“I wanted to learn how to help my children be more successful in school. To find any information, big or small, to help them is very important to me,  and so I thought I'd give it a try,” said Martha Quintanilla, a SLUSD parent who participated in the program. “I am very happy with the outcome. I learned a lot about how the school system is organized and what I can do to become more involved, and I was able to hear and share with other parents in my community.”

The School Smarts Parent Academy involves an initial parent engagement meeting, followed by seven two-hour sessions that focuses on different themes including parent involvement, understanding the education system, becoming an effective communicator, and standing up for quality education. The sessions were led by SLUSD parent facilitators, who themselves underwent training before delivering the program to parents. Translation services, childcare and dinner are available at all sessions to make the program accessible for as many parents as possible.

“This is a great program that brings parents together to help their children. The training supports parents as their children's first teachers, develops future parent leaders and encourages parents to advocate for a complete education,” said Jefferson Elementary Parent Facilitator Gloria Fernandez. “It truly makes a positive impact, increasing knowledge by parents of how to support their child's learning at home.”

Four other SLUSD school sites are currently conducting School Smarts Parent Academies, and the remaining schools will complete their programs by the end of the 2015-16 school year. By the end of the school year, SLUSD will be the only school district in Alameda County to launch and complete the program at all of its sites in one school year.

For more information about the award-winning School Smarts Parent Engagement Program sponsored by the California State PTA, visit www.capta.org/schoolsmarts.