On many weekday mornings at Culbreth Middle School, a cozy room called the Family Resource Center opens its doors to school and community visitors. The inviting environment looks less like a school space than a family room with packed bookshelves, a couch and a polished dining table. A jazz or salsa CD might be playing softly, and a coffeemaker sits ready for people to settle in with a cup and a book on parenting or common social/emotional challenges in children of all ages.
The Center was launched at Culbreth on March 3 with an all-day grand opening. Roslyn Moffitt, district director of Title I and Family and Community Engagement, believes that a school-based family resource center can, and should, be a priority when creating new engagement strategies. As she likes to say, “warm and welcoming” is the first mantra of family engagement. Slowly and steadily, the Center is gaining traction as a multi-purpose space for community sharing, support and education. Nationally, the value and flexibility of family resource centers is gaining prominence as a crucial element of building reciprocity and trust between schools and parents.
So far this year, direct publicity appeals have gone out to Culbreth families and the feeder elementary schools, including Scroggs, Glenwood and Frank Porter Graham, but anyone from the CHCCS community is welcome to drop by. The Center is open on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday from 8:30-10:30 a.m. and again from 1:30-3:30 p.m..
“This center will be built by our families,” said Stefanie Mazva-Cohen, Culbreth social worker and site coordinator. “We are nurturing it and letting it grow.”
The basic mission of the Center aligns with an increasing emphasis on family engagement, rather than the prior educational focus on “parental involvement.” The new federal education guidelines of Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) place more responsibility on school districts to cultivate ways to engage families through school activities, professional development for teachers and home visiting programs. Research shows that students attending schools that embed and prioritize family engagement have seen increased scores in both math and reading.
“Parents want their children to do well in school and to be a part of their child’s success,” said Meredith McMonigle of Orange County Family Success Alliance. “But sometimes parents don’t know how to help or how school works. A place like the Culbreth Resource Center is a welcoming place for parents to drop in, learn more about the school and find their own way to be a part of the school and the larger community. Parents need a place within the school to lend their voice and their commitment to the school’s success. The resource center at Culbreth does just that - kudos to them for making it happen.”
In keeping with the vision of developing and expanding resource options, Ms. Mazva-Cohen and Ms. Moffitt hope to schedule workshops several times a month, led by district staff, parents or community members. Topics will likely range from developmental psychology to basic workshops on citizenship or immigration services.
One recent host at the Center was Sandra Clifton, a local educational therapist. “I cannot say enough wonderful things about (the Center). It weaves in beautiful elements of outreach, education and inclusion.” She hopes to fill a host shift at least once a month and seek feedback as well as share information in her capacity as a Special Needs Advisory Council (SNAC) representative.
The selection of books, articles and DVD’s is already extensive, but Mazva-Cohen will keep building on existing materials in English, Spanish and a few Karen books, as well as accessing or creating handouts for parents who are English-language learners, or are simply new to the community.
Noa Stuchiner, now a math coach at Culbreth, arrived in Chapel Hill 18 years ago from Israel. Although she spoke English well, she was often assumed to be a Spanish-speaker and would receive school-based materials in that language. “What I needed were ways to understand the school system and the resources available to my children - and to me.” She says that now, after so much time, she still wants to say to new families, “Don’t lose who you are.”
“I think it is a great way to connect staff, families, and community members,” said Alisha Schiltz, Coordinator of Multi-Tiered System of Support in the district. “There are so many wonderful resources, not to mention how warm and inviting the space is. I’m eager to see more community members and families use this space to their benefit.”
Dr. Schiltz, like other CHCCS administrators and staff, has signed up to host shifts at the Center.
Carla Smith, the Parent Involvement Specialist with Parent University, summed up the prevailing opinions well. “This is a great space to engage families.”
“Please consider signing up to host within the next few weeks,” said Mazva-Cohen. “It's a great way to meet CMS families and staff. Please spread the word! The folks who are coming in are loving what is happening here and are returning to be a part of the action.”
