at the heart of everything we do. As we look future impact and continued success, we warmly invite the community to engage with us and join in our efforts.
We are better together.
Department of Collaborative Communities
Payal Pandit Talati, MPH
Executive Director
Lydia ChavezGarcia, MBA Director
2024–2025
STAFF AND ROLES
Bobbie Anderson, MHRD Assistant Director
Reba Cook Executive Assistant
Jodi Rider Coordinator, Engagement and Planning
Erik Dumantay, MSSW Coordinator
Nykyta Rainer Clerk II, Shared Dreams
Thank You!
TO OUR PARTNERS AND SUPPORTERS
We are deeply grateful to our District partners, community members, and volunteers for your unwavering support this year. Your dedication has made a meaningful impact across our community, our schools, and most importantly, our students. Thank you for all that you do!
Academy
AdoptAClassroom.org
Adtalem Strategic Workforce Solutions
Alings Chinese Bistro
All Things Love Event Planning
Alpha Kappa Alpha
Amazon
Anchor Construction
Angels with a Mission APEX
Arby’s
Bahama Buck’s
Baker Hughes
BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir-Stafford
Bayou Heights Bier Garten
Best Bet Roofing
BJ’s Brewhouse Restaurant
Blackbaud Giving Fund
Blue Ridge Landfill
Bounce Bounce Trampoline Park
Braeswood Place Homeowners Association
Brave Church
Brazos Valley Schools Credit Union
Briarchase Missionary Baptist Church
Brighter Bites
Cabo Bob’s
Campus Booster Clubs
Campus PTO/PTA
Center Court Pizza & Brew ChampionX
CHI St. Luke’s Health Sugar Land Hospital
Chick-fil-A
Children’s Museum Houston
Chuy’s
City of Sugar Land
City Rise Church
Code Ninjas
Corelli’s Italian Cafe
Costco Wholesale
CYCLE Houston
DAFgiving360
Domino’s Pizza
DonorsChoose
Dunkin’ Donuts
Equitable Advisors
EY Technologies
F50
Face Foundrié
FBISD Communications Department
FBISD Executive Leadership Team
FBISD Extended Learning Department
FBISD Human Resources Department
FBISD Organizational Development Department
FBISD Social Emotional Learning Department
FBISD Teaching & Learning Department
FBISD Textbook Warehouse
First Colony Church of Christ
First Watch
Fort Bend American Federation of Teachers
Fort Bend Education Foundation
Frazier & Frazier Attorneys at Law
Friends of the Ridge
Garden Bros Nuclear Circus
Goldfish Swim School
Grand Canyon University
Grand Parkway Baptist Church
Greater Harvest Church
Green City Recycler
Grimaldi’s Pizzeria
Gringo’s Mexican Kitchen
Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center
Guz Vaeza RE/MAX Fine Properties
Half Price Books
Harvest Methodist Church
H-E-B
Houston ISD
Hunters Glen IV Homeowners Association
Imperial Lofts
In-N-Out Burger
Ismaili Jamatkhana and Center-Sugar Land
J2 Transportation
Japaneiro’s
Jason’s Deli
Jeremiah’s Italian Ice
Jersey Mike’s Subs
Junior Achievement
Kendra Scott
Kingdom Life Worship Center
Kroger
Lakeshore Learning
Lakewood Church
Lamar University
Lazy Dog Restaurant
Lee Family Orthodontics
Lemke Orthodontics
Literacy Now
Live Oak Grill
Lopez Mexican Restaurant
Los Gallitos Mexican Cafe
Los Tios Mexican Restaurant
M.E. Crochet
Mann Eye Institute
Marco’s Pizza
Mathnasium
Mayor’s Youth Commission Missouri City
McAlister’s Deli
McDonald’s
MD Anderson Cancer Center
Memorial Hermann
Messina Hof Harvest Green Winery & Kitchen
Micheaux’s Southern Cuisine
Mo City Fitness and Sports
Muslim Parent Teacher Organization
National Youth Tobacco Survey
New Hope Lutheran Church
Next Level Urgent Care
Nothing Bundt Cakes
P.F. Chang’s
Panda Express
Pappas Restaurants
Parkway United Methodist Church
Pepperoni’s Pizza
Pizza Patron
Prairie View A&M Delta Alpha Sigma Corporation
Prime Hydration
Prince Hall Freemasonry Attentive Ear Lodge
#350
Quail Run CIA & FB Houston Super
Neighborhood-41
Queen V Events & Services
Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers
Raven Mechanical, LP
Reverb
River Pointe Church
Rotary Club of Sugar Land
Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories
Second Baptist Church-South Campus
Sewa International
Shipley Do-Nuts
Sienna Women’s League
Sonic Drive-In
Sons of Hiram - Houston
Splashway Waterpark
Spring Creek Barbeque
St. John’s United Methodist Church
St. Laurence Catholic Church Knights of Columbus
St. Philip Missionary Baptist Church
Star Cinema Grill
Strawbridge Studios, Inc.
Sugar Grove Church
Sugar Land Methodist Church
Texas A & M AgriLife Extension-Fort Bend County
Texas Roadhouse, Inc.
The Education Station
The Jay Cafe
The Sugar Mamas
The Walraven Company
The Woman’s Club of Missouri City
Thiink Smart Taxes
Tokyo X
Top Flight
Torchy’s Tacos
Typhoon Texas
USAA
We Cann Foundation
We Rock the Spectrum Sugar Land
Wellbeing T50 Fitness
Whataburger
Word of Restoration International Church