Parent University at El Verano School
El Verano Prinicpal Maite Iturri is, as always, hard at work challenging her staff and community to do bigger and better things. This time, she has teamed up with local Latino dynamo Mario Castillo to create Parent University or, Universidad de Padres, a venue for parents to express their hopes and dreams for their families while they develop tools to help guide the direction of El Verano school and its student community.
Maite and Mario have a combined passion for a better future for El Verano with greater family involvement. Starting with a kernel of an idea, the two called to personally invite parents to attend the first meeting – a fact-finding discussion to determine interests and topics for exploration. Describing the session as an opportunity to learn and share knowledge in an environment of trust and support, the one-hour meeting, which provided childcare, was attended by just three parents. But those three parents soon grew to 15, and then 20.
Today, the group is evolving and growing with each meeting. Participants set the agenda and parents decide the topics for discussion and areas of interest. For example, a recent video game meeting led to an interest in discussing cultural differences in discipline and parenting.
One of the biggest topics – college. Across the board, parents are interested in having their student attend a post secondary institution but most are unsure how to support their children in this endeavor. To quell confusion and anxiety over this issue, a trip to UC Davis was planned for the parents. Parents received information on GPAs, A-G requirements, extracurricular activities as well as honor and AP classes. While on campus, three students of immigrant families spoke to the parents about their college experiences. Parents got to tour the campus bookstore, classrooms, dorms, libraries and have lunch in the school’s commons.
Parents loved it. They were impressed, they got much needed information about next steps and financial aid and they learned that it is never to late to plant the seed of a college dream in their children.
