NORTHWEST
EDUCATION
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FOREST GROVE, Oregon—As the dinner hour wanes, Marcia Andrew-Camacho welcomes parents and their students to her fourth-grade classroom. “How many of you have heard the story of La Llorona?” she asks in Spanish. The question is met with knowing murmurs, nods, and smiles. “La Llorona” or “The Sobbing Woman” is as familiar to Latino adults as Snow White is to Anglo moms and dads raised on Disney movies. And, it’s likely that each person brings to the circle a different version of the folk tale, reflecting where he or she grew up.
The rich oral tradition of Mexican towns and villages is a touchstone for the first of six weekly family literacy nights at Cornelius Elementary School. The small, informal gathering is meant to impart an important lesson: Even though parents may not be formally educated themselves, they still have a lot to teach their offspring. “This shows them that they are the primary model for their children and there is huge value in their life stories,” says Camacho. “The more they interact and tell stories, the more it strengthens the child’s home language.”
Valuing what all parents bring to the educational system is a leitmotif in the Forest Grove School District. Nestled in rolling farmlands some two dozen miles west of Portland, the district covers 225 square miles in four separate towns: Forest Grove, Cornelius, Dilley, and Gales Creek. Forty percent of the students are Hispanic and more than half of all students are eligible for free and reduced-price lunch. However, traditional barriers of language and poverty are challenged by the “pragmatic, sincere belief”—in Superintendent Jack Musser’s words—“that parents are our partners, not our adversaries.” Musser goes on to say, “You have to start with that, and get staff believing that they must involve parents in every aspect of their child’s education.”
Reaching out to parents takes many forms in Forest Grove. Bilingual front office staff members greet families in six of the district’s 11 schools. Most schools conduct parent meetings in Spanish and English or provide devices for simultaneous translation. School bulletin boards and the district Web site prominently feature information in both languages. And, all mailings go out in high-quality translations. As Cornelius Elementary Principal Perla Rodriguez notes, “I wouldn’t insult parents by sending things home in poor English, so why have a different standard in Spanish?” (For more of Rodriguez’s advice on outreach, see Voices.)
Each school also has a volunteer coordinator—in some cases a paid staff member and in others a true volunteer. Public Information Officer Connie Potter oversees the effort districtwide and brings coordinators together each month to talk about recruiting, managing, and recognizing parent and community volunteers. The group pays particular attention to attracting Latino families through literacy nights, family fiestas, participation in strategic planning groups, and meetings that focus on topics from gang awareness to public housing rights.
In building participation, the district has learned some lessons: “Our meetings have taken on more of a social flavor,” says Potter. “Typically we provide snacks or dinner and child care.” Schools are careful not to schedule events that conflict with religious and cultural observances. For example, Latino families were noticeably absent when the high school held a parents’ night on Ash Wednesday.
“Culturally there are differences in how you interact with parents,” interjects Claudia Yakos, the district’s Hispanic outreach director and Potter’s office mate. “Some of our Hispanic parents are well-integrated; some are migrants or new to the system. You have to address them differently until you get them to feel comfortable and able to navigate the system.”
In a study of high-performing Hispanic schools in Texas, Scribner, Young, and Pedroza found three important practices for promoting parent involvement:
For more on the researchers’ findings, see Scribner, J.D., Young, M.D., & Pedroza, A. (1999). Building collaborative relations with parents. In P. Reyes, J.D. Scribner, & A. Paredes-Scribner (Eds.), Lessons from high-performing Hispanic schools. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.
Yakos, whose salary is covered by a three-year grant, deals directly with parents, teachers, counselors, and students. “I try to leverage what works in one school and bring it to other schools,” she says. Part of her work involves forging partnerships with community organizations like Centro Cultural. The center offers adult English classes, driver education, and other skills training in cooperation with Forest Grove High School.
Potter also devotes a lot of attention to nurturing community connections through T.E.A.M. (Together Everyone Achieves More), a program that’s garnered national recognition. As a town best known for producing rutabagas and barbershop quartets, Forest Grove doesn’t have a lot of big corporations to draw on. Instead, Potter has paired 40 small, “homegrown” businesses with teachers in projects that enhance student learning.
Insurance company employees serve as pen pals to elementary school classes, sending e-mails back and forth to hone student writing. A local printing firm turns out handsome softbound books of student drawings and essays. A veterinarian visits middle school science classes to discuss animal care. “The business community has always been supportive with donations and participating in job shadows, but we wanted to get them involved in what’s happening in the classroom,” says Potter.
