Parent Engagement Task Force Meeting
Monday, November 13 2006
 Welcome & Introductions
After welcome and introductions, Vickie Ramos gave a brief introduction about BHLC parent initiatives, including recent programming, and updates on the Sunrise Elementary site for the new middle school on the east side. Each member then gave a brief overview of their organization’s community initiatives.
Boyle Heights Learning Collaborative
BHLC Parent Engagement Initiatives equip parents across the Roosevelt School Family with tools, strategies, and networks that help them serve as strong advocates for their children, and work together to mobilize around critical educational issues. Parent programs work to facilitate authentic parent engagement by empowering parents to understand their roles and rights as they navigate through the educational system. BHLC targets the difficult transition periods students face as they enter kindergarten, middle and high school, as well as the critical education policy issues that greatly affect Boyle Heights students.
www.bhlc.net.
Campaign for College Opportunity.
“The Campaign for College Opportunity is a nonprofit 501 (c) (3) organization solely devoted to ensuring that the next generation of college-age students in California has the chance to go to college as promised by the state 1960 Master Plan for Higher Education.”
www.collegecampaign.org/, www.nuestrofuturo.com (Spanish website)
Proyecto Pastoral
Proyecto is running at full capacity and currently has a waiting list for the after school and pre-school programs. Proyecto supports community organizing through the Comunidad en Movimiento program (CEM). www.proyectopastoral.org/prog-CEM.htm , and support struggling families through the Guadalupe Homeless project, http://www.proyectopastoral.org/prog-GHP.htm
Benjamin Franklin Library
In addition to providing literature to the community, the library works to gather resources for families to help support learning for children and adults. In order to help more children access to books, teachers can coordinate class trips to the library, and the library can issue library cards to children even if their parents do not accompany them. If children visit the library on their own, they will be required to have their parent fill out a library card application. Library staff is interested in working with schools to bring resources to schools, and host visits to the local libraries and would thus like to build stronger ties to the schools in the Roosevelt School Family.
Informal Needs Assessment
The group reviewed the possibilities in utilizing the task force to collaborate in order to augment the work we all do to improve education, strengthen community, and connect families to their “Go To” resources in Boyle Heights. Task force members began an informal needs assessment of our collective work with Boyle Heights families. The needs assessment led to the following preliminary planning.
Road to College Initiative
Michele Siqueiros provided information on the “Road to College” initiative, working to reach families (parents in particular), to bring about more awareness for college opportunities for our youth. This Campaign for College Opportunity initiative would provide a small grant for hosting an event that will to bring the Road to College effort to Boyle Heights. This event could potentially be supported by La Opinion.
The task force brainstormed about how and where this event could take place, deciding to collaborate with BHLC’s Transition to Middle School (TMS) programs in the Spring, targeting parents of 5th grade students. This event would potentially be coordinated at either Hollenbeck or Stevenson middle school during the “middle school visit” of the BHLC program, and serve as the culmination event of the TMS program. In addition to the middle school visit coordinated through the program, a representative from Campaign for College Opportunity could give a presentation, or lead an activity that gives parents more information about their child’s road to college. Fifth grade parents participating in the TMS program would also receive their program completion certificates. Although this event would be organized through a program geared towards 5th grade parents, hosting this on a middle school campus would also enable middle school parents to attend as well.
In addition, the task force would add a college & community resource fair to conclude the event. BHLC partners would have tables at the fair, and help to recruit other resources in the community to participate as well. The group also discussed the possibilities for hosting a voter registration drive, and a library card registration drive at this event.
Supporting Family School Events
Another idea we worked with is having BHLC partner with Benjamin Franklin Library in supporting Breed Street ES “Family Literacy Night” on November 28, 2006. In addition, BHLC will outreach to the Roosevelt School Family to inquire about when schools will host family school events during the rest of the school year, and coordinate BHLC Parent Engagement Task force involvement whenever possible.
Save Me a Spot In College Initiative
The task force will also work on supporting “Save Me a Spot In College,” www.collegecampaign.org/contest led by the Campaign for College Opportunity. BHLC will help the Campaign spread scholarship contest information to our partners and task force members, as well as to help distribute information at parent trainings led by BHLC, BHLC partners, and schools whenever possible. BHLC will distribute the contest information at the next series of “ELL Tools for Parents,” that will commence at the end of January 2007. The Campaign will distribute contest information and materials to all task force members.
Youth Ambassador’s Training
The Campaign for College Opportunity will host a Youth Ambassador’s Training in South LA and in Boyle Heights. This training will work to train middle and high school students to serve as local ambassadors in promoting access to college for students in Boyle Heights. The 3 hour training will take place in on either January 13th or 20th , and will be hosted at either BHLC Learning Center, or Benjamin Franklin Library.
Library Resources
Lisa Palombi brought fliers for the resources available to parents. In addition, she will also find out more about the “Smart Student” program held at the local libraries to help with SAT prep.
Next Steps
The PE task force members will outreach the partners that each organization currently collaborates with to build a strong task force base, and allow the group to tap into the resources and events that already exist in the Boyle Heights community. Through this collaboration, BHLC can work to develop a list of resources that can be managed through the BHLC website.
The next meeting has been schedule for Monday, January 22 – 3pm at the BHLC Learning Center.
BHLC Parent Engagement Task force
November 1, 2006 – 3pm
Agenda
I. Welcome and Introductions
II. Review of BHLC Parent Initiatives
– Programs
– Sunrise Elementary as top choice for next middle school on the east side
III. Review of Parent Engagement Task force
– Exploring the possibilities via collaboration
IV. Task force Needs Assessment
– What do we offer to Boyle Heights families? (services, resources, etc.)
– Where is your work targeted?(e.g. schools, areas)
– What do we need to reach our long & short terms goals in supporting BH families?
– What policy issues is your organization working to impact?
– Outreach needs and successful methods.
– Go-To resources – What organizations do you work with or refer families to?
– Plans for expansion
V. Next steps
– In what ways can we collaborate to augment each other’s work?
– What policy issues would you like to address through this collaboration?
– What current and upcoming activities, programs, and policy initiatives can we tap into to help us better coordinate our work?
– What other ways can we coordinate with school calendars?
V. Meeting schedule
– January, March, May
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