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On Saturday, March 12th, over 60 parents representing a variety of school districts from communities throughout Southern New Jersey attended the Southern NJ Parent Empowerment Summit held in Mt. Laurel NJ. The Summit, sponsored by The New Jersey Parent Information Resource Center (NJPIRC) brought together parents and professionals from across the state to participate in a series of workshops covering topics related to inspiring parents to become actively engaged in their child's education. Workshops were presented by New Jersey professionals and provided parents with a forum to receive valuable resources to help their child succeed as well as a place to voice their concerns. The conference featured an inspiring and motivational keynote from nationally recognized, award-winning educational consultant and parent involvement expert, Carol Ritter. Another highlight of the day was a dynamic and humorous lunchtime presentation by Arline McGraw Oberst, lead co-author of “Chicken Soup for the Volunteer’s Soul” who shared valuable information on how parents can become active leaders in their child’s school community. Her presentation stressed the importance of parents having an active presence in their child's school. Throughout the day, representatives from the NJ Department of Education and organizations across the state were on hand to provide guests with information about available services for parents and children.
NJPIRC thanks all involved and congratulates New Jersey's parents on their commitment to education!
On Tuesday, March 8th, NJPIRC held a networking event for many of its partners throughout the state at The Imperia in Somerset, New Jersey. The goal of the event was to share knowledge and effective tactics among the group: what exactly are the best practices to increase not only parent involvement, but parent engagement...?
After some brief remarks from PCA-NJ Executive Director Rush Russell and a kickoff from the NJ Department of Education's Norris Clark, attendees broke into groups to connect with NJPIRC staff and each other over these important topics. The day concluded with awards being presented to several NJPIRC partners who have showcased their commitment to family engagement time and time again.
NJPIRC IMPACT Award Recipients:
DUE Season Charter School and Greater Brunswick Charter School
NJPIRC Impact Award: (Right) D.U.E. Season Charter School, Parent Coordinator- Mary Mercado (PRS)
DUE Season Charter School has been an NJPIRC Partner since 2008 and although they received the Parent Resource Space grant which initially only includes a parent computer, resource rack, and comment box, primary contact and parent coordinator, Mary Mercado-Carpenter took those resources and commenced to build a solid parent engagement program based around the Parent Resource Center. Initially starting in a small room just beyond the school’s lobby, Mary took the initiative to expand the parent resource are into the lobby creating a all encompassing welcome mat to the parents in the DUE Season school community including Parent information board, parent feedback box, and a giant welcome banner to ensure that parents felt at home in their children’s school. This is a key aspect of effective parent engagement and DUE Season charter school exemplified this and every way. They also hosted the Taking the Lead workshop for parents, completed the family friendly walkthrough, and start the EPIC parenting series with the assistance of NJPIRC and Prevent Child Abuse-NJ. Mary has also completed a family engagement podcast for the NJPIRC website and has highlighted the NJPIRC Partnership on DUE Season’s website numerous times to raise awareness of Parent Engagement throughout Camden City public Schools.
NJPIRC has been partnered with Greater Brunswick Charter School since 2010 and in one year the school has managed to complete the Title I guide, Family Friendly Walkthrough, host a Taking the Lead workshop, develop a Parent Involvement Action team, and create a parent resource space within the school. Their action team has planned and completed several activities, never forgetting the central message of parent involvement for student achievement and consistently choosing activities that will help them reach their goals. The action team at Greater Brunswick defines what it means to have a true partnership between school, family, and community, working together to truly make an IMPACT in their school community.
Congratulations to DUE Season Charter School and Greater Brunswick Charter School
for receiving the 2011 NJPIRC IMPACT Award.
NJPIRC Shining Star Award Recipients:
Highland Park School District and Lanning Square Elementary School
NJPRIC Shining Star Award: (Left) Highland Park School District Title I Supervisor, Jennifer Lugo (Right) Lanning Square Elementary School, Lead Teacher- Natasha Hatcher
Highland Park School District developed their action team in 2009-2010 school year and in that time completed numerous activities aimed at raising student achievement through school, family, and community partnerships. The action team has strived to ensure they are reaching all parents within the district by recognizing the diverse community in which live and developing activities to meet the needs of those parents. This year Highland Park has hosted a cultural forum night to address particular concerns of different communities within the school, has partnered with Rutgers University who now provides free translation services to the district, allowing them to reach a greater audience, and is currently planning other activities aimed at improving student achievement through parent involvement.