Going beyond the classroom, the district collaborates with the YMCA and county in operating the Family Resource Center. Located in a former gym on the grounds of the upper elementary school, the center serves some 2,000 families with medical referrals, clothing, or information about where to get free legal advice and mental health counseling. Racks of flyers in Spanish and English line the walls and a walk-in pantry overflows with beef stew, soup, and pasta to supplement meager family diets.
Martha Ochoa has run the place for a decade. Although it’s a school district program, Ochoa says the fact that the center is separate from a particular school helps families feel less stigmatized in asking for help. “I provide support outside of academics so families can meet their needs and kids can stay in school.” As if to illustrate her point, a high school student wanders in: He’s about to become homeless and Ochoa offers sympathetic and practical advice—in Spanish—on how to support himself and continue with his classes. She gives him leads for a part-time job and directs him to an agency that will help with housing.
Across the field from the Family Resource Center, Tom McCall Upper Elementary School is another place where families can easily find useful resources. A bilingual bulletin board at the front entrance posts contact numbers and important information. Monthly Hispanic parent nights bring in community and school experts to talk about adolescent development issues. A family mentoring program, where parents can help each other, is in the planning stages. Assistant Vice Principal Chandra Wilson explains that the school got “creative” with administrative assistance hours last year and created an Hispanic outreach position. In that job Margo Troolines does daily attendance calls and is able to explain to non-English-speaking parents why the school is concerned when a son or daughter doesn’t show up for classes. Teachers also routinely call parents to invite them to conferences and focus group meetings on how the school can be made more accessible to all families.
“All of our teachers know the value of that home-school connection,” says Wilson. “Whenever there’s a conversation with a teacher who’s having trouble with a student, I ask ‘Have you let the parents know?’” Wilson also makes it a point at staff meetings to recognize those who’ve gone the extra mile in making home visits or phone calls.
Sometimes that extra effort can make all the difference. Before sixth-graders are scheduled to go to Outdoor School—a traditional five-day camping trip with a hands-on science curriculum—the middle school hosts a special family evening to explain the program. “We do a lot of work with our Hispanic parents because sending your child away on an extended trip is not a cultural norm,” says Wilson. “Five years ago, before we started having these parent meetings, lots of parents wouldn’t let their kids go. Now, on average, only two or three of our 220 sixth-graders don’t make the trip.”
Forest Grove High School has also learned the value of engaging parents as partners. All parents can check on their student’s progress through Edline, an online program that shows current grades, missing homework, upcoming assignments, and class expectations. According to Principal John O’Neill, “Our last schoolwide survey in November revealed that 96 percent of our students have Internet access at home. This resource is an extra support opportunity for our kids and a way for parents to become directly involved in their child’s education.”
Quarterly Latino parent nights and monthly Latino parent advisory meetings also keep parents in the loop. At the spring forecasting meeting for all parents of incoming freshmen, non-English-speaking family members can take advantage of simultaneous translation headsets. At this year’s meeting, O’Neill extols the benefits of the Edline system and walks parents through a new online program called Naviance that contains information about all of the nation’s colleges and universities. “We’re going to download our data into the system so it shows where your child is in relation to a college’s accepted class,” says O’Neill. It’s never too soon to start thinking about college, O’Neill reminds the crowd, adding that all students should strive to take honors and Advanced Placement classes whenever possible.
Among the child-sized chairs and desks in Marcia Andrew-Camacho’s classroom, the high school journey still looms far in the future. But parents here are getting the message that they play an important role in helping their youngsters achieve success along the way. Blanca Avalos, the mother of three, feels good about her experiences at Forest Grove. “I like coming because everyone welcomes me with a smile,” she confides through a translator. “I feel like it’s my home.”
Forest Grove School District is $1.6 million richer, thanks to its volunteers. That’s the amount it would have cost if the district paid its volunteers salary and benefits during the 2005–2006 school year.
To help volunteers (and school district staff) make the most of that service, Forest Grove has a volunteer handbook posted on its Web site in both Spanish and English. It outlines the goals of the district’s volunteer program as well as its expectations. And, it tells volunteers what their rights are:
The handbook also informs volunteers that their most important qualities are punctuality, dependability, and confidentiality. You can access the complete handbook at www.fgsd.k12.or.us.
Original URL: http://www.nwrel.org/nwedu/12-03/fg/
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