Row 1: Jennifer Rudin, Christopher Terry, Em Feller,
Kelly Erin Blacher (Co-Chair Action Team),
Dr. Grace Park (Incoming Principal),
and Pam Chavez.
Row 2: Robert M. Whale (Former Principal),
Carol Garman, Tina Layton, Mildred Dumeng,
Mike Martinez - Co-Chair Action Team,
and Joel Williams.
Not pictured: Robert Marquez, Ruben Zepeda,
and Ken Hamilton.
Meet the Challenge to Involve More Families
El Rancho Elementary School serves roughly 450 students in an economically-stressed small city. With 85% Hispanic families, mainly from Mexico, the school has a high English Language Learner (ELL) population (41%). The ATP is working hard to engage Hispanic families and the community in the school and in students’ education. After noting the difference in parents’ participation when district-level meetings added good translation services, the district’s Program Improvement Department mandated that translators and translation systems should be used for all major school meetings.
El Rancho’s ATP secured a grant to replace their broken translation equipment, and obtained new technology to use in major school meetings. They also encouraged bilingual parents to serve as translators, as needed. The equipment and person-to-person contacts helped many more parents feel welcome at school workshops and meetings and participate actively. The improvement built greater trust among parents and teachers and helped more parents gain information to support their children’s learning at home.Reach Results for Student Success in School
In 2008, the school hosted Celebrate Our Differences, anassembly designed to increase understanding and trust among the school staff and parents. During the event, about 75 parents and 15 educators gathered in small groups to discuss their ideas for increasing student achievement at El Rancho. Facilitators guided the groups in discussions of what children should be learning in school, how parents can show their children that they care about their education, and how parents and teachers can communicate effectively with each other. Each group presented their ideas to the entire assembly at the end of the night.
The “twist” to this event was that all presentations were made in Spanish. An English translator interpreted the comments to non-Spanish speakers through communication headsets. Parents and teachers were encouraged to keep the spirit of collaboration alive, and all signed a poster “Pledge of Respect” to confirm their good intentions to support all children’s success in school.
See one of El Rancho Elementary School’s activities in the collection of Promising Partnership Practices 2008.