This month I want to highlight some of the ELL parent involvement/informational outreach activities that have taken place so far this year.Every Wednesday of the month, our ELL outreach coordinator Milagros Wells holds a moms group at Las Casa de San Juan Diego to share information about our ELL program and schools. Jake Hall attends these meeting regularly, as well as a part of reaching out to the parents and answering questions about the Middle School. There are approximately 10-12 parents that attend each time. We started ELL Booster Club at Woodland Primary in September. We have approximately 20 students attending every Tuesday & Wednesday after school.
Every Wednesday of the month, our ELL outreach coordinator Milagros Wells holds a moms group at Las Casa de San Juan Diego to share information about our ELL program and schools. Jake Hall attends these meeting regularly, as well as a part of reaching out to the parents and answering questions about the Middle School. There are approximately 10-12 parents that attend each time. We started ELL Booster Club at Woodland Primary in September. We have approximately 20 students attending every Tuesday & Wednesday after school.
In October our ELL teacher, Carlotta Propersi, at Woodland Intermediate School started Homework Club which has about 15 students attending every Wednesday and Thursday. As in previous years, KWRL helps make this happen by helping with bussing our student’s home after.
Every Friday, since the beginning of the school year, Milagros holds English classes for the community. We have a teacher who is a retired staff from Parents Place in Longview volunteering to teach the class. We have about 22 parents attending these classes. We provide child care during this time and always have great attendance!
In November & March, we provided translated conferences for all our families during conference week. In December we tried to hold the Holiday ELL Celebration, however, snow caused the cancellation of this event. We may try and have a Spring Celebration. In the past, we have had over 100 attend this activity!!
In the last few weeks, our staff at the buildings have had many conversations with our ELL families about their fears about being seen in the community for fear of being picked up by ICES. In response to their concerns, we postponed Booster Club at WPS the month of February to ease the anxiety they are experiencing about being seen in the community after school hours. We have started Booster Club up again this month and have almost everybody back.
Milagros has also held a number of events that our Hispanic parents have attended this year. These include:
November-This is a parent leadership program that brought together Spanish-speaking parents across several districts in SW Washington to learn leadership skills and about school systems in the US.
Parents went through the workshops twice a week covering diverse educational topics, including special programs (SPED and Talented and Gifted), college support programs, school organization, school improvement plans, and parent’s rights under district policy, and state and federal laws. This work is built on research with Latino families in the region and has used research-based popular education models. We had 10 families join from Woodland.
The Hispanic Health and Resources Fair was held in January-The purpose of this event was to provide positive information and many different resources to the Latino population. Some of the participants were:
Cowlitz County Health and Human Services, Family Health Center, Woodland Public Library, Emergency Support Shelter, Children Justice Advocacy Center, Fibre Federal Credit Union, Woodland Action Center, Children’s Home Society of Washington, EOCF, Cowlitz County Fire District #5 Car Seat Information, Peace Health, Local insurance agency, & a Local tax preparation agency
We had an attendance of more than 100 people to this event
This February and March we hosted 2 parent outreach meetings at WPS that had 47 parents attend in Feb & 89 parents attend in March. The topics included: Know your Rights, What to do in case of being detained by an immigration agent? How to make a safety plan with your family, and the latest information about immigration status. How to prevent and report hate crimes and bullying. She is hosting the following upcoming events.
Latino Parent Leadership Training will be held in April- The program covers best practices in language development, bilingualism, early literacy, early math, health and social-emotional wellness, attendance, civil engagement, parent leadership, goal setting and planning for family success.
The program has 10 different sessions
I am my child first teacher
Reaching family success
My child grows
My child talks
Let’s continue opening doors
Our health is first part I and II
Let’s go to school
Advocating for our future
Yes we can
Our ELL staff and administration have been working hard at supporting our Hispanic community and we are very proud of that!!