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Copyright © 2022 · All Rights Reserved · Teaching for Change
Copyright © 2022 · All Rights Reserved · Teaching for Change
Parents Tell Councilmember Catania: Our Children Deserve Classrooms
Orr Elementary School (DCPS) parents invited David Catania, Councilmember and chair of the Education Committee, to hear their stories and tour the building which badly needs modernization. Nearly 30 parents attended with their children, along with teachers and members of the local community. Parents expressed their concerns about the safety of the playground; stagnant air …
No Place to Hide: Orr Elementary Needs Modernization Now!
Students in a photo provided by Orr Elementary. Isaiah Lyles was shocked as he watched his daughter Da’Vonna and her pre-Kindergarten classmates attempt to hide in plain sight from an “active shooter” during a safety drill. This day in January, Orr Elementary (DCPS) was among the schools participating in a safety assessment after the anniversary …
Parents and Teachers Swap Stories About What Children Can Do
Maria Lopez* listened intently as the interpreter shared the meeting with her in Spanish. The mother of a student who loves to read, Maria came to the 3rd grade’s parent-teacher Grade Level Dialogues to find out more about what her daughter is learning in the classroom. The third grade team at Thomson Elementary (DCPS) planned two …
Welcoming Parents for a Successful School Year
Now in its fourth year as a Teaching for Change partner school, Orr Elementary [DCPS] is no stranger to the Welcome Back Breakfast. But with a brand new principal—and a visit from First Lady Michelle Obama, Shaquille O’Neal, Dominique Dawes, and Allyson Felix as part of the national “Let’s Move” program—their 2013-2014 school year is …
Community Walks Featured as “High-Touch” Strategy in Educational Leadership
How would your families describe their neighborhood? Would teachers see it the same way? In an article for ASCD’s Educational Leadership, noted family engagement expert and author of Beyond the Bake Sale: The Essential Guide to Family-School Partnerships, Anne Henderson, challenges school leaders to build strong relationships with their families over the summer months by …
A Principal’s Reflection on Parent Engagement
“Having a relationship with parents is really important. Orr Elementary is stronger for that relationship. When we do things, we’re not doing something to someone—we’re working together to build. We’re not fixing parents, we’re learning with them.” – Principal Michelle Edwards After nine years at Orr Elementary (DCPS) in Washington, D.C.’s historic Fairlawn neighborhood, principal …
Teaching for Change Featured at NCPIE
On Wednesday, April 24th, Teaching for Change will present our approach to turning the tables on parent-school relations at the monthly National Coalition for Parent Involvement in Education (NCPIE) meeting. América Calderón, bilingual parent organizer, and Allyson Criner Brown, associate director, of Teaching for Change, will present recent research about Teaching for Change’s approach to parent-school …
DCPS Parents and Students at Immigration Reform Rally
More than 60 parents and students walked from one of the schools we work with, Thomson ES (DCPS), to the mall for the April 10 Immigration Reform Rally. There they joined thousands more people outside the U.S. Capitol. Teaching for Change’s senior parent organizer, America Calderon, helped organize this after school action field trip and …
Teaching for Change Pioneers Latino Parent Leadership Training in D.C.
In Washington, D.C. and in cities across the country, cultural and language barriers present some of the biggest challenges to building effective home-school partnerships. Teaching for Change’s parent empowerment initiative has a few methods for overcoming this stumbling block: providing translation services for parent meetings, recruiting multilingual parent leaders, and promoting cultural understanding through community …
Teachers Connect with Families, Neighborhood During Community Walks
On Wednesday, August 22, 2012, parents at Thomson Elementary School (DCPS) led teachers and administrators on a Community Walk through the neighborhood in which many of the families live. More than 60 teachers, parents, and students visited local landmarks and the buildings that many of the school’s Latino families call home. As the group from Thomson progressed …