Lanning Square Elementary School has been an NJPIRC partner since the 2008-2009 school year and has been one of our most consistent partnering schools since working with NJPIRC attending all mandatory trainings, hosting Action Team Meeting despite inclement weather and hosting the NJPIRC parent workshop every year. The Lanning Square School Community has truly stepped up to the challenge. Their action team has continuously worked extremely hard on each of their initiatives and continues to do so whether 5 or 50 parents attend there events. Through the ups and downs, Lanning Square has held there torches high and continues to press on together as a team. Led by Teacher Natasha Hatcher, she has worked hard to keep her team together for three consecutive school years and each year displays a better understanding of what it takes to engage all parents to increase student achievement. They provide the Mega Skills workshop series to their parents which guides them on how to effectively enhance learning in the home in the core content areas. At the end of the school year, they show their appreciation to all parents by hosting their annual Parent Appreciation Luncheon complete with special gifts for parents and their own award ceremony. The NJPIRC Shining Star Award. Lanning Square Elementary School! Congratulations.
Congratulations to Highland Park School District and Lanning Square Elementary School for receiving the 2011 NJPIRC Shining Star Award.
NJPIRC Best Practice Award Recipients:
Charles Spragg Elementary School, Egg Harbor and Paterson School #7
NJPIRC Best Practices Award- Paterson School #7, Principal- Joann Cardillo (NNPS)
NJPIRC has been partnered with Charles Spragg Elementary School for the past two years and within that time the school has truly embraced the NNPS model, ensuring that their activities were properly aligned to help them reach their goals and also ensuring that they have addressed the Joyce Epstein’s 6 types, acknowledging that the school must address the varying needs of parents in order to have a comprehensive parent involvement program. This year Charles Spragg Elementary is receiving the Best Practice award for a very specific reason, recognizing that parent involvement is a true factor in the success of students, the action team and administration at the school have made it a priority to ensure the entire school staff is involved in improving the level of parent involvement. By tracking activities completed in each classroom as well as pushing teachers to increase their parent/teacher conference outcomes the entire school has embraced the need for more parental involvement for student achievement.
Paterson School #7 has been an NJPIRC partner since the 2008-2009. Although there was a change in leadership after the 1st year, the new principal Dr. Cardillo jumped right on board with grant requirements and immediately displayed her commitment to engaging parents to increase student achievement. This year Dr. Cardillo has initiated the “Parent Engagement Point Card” system in which students and parents would earn extra points for special privileges and invitations to special events based on parent participation in school activities. Paterson school #7 has also partnered with local universities and the Child Assault Prevention Team to provide meaningful and innovative programs to enrich the lives of the entire family including the cultivation of their own organic vegetable garden to promote the importance of healthy eating habits.
Congratulations to Paterson School #7 and Charles Spragg Elementary School for receiving the 2011 NJPIRC Best Practice Award
NJPIRC Partnership Award Recipients:
Neptune Twp. School District and US Wiggins College Preparatory Lab School
NJPIRC Partnership Award: (Left) Neptune Twp. School District, Title I Director Bonnie Morris (Right) U.S. Wiggins College Preparatory Lab School, Counselor-Francine Stavisky
Neptune Twp. School District has been partnered with NJPIRC since the 2009-2010 school year and in that time has managed to develop not only a district action team but individual school action teams at all 8 schools within the district. Neptune has consistently embraced parent leadership throughout the partnership, encouraging parents not only to make up the majority of their action teams but to also lead the teams by designating parents as both Chairs and co-chairs. While overcoming many hardships within the past 2 years, Neptune has consistently remained dedicated to the NJPIRC partnership and their partnership with parents and community members within their district.
US Wiggins College Preparatory Lab School has been an NJPIRC partner since the 2008-2009 school year. Although there has been some challenges along the way including a change in primary contact, a change in leadership, and even a change in the name of the school, the US Wiggins school community were determined to make this partnership work. This year, their parent engagement program has flourished greatly as Ms. Stavisky and Ms. Osorio worked hard to keep family engagement a priority with the support of new principal, Ms. Lana Murray. This year they have partnered with Rutgers University for parent workshops, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to make sure families have enough food and nourishment, and Playground Builder KABOOM who donated and build a brand new playground with the assistance of parents and the entire school community. And it is my feeling that the best is still yet to come.
Congratulations to Neptune Twp. School District and US Wiggins College Preparatory Lab School for receiving the 2011 NJPIRC Partnership Award.
