“Family to Family” Dinner Extends AWE’s Parent Outreach

Since before ACORN Woodland even opened, the school has put great emphasis on involving families in their children’s learning. While staff and parent leaders are proud of the AWE Family Resource Center’s successes over the years, they are always searching for new ways to deepen family engagement on campus. To that end, the English Learner Advisory Committee (ELAC), the School Site Council (SSC), parents, and school staff recently organized the 1st Annual Family to Family Dinner.

AWE Family Coordinators Esperanza Aguilar and Izola Haynes say the event was designed to gather families together and share ideas “from one parent to another,” with a focus on helping parents support AWE students on the cusp of scoring “Proficient” on the California Standards Test (CST).

During the dinner, parent leaders collaborated with the parents of 15 students approaching Proficient, and those kids received certificates for being poised to reach Proficient by the end of this year.

”It was a great turnout for our community,” says Haynes, “and a great way to support the children who are [almost] Proficient.”

“I felt great because my mom was there to support me when they gave me the certificate,” recalls 4th-grader Jennifer.

“I felt proud to be there because I got to give my testimony,” says 4th-grader Eddy, “and my mom gave a testimony about me, about me doing my homework and reading, and that made me feel great!”

Since the dinner, and throughout this year, “Parents’ involvement has been increasing a lot,” says Luz Navarro, ELAC member and parent of AWE students Ronaldo and Jose. Both she and fellow ELAC member Araceli Romero (parent of AWE students Jose and Yuneth) say student achievement has “absolutely, definitely” grown in step with family engagement.

“[Both Romero and Navarro] are here every day,” says Aguilar, “and that’s very powerful for the kids.”
These parent leaders have plenty of praise for AWE’s staff, culture, OUSD Superintendent and programs. Romero (pictured above with Navarro, Aguilar, and Haynes) commends ACORN Woodland’s ambitious academic intervention program for improving students’ achievement. (All of Romero and Navarro’s kids are Proficient or Advanced.) She also appreciates the diversity of students and staff, and the fact that Principal Kimi Kean and several teachers are bilingual.

“We’re very thankful that the school is so small,” adds Navarro. “This way, we know all the teachers, and everyone knows all the students by name. This makes ACORN Woodland feel like a family.”