Research has shown that family and community involvement in education is linked to healthy child development and to children's academic and social success in school. Family participation can also enhance adult personal development and empowerment, aid community problem-solving through collaboration, and advance the prospects for a more democratic and equitable society. Despite all these benefits, many American public schools (including most surban schools) allow social class barriers to inhibit good relationships with the families and communities they serve. Both U.S. and Western European educators are aware that improved connections are needed to reduce the high levels of academic and social failure among poor urban children. This paper describes a Schools Reaching Out project at two elementary schools in Boston and New York City that attempts to address these problems. Based on the research of James Comer, Joyce Epstein, Vire Bronfenbrenner, Paul Seeley, and the author's previous studies in Boston, Portugal, and Liverpool, the project: has established a parent center in each school, features activities to increase the family's "cultural capital," stresses parent involvement in decision-making at school, and fosters teacher-generated guidance and materials for home instruction by parents. Various concerns about attitudes and organizational change realities are addressed, and a research agenda focused on success for all children, teacher development, and community-parent contributions to school change is outlined. (MLH)