Parent Leadership Projects TTP’s on-going and consistent support helps parents as they become critical leaders in their school communities. Before TTP, only one of the seven partner schools had an established parent-teacher organization. Today, all seven schools have active organizations. Through countless support meetings and workshops at individual schools over the last two years, TTP has helped parent and school leaders hold successful parent-teacher organization elections, become recognized organizations, establish bank accounts, set goals, grow their membership and develop and implement projects that benefit their schools. In collaboration with teachers, parents in TTP partner schools have identified school needs and have begun to use their newly active parent-teacher organizations as platforms to initiate critical changes within each of their communities.
We have provided below a sample of what parents have achieved over the past two years:
Academic Nights With skills discussed during project management workshops that TTP leads, parent-teacher organizations have held “academic nights”, linking the community around student learning. Parent leaders at MC Terrell, King, Aiton and Browne have thus far held “Math Nights” where teachers staffed academic stations to share learning and testing strategies with the students and their families. Recently, MC Terrell and Tyler held their own “Literacy Nights” as well.
Mentoring Programs In response to behavior challenges, the PTA at Aiton implemented “Boys Club,” a mentoring program for more than 30 male students. This program invites local male role models to speak to the group on a bi-weekly basis. With the help of TTP, the PTA created a mission statement, recruited community speakers and planned themed sessions and field trips.
Resource Workshops The PTA at Garfield recognized behavior difficulties in the classroom and resulting teacher frustrations and parent concerns. The PTA also learned that there was confusion regarding the School Wide Application Model (SAM) that was recently introduced to the school. The PTA hosted a forum where teachers, the SAM coach, and parents shared information and conducted an open discussion on steps needed to improve student conduct.
Service Projects For the last two years, parent leaders at Browne Education Campus sponsored a service learning project for Earth Day where they led other parents, students, and staff in a nearby community cleanup through a partnership with a local community organization, EarthShare.
Health and Wellness The Aiton PTA initiated a wellness initiative, which has consisted of “healthy eating” workshops, walks/runs on Saturdays and periodic visits from a physical trainer. This May, the Aiton PTA implemented a health day in which students and their families participated in fitness workshops, received information from community-based organizations, and snacked on healthy treats.
Advocacy TTP provided a “City Level Advocacy” workshop, supporting parents as they wrote testimonies for DC City Council on issues that matter most to them. A Payne parent testified on the deteriorated state of the school’s playground, burned from a fire six years ago and yet to be repaired. Her effective preparation and testimony led to a meeting between the Payne community and City Council staff and, ultimately, to a new playground this summer.
BENEFITS TO SCHOOL COMMUNITY:- Creates social capital amongst parents by connecting parent leaders across the city in order to share ideas and collaborate.
- Supports parents to become leaders in their schools and in the DC education system through support of parent-led initiatives and projects
