Signs in both English and Spanish posted inside the main entrance of Hope High School welcomed students and parents as they walked into the school for a "family night" Tuesday evening. The event, the first of its kind at Hope, is part of a program called "Juntos," started this summer by two Hope teachers to make non-English speaking parents and students feel more at home at Hope.
Sixty percent of Hope students are Hispanic, and their parents often don't understand or speak English very well, said Judah Lakin '04, a social studies teacher for non-native speakers at Hope and co-founder of the program.
Historically, students at the East Side high school have failed to meet federal academic standards. In 2005, the state's Department of Education split the school, only three blocks north of Brown's campus, into three smaller, more specialized academies. The department's commissioner called for increased parent and community involvement in the school, among other suggestions, in a plan drafted in 2003 for the school's improvement.
Last Tuesday night, families and friends of about 250 students attended the event held to increase parent involvement, Lakin said. Junior ROTC student volunteers in uniforms were at the door enthusiastically welcoming parents and escorting them to the cafeteria where the event was held. They also acted as translators and interpreters.
Students had decorated the cafeteria with colorful signs, balloons and national flags of various countries. There was food from different cultures, cooked either by teachers or donated by local restaurants. Attendees could tap their feet to Dominican merengue tunes or enjoy softer, slower Spanish music.
Parents also got a chance to interact with their students' teachers in an informal setting.
Arthur Petrosinelli, one of the Hope principals, told The Herald that the effort was "absolutely outstanding." Lakin first brought the idea for a program to increase parent engagement to Petrosinelli's attention. "I was not in tune with what we were doing wrong," Petrosinelli said of making Hope parents more involved with their children's education.
Petrosinelli said teachers who could speak languages used by parents had taken the initiative to call them in their free time and invite them personally to the event. They also sent out written invitations to parents. Often parents don't come to such events unless they're personally invited, Lakin said.
"If you expect Latino parents to show up, you have to call them," he said, adding that once parents meet the teachers who called them, they are more likely to respond to messages and invitations from them in the future.
Petrosinelli said the event was different from other parent-teacher events because it was not related directly to academics or disciplinary issues.
"It's saying, 'here's our house, it's open to you,' " he said. "It's one major step toward creating a climate here at Hope that parents won't be intimidated by. We're not talking about discipline issues tonight."
Parents seemed to enjoy the opportunity to attend a social event at their children's school.
Maima David, whose nephew is a senior at Hope, said she took time off from work to attend the event.
"You have to take out time for the kids so they know you care for them," she said. "It's good for us and good for them too."
Erin Leininger, an ESL teacher at Hope and co-founder of "Juntos," said the event was "more like a party" for parents and teachers.
Yaquelin Nunez, another parent who was helping parents sign in when they entered the cafeteria, said she wants to "get parents more involved" in their children's lives.
"I think (the family night) is a great way to get to know one another and other cultures. When you come to conferences (with teachers) you don't get to do that."
Mariah Franco, a freshman at Hope, said she was happy her aunt had attended the event.
"It's good 'cause (family members) get to see what kind of school their kids go to," Franco said.
After two hours of enjoying food and music and talking to teachers, parents met with their children's advisers to get to know them better and to go over the teachers' lesson plans.
Lakin said he decided to start "Juntos" when he noticed that many parents "were ignored (because they) didn't understand a lot of what was going on" at Hope's graduation in May. Graduation speakers delivered speeches in English, while many parents of Hope students are more comfortable in other languages.
Lakin and Leininger experienced first-hand the cultures some of their students come from when they visited the Dominican Republic over the summer. The teachers spent five weeks visiting and staying with aunts, uncles and even parents of their students at Hope.
"Most families were weirded out, or at least, it seemed that on the phone" about the teachers visiting the Dominican Republic, Lakin said, adding that some were "standoffish." But once Lakin and Leininger met the relatives, they became more friendly.
"They were the most generous people we could've met," Lakin said. "They were like, 'You teach our kids, we like you immediately.'"
Some of the parents Lakin met had sent their only children to Providence to receive a better education, he said.
"Eighty percent (of the parents in the Dominican Republic) are expecting or hoping to be brought to the U.S. by their child once they turn eighteen," he said.
Lakin called his experience "humbling" as it made him understand his students' family backgrounds. "It wasn't real to me until I saw it," he said.
Based on what they learned in the Dominican Republic, Lakin and Leininger decided how to make Hope more accessible for immigrant parents. With the help of students, the teachers have placed Spanish signs welcoming and directing visitors to specific rooms throughout the school. There are also signs outside teachers' rooms that list the languages they speak.
Recently, Lakin has also started a daytime and an after-school tutoring program at Hope with Brown students. The program currently has seven volunteers, three of whom have already started working with Hope students.
Mindy Phillips '10, one of the volunteers in the program who was at the event Tuesday evening, said she and the other two tutors - Folashade Modupe '10 and Keith Dellagrotta'10 - go into limited English proficiency history classes, for example, answering students' questions and giving extra help in both English and Spanish.
Phillips said the classes can be a "nightmare" for teachers because they are not divided based on students' level of English proficiency. That means the same class can have students who are fairly fluent in English and students who don't speak English at all.
"You can't cater how you speak to every student," said Phillips, who tutors at the school along with family night attendees. "It's necessary (for students) to have special attention."
Phillips said she was "amazed" a similar program didn't exist before, especially since "Hope is a place in need of help ... and close to Brown."
So far, Hope has funded the program's activities, such as making signs and preparing for the family night, Lakin said, adding that teachers have also been very "generous" in donating money and food. Lakin and Leininger paid for their trip to the Dominican Republic.
In the future, Lakin and Leininger said they would like to start ESL classes for Hope parents. Lakin said he'd like to have "workshops educating parents about college, financial aid, and even health and nutrition workshops."
