Family, Extended
By Jessica Rae Patton, Associate Editor

Children cavort on the playground before school in the early-morning chill. The school has a separate, smaller-scale playground for its large, all-day kindergarten program.

Parents are a child's first and most influential teacher. We hear this truism often, yet nowhere have we seen it more taken to heart than at Tower Street Elementary School. The school's efforts to form a true partnership with students' families – from involving families in the first day of school, to the principal making home visits, to hosting no fewer than 15 fun, informational family events throughout the year (including summer field trips), to providing a parent liaison – are comprehensive, and commendable. From the moment we learned about its Family Engagement program, we were interested in visiting this Title 1 K-5 school in the small coastal town of Westerly, RI.

Starting a family. What was to become the Family Engagement program began 12 years ago, when Mary Lou Almonte, a first-grade teacher new to Tower Street, experienced her first Open House."I had 26 students that year. Only two parents came, and I was just kind of shocked," she told us."You would think, seeing that I was a new teacher both to the building and first grade, that people would want to be there." Along with then-principal Sylvia Blanda (now Westerly's assistant superintendent), Mary Lou attended a workshop on involving families in children's education."We were enthralled. I left the workshop saying, ‘Oh, we're going to have a parent resource center and we're going to do this and we're going to have that...' Sylvia said, ‘You have great ideas, but we have no money,'" Mary Lou recalled, laughing.

Funding or no, Mary Lou's enthusiasm was unabated and she brought the family involvement concepts back to the staff. Everyone agreed wholeheartedly that parent participation was key to improving student performance, and the way to improve parent participation was to make Tower Street a more welcoming place for families.

Interim principal David Johnson gets an enthusiastic welcome in return when he greets students as they arrive for school.

Alumnae in leadership. Audrey Faubert was on maternity leave when we visited, but she joined us to tour the school of which she is both the principal and an alumna. She fondly pointed out the classrooms in which she spent kindergarten and first grade. Teachers greeted her with warm hugs and students asked her to say hello to her baby for them.

"The staff is very family-like," Audrey said."They do so much for the kids above and beyond. They're here nights. They're here weekends. They'll bring in clothes, food, backpacks… whatever it takes to help kids learn."

The Family Engagement committee was in place when Audrey arrived at Tower Street five years ago, and she set to work seeking funds to further implement its programs. The school received a federal Comprehensive School Reform (CSR) grant to help fund the Family Engagement activities (see sidebar, page 44). Audrey emphasized that none of the events or projects would be possible, however, without the volunteer efforts of staff, parents and community members.

(Left to right) reading specialist Brenda Smyth, resource teacher Ellen Thweatt, speech pathologist Kathy Halter and resource teacher Marie Gilman gather in The Loft, where special ed. support is provided.

Parent to parent. One such volunteer, also a Tower Street alumna, is Mary-Kay Patten. A parent of two Tower Street students and treasurer of the PTO, Mary-Kay was already active in a myriad of school activities. Her role was formalized when Tower Street instituted its parent liaison position at the beginning of the 2003-2004 school year.

This position, also funded by the CSR grant, stemmed from concerns about students' math aptitude."Based on our state testing, we were really weak in math," Audrey Faubert said."We hired a math coach, then a reading coach. We added this parent component because we can't be successful without the partnership of the parents. And that's just flourished into its own entity."

The parent liaison facilitates communication with families through newsletters, workshops and one-on-one contact. Mary-Kay has recruited classroom volunteers, linking retirees with students in special need of attention. She coordinates parent workshops on topics such as"How to Develop Your Child's Talents" and"Stress Management." She assists Family Engagement coordinator Mary Lou Almonte in organizing workshops and a family lending library.

Family Engagement coordinator Mary Lou Almonte in her first-grade classroom.

"With Mary-Kay's position, we're trying to look for unique ways to reach out to parents because sometimes the backpacks don't get emptied," Audrey said. Along these lines, last year Mary-Kay coordinated the production of a video called A Day in the Life of a Tower Street Student. It details a typical school day and enables parents who can't visit to experience their child's daily routine.

Mary-Kay's success is spreading: Westerly School Superintendent Dr. Thomas DiPaola, a great supporter of Tower Street's family involvement endeavors, has approved funding for a parent liaison in each of the district's Title 1 schools.

Westerly WalMart Teacher of the Year Carolyn Gencarelli continues her math lesson in the hallway while her fifth-grade class waits its turn for school pictures.

Educating door-to-door. In addition to the many family activities and information sessions, the Family Engagement committee has taken their outreach efforts a step further -- or many steps, depending upon the number of floors climbed to reach a family's apartment. Last year, Audrey and Mary-Kay visited over 160 homes; with them they brought baskets tailored to the student's reading or math level. The literacy baskets included tools for reading and writing and a gift certificate for a local bookstore. The math kits were targeted toward students not achieving in math numbers and operations. Altogether, they delivered 67 literacy and 112 math baskets -- sometimes in a torrential downpour, and while the principal was six months pregnant.

In the process, they met parents who had never been to the school, answered parents' questions that might not have otherwise been raised and gained insight about students' home environments. Feedback was overwhelmingly positive."The kids were excited to come home to find a gift from the school. They hugged me in the halls," Audrey said."We got thank-you cards from parents. It was definitely the highlight of my career."

Principal Audrey Faubert adjusted her height to that of every student with whom she talked during our visit. Their familiarity and comfort with her was apparent; in two separate classrooms, children asked, referring to her newborn, "How's the baby going?"

Proof-positive results. We asked Mary Lou Almonte how the Family Engagement initiative and its credo – "Parents are the child's first and most influential teacher" – have affected the Tower Street community. "Where do I begin?" she exclaimed. "First, new teachers, volunteers and substitute teachers feel welcome here. I attribute much of it to the Family Engagement initiative, because it's our way of life. It's what we do."

She noted that every staff member volunteers to run or be part of at least two or three events."They do it because they believe in our children, our families, our school."

Student performance has improved markedly as well, going from "moderately performing and not improving" status to "high-performing and improving." In 2004-2005, Tower Street was named a Rhode Island Regents' Commended school.

And then there are the Open House numbers. Whereas two out of the 26 children in Mary Lou's class were represented her first year at Tower Street, this year only two of her students' families didn't make it. This turnaround is a school-wide phenomenon."Parents look forward to coming to the events," she said."This year's Open House had over 185 families out of 249 represented. There was not one person without a giant smile, having fun enjoying their child's education."

For a complete list of the Family Engagement Committee Activities, and to hear what Tower Street School parents have to say about the Family Engagement program click here.

Updated June 2009
November/December, 2006, Vol.37, No.3