The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore ways African American families, with middle school students, view learning mathematics and engagement within a theme school environment. The participants in this study included nine parents and ten students at an urban Title I theme school. The data collection process included two focus group interviews, nineteen semi-structured individual interviews, journal entries from each participant and 15 documents disseminated to parents from the school and from the district. Three themes emerged from the data: (a) the parents’ understanding/confusion about the “new math” and the effects on parent engagement with mathematics, (b) the strong mathematical identities of the participants, and (c) the broader engagement from three major communities: the theme school community, the “village” community, and the home community which further promotes mathematical engagement
