Helping parents understand how communication, relationships, and decision-making shape a child’s educational experience and how to advocate with clarity instead of fear or frustration.
What if school systems
felt less confusing
and more navigable?
Available | Fall 2026
Free Guide
The Parent Circle
Written by Angelica Allen-McMillan, Ed.D., whose career has spanned nearly every level of New Jersey's public education system—from classroom teacher to Acting Commissioner of Education—providing a perspective few educators have the opportunity to develop and few parents have the opportunity to see.
WHO IS THIS BOOK FOR?
Parents, guardians, caregivers, and trusted adults navigating PK–12 school systems
who want to better understand how schools function, communicate with greater confidence, and advocate thoughtfully for the children they love.
Praise
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“This book offers a roadmap for parents to become confident advocates in a system that can feel intimidating.”
— Johnny Key, Former Arkansas Secretary of Education
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“This book offers parents a clear and respectful way to engage with schools without overstepping the professional environment.”
— Mike LaSusa, Superintendent of Schools
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“Parent advocacy is not a straight line…this book helps you move forward with clarity and confidence.”
— Nana Chabo, M.D., Parent
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"A thoughtful and highly practical guide for families navigating the school system."
— Dr. Clarence C. Hoover III, Retired Superintendent of Schools
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"This book reminded me that I don't have to navigate my child's school experience alone."
— Tashana Taylor, Parent
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"Equips parents to move forward with clarity and confidence."
— Nichelle Gordon-Scott, Ph.D., Educator
INSIDE THE BOOK
Supporting your child begins with seeing school through a new lens.
Dear Teacher, Meet My Child is a practical guide to understanding the relationships, communication, and decision-making that shape a child's school experience. It helps parents build stronger partnerships with schools so they can support their children with greater confidence, steadiness, and care.
What You'll Learn
The book is organized as a guided journey through your child's school years. Each section builds upon the one before it, helping you better understand how schools function, recognize meaningful patterns, respond thoughtfully to concerns, and strengthen your partnership with the educators who support your child along the way.
SECTION I — Entering the Sphere of Care™
Discover how schools function, how communication flows, and how strong relationships become the foundation for meaningful parent-school partnerships.
SECTION II — Strengthening the Sphere of Care™
Learn to notice patterns, better understand your child's daily experiences, and recognize the many factors that influence learning, relationships, and well-being throughout the school day.
SECTION III — Sustaining the Sphere of Care™
Respond to concerns with clarity, advocate thoughtfully, navigate difficult conversations, and remain an anchored presence as your child's needs continue to evolve.
You’ll Walk Away With
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Clarity
Clarity about how school systems actually function. -
Communication Tips
Practical communication strategies for difficult moments. -
Tools
Tools to advocate for your child without losing trust or yourself.
A Lifetime of Seeing the Whole System
Over more than twenty-five years, Angelica Allen-McMillan served at nearly every level of New Jersey's public education system—from classroom teacher and assistant principal to founding principal and chief school administrator, assistant superintendent, superintendent, county superintendent, and acting commissioner of education.
Each role provided a different perspective on how schools function and how the experiences of children, parents, educators, and leaders are shaped by the conditions surrounding them. That breadth of experience gives her a rare ability to explain the educational system with both professional insight and deep understanding of the human experiences within it.
Dear Teacher, Meet My Child grew from those experiences. It is the book she wishes every parent had before questions became concerns, concerns became conflict, and opportunities for partnership were lost.
Passage from the book
“Children rarely experience schools through policies alone. They experience them through relationships, communication, consistency, and the emotional environments created by the adults surrounding them. The Sphere of Care™ is shaped every day through the interactions, responses, and decisions that children quietly absorb long before anyone realizes how deeply those experiences matter.”
For readers of
-
The Anxious Generation
Comparable because: systems-level conversation about children, broad parent audience, culturally relevant, educational implications
Shared DNA:
Helping adults interpret environments affecting children -
Permission to Feel
by Marc Brackett.Comparable because: emotional intelligencel educational environments, human-centered systems, emotionally regulated communication
Shared DNA:
Clarity + emotional steadiness -
Dare to Lead
by Brené BrownComparable because: courageous communication, leadership under pressure, vulnerability + clarity, trust-building
Shared DNA:
Human-centered leadership inside complex systems -
How to Talk So Kids Will Listen & Listen So Kids Will Talk
by Adele Faber and Elaine Mazlish.Comparable because: communication-centered, practical, emotionally grounded, relational over reactive
Shared DNA:
Language matters deeply
This book is for parents who want to:
• understand how schools work
• recognize meaningful patterns
• prepare for school conversations
• strengthen parent-school partnerships
• support their child with confidence
✺ Questions Parents Often Ask ✺
What is Dear Teacher, Meet My Child about?
Dear Teacher, Meet My Child helps parents better understand the relationships, communication, and decision-making that shape a child's school experience. It offers practical guidance for building stronger partnerships with educators so parents can support their children with greater clarity, confidence, and care.
How will this book help me?
Whether your child is entering school for the first time or you're navigating new questions along the way, this book helps you better understand how schools function, recognize meaningful patterns, communicate with confidence, and make thoughtful decisions that support your child.
Is this book only for parents whose children are struggling at school?
Dear Teacher, Meet My Child is written for every parent navigating a child's school journey. Whether your child is thriving, facing new challenges, or entering a new stage of school, the book offers insights that help strengthen understanding, communication, and partnership throughout the years.
Who is Dear Teacher, Meet My Child written for?
Dear Teacher, Meet My Child is written for parents and caregivers of children from preschool through twelfth grade. Whether you're just beginning your family's school journey or navigating new questions along the way, the book offers practical guidance for building strong partnerships with educators and supporting your child's growth.
Why did you write this book?
Throughout my career, I saw parents and educators work toward the same goal: helping children thrive. I wrote Dear Teacher, Meet My Child to make the often unseen dynamics that shape a child's school experience easier to understand, helping parents move forward with greater clarity, confidence, and care.
What makes Dear Teacher, Meet My Child different?
Dear Teacher, Meet My Child draws upon decades of educational leadership to help parents better understand the often unseen dynamics of school life. The book offers a broader framework for building relationships, strengthening communication, and supporting children throughout their school years.
What is the central idea of the book?
Children thrive when the adults in their lives work together. The book explores how relationships, communication, and shared understanding create stronger partnerships between parents and schools, helping children feel supported both at home and in the classroom.
What other books is Dear Teacher, Meet My Child like?
Readers who appreciate thoughtful, relationship-centered books such as The Gift of Failure by Jessica Lahey and How to Talk So Kids Will Listen & Listen So Kids Will Talk by Adele Faber and Elaine Mazlish will recognize a similar spirit of practical guidance and respect for children. Dear Teacher, Meet My Child offers its own perspective by combining decades of educational leadership with a framework that helps parents better understand how schools function and how strong partnerships support children's growth.
Families are navigating school systems during a time of increasing complexity, emotional fatigue, communication strain, and uncertainty.
Parents are seeking clearer guidance, stronger partnership, and practical ways to support children without escalating conflict or losing trust in the process.
At the same time, schools and communities continue searching for healthier ways to strengthen communication, relationships, and shared responsibility around children.
This book arrives at a moment when clarity, steadiness, and thoughtful advocacy are needed more than ever.
WHY NOW?
Free Guide