NJPIRC Rising Star Award Recipients:
Burlington Office of Early Childhood, Franklin Elementary School, Linden School #4, Cramer College Preparatory Lab School, and Charles Watters School #24
NJPIRC Rising Star Award- (l-r): Franklin Elementary School, Principal- Arina Robinson (PRS); Linden School #4, Counselor- Lindsay Filler (PRS); Cramer College Preparatory Lab School, Parent Liaison- Nilsa Cruz (NNPS+PRS); Charles Watters School #24, Parent Representative- Ruth Tobias (NNPS)
Burlington Office of Early Childhood has been a partner with NJPIRC since the 2008-2009 school year. While initially partnering to become an EPIC site, BOEC has gradually incorporated many programs from NJPIRC into their parent involvement efforts. In the past 3 years Burlington OEC has developed an NNPS Action Team, created a beautiful Parent Resource Space in the lobby of the school and has used their funding not only to host activities but for items such as magnets with school contact information on them, and to purchase Take Home Back Packs filled with educational games, books and activities designed to be interactive between parent and child. This year they have successfully completed the EPIC Ready, Set, Read workshop series for parents and just recently hosted a very successful science night attended by 80 families to help them reach their academic goal on the NNPS action plan.
Chaplain Charles Watters School 24 has been a partnering school since the 2009-2010 school year. Also experiencing a change in leadership, School has stayed the course of increasing family engagement in their school to boost student achievement. Led by their chairperson counselor Katie O’Donnell and Parent Leader Ruth Tobias, Charles Watters #24 is our only Partnering school who has taken advantage of both NJPIRC workshops: Taking the Lead for Parents and Making the Connection for Teachers and Staff. They have also completed the family friendly walkthrough with NJPIRC Staff, and has constantly kept up posted with updates and parent activities in their schools. Another innovative initiative from PS 24 has been the Parents Night of Relaxation. This provided parents with relaxation and stress control techniques to keep parents prepared to handle the challenges of parenting in healthy manners which we are a big fan of at Prevent Child Abuse-NJ
Cramer College Preparatory Lab School has been an NJPIRC partner since the 2008-2009 school year. They have faced similar challenges of that of their fellow Camden School US Wiggins also experiencing a change in primary contact, a change in leadership, and also a change in the name of the school. But fortunately the core of their action team was solid enough to overcome these challenges as their family engagement soared this year with the hard work of parent coordinator Nilsa Cruz, parent leaders like Rashell Rembert, Amanda Kotzbeck, and new assistant principal Marvin Gantt. Cramer hold’s a parent workshop every single month of the school year and sometime twice a month, hosted the NJPIRC Parent presentation Taking the Lead, and has completed the Family Friendly walkthrough. But they have also used their NJPIRC funding in one of the most innovative ways to date. In Camden parents must complete a background check to volunteer in schools which may cost up to $70 to complete. Cramer used their funding to cover the cost of all parents who wished to sign up as a volunteers and used additional funding to provide stipends to volunteer parents to show their appreciation.
Franklin Elementary in Rahway- This next Rising Star award goes to an NJ PIRC resource space partner for 2 years. Through its strong leadership, the school has demonstrated a commitment to the steady increase of parent involvement. The school established a beautifully organized area at the entrance of the school for parents to access resources, make suggestions, and use the computer. Over the past year, an administrator, parent, and staff member took the time to complete NJ PIRC's family friendly walkthrough to assess and develop the school's family engagement practices. As a result of their findings, the school gathered and initiated a parent email list to keep parents updated and assigned the task of addressing other uncovered parent involvement needs to the school's professional development team. Please join me in appreciating the commitment to parent involvement demonstrated by Franklin Elementary School in Rahway and the school’s principal, Ms. Arina Robinson.
School #4 in Linden- The next Rising Star award goes to a school that has been an NJ PIRC resource space partner for 2 years. This resource space center, managed and developed by the school’s social worker, blossomed over the past year. A special space was set up in the school for resources and a computer that has allowed parents to find housing, find interviews for jobs and allow Haitian families to contact family members after the tragic Haitian earthquake in 2010. In addition, the school has completed a family friendly walkthrough to further develop their parent involvement practices, and taken advantage on 2 occasions to host the “Taking the Lead” workshop offered by NJ PIRC. Please join me in appreciating the commitment to parent involvement demonstrated by School #4 in Linden and their school’s social worker, Ms. Lindsay Filler.
Congratulations to Burlington Office of Early Childhood, Franklin Elementary School, Linden School #4, Cramer College Preparatory Lab School, and Charles Watters School #24for receiving the 2011 NJPIRC Rising Star Award.
NJPIRC 3 Year Partners
Three Year Partners: L to R: Liberty High School Parent Representative- Maria Marrero (NNPS); Paterson School #3 Parent Liaison-Sandra Baez (NNPS); Hawthorne Park Elementary School Principal-Dumar Burgess (PRS); Brick Avon Elementary School Parent Liaison- Urania Johnson (PRS); Julia A. Barnes School #12 Parent Council President- Gloria Littlejohn (PRS); Lowell Elementary School, Family Support Worker-Dannette Coston (PRS); Passaic County Technical Insitute Parent Liason, Marlene Mora (NNPS)
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