Bringing Schools & Parents Together
"I founded Lead with Presence to share a family engagement model that has transformed relationships between schools and families. This work has helped create meaningful opportunities for parents to connect with their children while building stronger partnerships with schools. Today, my mission is to help schools and districts create welcoming, relationship-centered experiences that go beyond involvement to foster genuine connection—connecting home, school, and heart."
Meet Rose Mary Duménigo
Rose Mary Duménigo is an educator, school leader, and founder of Lead with Presence, an educational consulting organization dedicated to helping schools build meaningful partnerships with families. With more than 30 years in education and over 15 years of developing innovative family engagement programs, she believes that students thrive when the adults in their lives are connected by trust, communication, and shared purpose.
Rose Mary is the Vice Principal and co-founder of Pride Academy Charter School, a high-achieving school that has ranked among New Jersey's top 10 schools for student growth for two consecutive years. Throughout her leadership, she has championed the belief that strong family–school partnerships are essential to student success.
Her innovative approach to family engagement has transformed traditional parent meetings into joyful, relationship-centered experiences where parents connect with their children while strengthening their connection to the school community. Her program was recognized by New Leaders as a 2012 EPIC Silver Gains Award Spotlight Program for its impact on family engagement.
Through Lead with Presence, Rose Mary now partners with schools and districts to help educators create welcoming school communities, increase meaningful parent involvement, and design memorable experiences that foster authentic relationships between families and schools. Her mission is simple: to help schools connect home, school, and heart—because when families feel seen, valued, and connected, students flourish.