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Post-Election, School Collaborates with Parents to Create Safe Space
My daughter asked if we had papers and if we would be kicked out of the country. My kids say they will leave with me, when we talked about the election. They said, “That man is a bad man because he doesn’t like Hispanics.” [The election results] make me feel unsafe in this country, because …
G is for Gentrification
Breaking Barriers of Race, Class, and Language in Schools In Washington, D.C. and elsewhere, public schools that served predominantly low-income students and students of color are seeing massive demographic shifts as wealthier and more formally educated families are attracted to the school neighborhoods. Gentrification can add to the challenges traditionally marginalized families—namely those from Black, …
D.C. Parent Organizing Featured in 2016 AERA Conference Offsite Visits
April 20, 2016 With the 100th annual American Educational Research Association (AERA) national conference and its theme “Public Scholarship to Educate Diverse Democracies” visiting Washington, D.C. this year, Teaching for Change partnered twice with local researchers and education organizers to give conference attendees a glimpse of the parent organizing and family engagement work happening locally. On Saturday, …
Schools Welcome Parents as Partners with Academic Classroom Visits
Heads turn and whispers fly as a small group of parents quietly file into the back of a second grade classroom in the middle of a reading lesson at LaSalle Backus Education Campus. The poised teacher at the front has already told the young students to expect some special visitors, so it’s easy to refocus …
How Parent Volunteers Inspired a Young Reader
In the 2014-2015 school year, Brian Juarez* was a second grader at Thomson Elementary (DCPS), a fourth-year Tellin’ Stories partner school. He spoke Spanish at home and had already become the interpreter between his parents and his teachers. When there were forms to send home, he filled them out during class with his teacher’s help. Emily Prater, …
Early Steps for a Parent Leader
Teresa Rodriguez is a parent at Teaching for Change partner school LaSalle-Backus Education Campus (DCPS), a school that has seen a rapidly growing Latino population in a historically black community in Northeast D.C. Teresa came to story quilting sessions and parent meetings led by Teaching for Change during the 2014-2015 school year and started to …
Principal Chit Chats Boost School Success
On October 2, 2015, Principal Carmen Shepherd of Thomson Elementary (DCPS) weaved excitedly around the tables in the crowded room, calling on parents at different tables. “Eighty-five percent!” one table responded. “Ninety-nine percent!” exclaimed another. In both English and in Spanish, proud parents aimed high with their goals for the percentage of students they hope …
Parent Advocacy Wins Six New After School Positions
Erika Merino*, a parent at Teaching for Change partner school Bruce Monroe Elementary at Park View (BMPV), a D.C. public elementary school, had high hopes after leaving a meeting about after school programming with other parents, school staff, and DCPS officials just before the Thanksgiving break. A working mother of three (two elementary and a …
Teaching for Change Featured in Education Week and Think Progress
Teaching for Change’s nationally recognized family engagement project, Tellin’ Stories, was featured in stories in Education Week and ThinkProgress in the fall of 2015. Education Week interviewed Principal Shawn Hintz of Mt. Rainier Elementary, a public school in Prince George’s County, Maryland, about how the school’s relationship with parents has changed since partnering with Teaching for …
A Tribute to Dr. Marta Palacios
On a warm spring evening in June 2015, students, parents, and alumni of Bruce Monroe Elementary School at Park View (DCPS) gathered in the auditorium to say thank you to a beloved principal and educator. Dr. Marta Palacios retired after 14 years of service as principal and a long career as an educator and advocate …