What is the most important contributor to a student’s success in school?
In Fresno Unified, 80% of students are unable to read at their grade level. Fresno schools are growing their early intervention programs and literacy mentors are providing one-on-one support to students. However, data shows reading skills and educational success are dependent on many factors outside the classroom.
In fact, “parental education might be the biggest factor” in determining a student’s academic success according to a 2022 EdSource article.
If parents are unable to read with their kids at home, don’t know about school events, or are unsure who to contact with concerns, their students are less likely to feel confident in school.
“Schools are doing a lot,” says Sabrina Rodarte, Every Neighborhood Partnership’s Extended Learning Coordinator. “What we need is more support for parents. We need to ask, how can we build up a parent so they can build up their child?”
Schools are doing a lot. What we need is more support for parents.
Sabrina Rodarte, ENP’s Extended Learning Coordinator
Parent Coffee Hour: Bridging the Gap Between Parents and Schools
Many parents in Southwest Fresno are first-generation Americans, unfamiliar with the K-12 education system. As a result, parents are uncertain about who to contact at their child’s school with specific concerns and questions.
Many parents in Southwest Fresno are first-generation Americans, unfamiliar with the K-12 education system.
To bridge this gap, Every Neighborhood Partnership launched Parent Coffee Hour. Parent Coffee Hour is a weekly gathering to help parents build relationships with their child’s teachers, school administrators, and other parents. This space is designed to empower and educate parents so they can in turn, empower their children.
“[In Parent Coffee Hour sessions], we are going over topics with parents about how to reflect on and regulate their own emotions,” says Christian Gonzalez, ENP’s Community Engagement Specialist. “They can then apply social emotional skills to their kids at home which helps with behavior and attendance at school.”
“Parent Coffee Hour is step one to help parents get involved, learn what resources are offered, how school budgets work, who to contact with specific questions or concerns, and how to advocate for topics at school district meetings,” says Christian.
Parent Coffee Hour is a weekly gathering designed to empower and educate parents so they can in turn, empower their children.
Motivated Parents Inspire Motivated Students
Mayra Serratos-Jimenez, the Homeschool Liaison at Olmos Elementary, believes if more parents get involved in Parent Coffee Hour, student participation and attendance will improve. “Kids get motivated when they see their parents getting involved,” says Mayra.
Kids whose parents are involved in Parent Coffee Hour tend to have improved attendance and classroom behavior.
Berenice, a mother of two boys at Olmos Elementary, says she attends Parent Coffee Hour because she wants to help her kids reach higher academic levels than she did. Through attending Parent Coffee Hour, Berenice has learned the importance of reading with her children at home. She has begun reading books with her kids to help them
“Parent Coffee Hour has [also] helped me learn what resources and programs are available and who to ask [at my kids’ school] with specific questions,” says Berenice. She shares that her involvement has spurred her children to work more diligently in school, knowing their mother is engaged and informed about their educational journey.
Expanding Parent Coffee Hour
Aleyda, a mother of five, says she would love to see more Parent Coffee Hour sessions offered at other times so more parents can come.
“There’s only one of me facilitating Parent Coffee Hour right now,” says Christian, host of Parent Coffee Hour at Olmos Elementary School in Southeast Fresno. “We would love to train parents at more schools to lead this space, or hire more staff [at ENP] to expand the program!”
Would you like to be part of expanding Parent Coffee Hour to more schools, making the program accessible for more parents in our city? A $25 monthly gift to ENP can provide supplies needed for Parent Coffee Hour at one elementary school!
These weekly coffee gatherings are part of a long-term vision for the future of Fresno where every student reads at grade level and every parent is supported. This is an ambitious vision, but we’re in this for the long-run. Will you join us?
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