Community Spotlight is on:

Washington Grove Elementary School: Hispanic Parent Outreach Program

Who They Are:

Washington Grove Elementary School is located in Gaithersburg, MD, and contains 425 students in classes ranging from pre-kindergarten through grade five. Its student population is 38 percent Hispanic, 23 percent African American, 12 percent Asian, and 27 percent Caucasian. Many students from Washington Grove are immigrants or the first generation born in the United States. Twenty-eight percent of its students are of Limited English Proficiency (LEP) and receive English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) services. A large number of its students come from families who are economically disadvantaged. At Washington Grove, 50 percent of students receive the Free and Reduced Meals (FARM) rate.

What They Do:

Mission: The goals of the Hispanic Parent Outreach Program include:

• Improve communication between Hispanic parents and the school staff.
• Increase these parents’ understanding of the school curriculum, standardized testing, and grading policies.

• Empower parents to take an active role in their children’s education.
• Empower parents to become active members and future leaders of our school community.
• Improve these parents’ self-esteem.
• Help parents take advantage of educational opportunities that can qualify them for more skilled jobs.
• Form a strong partnership between Hispanic parents and the school staff in order to ensure their children’s educational success.

How They Do It:

With the support of the City of Gaithersburg, the principal of Washington Grove Elementary School, Mrs. Kathy Brake, established the Hispanic Parent Outreach Program over 4 years ago.

The program helps the Hispanic community of Washington Grove Elementary School by:

• Offering regular Hispanic parent meetings with the support of the Conquista Tus Sueños Program of Montgomery County Public Schools.
• Establishing at least one Hispanic parent contact in each classroom who helps keep other parents in the classroom informed about upcoming meetings, etc.
• Establishing a Spanish Book Corner where students and parents can check out bilingual or Spanish books to read together.
• Forming groups such as the Sewing Circle where mothers come together for fellowship and to make quilts to raffle at the school fair.
• Offering Spanish literacy classes that promote lifelong learning and help parents learn how to help their children with homework.

• Participating in the school’s cultural arts programs.
• Establishing the fourth- and fifth-grade Girls Clubs.
• Offering Head Start programs for children ages 3 through fifth grade.
• Offering weekly Spanish literacy classes.

How SAMHSA’s Hispanic/Latino Initiative Helps

Hispanic Parent Outreach Coordinator Carolyn Camacho and school counselor, Anne Moran, started Girls Clubs based on the bilingual ¡Soy Unica! ¡Soy Latina! activity book “The Girl That I Am/La Niña Que Soy.” Multi-ethnic fourth- and fifth-grade girls participate in these clubs and each week they gather in the library to work on books. They incorporate related activities to reinforce messages that help build self-esteem and cultural pride.

These new experiences provide important connections to how the students think, learn, and express themselves in all subject areas. ¡Soy Unica! ¡Soy Latina! materials have given a framework to discuss important issues and the materials offer topics for our meetings. This is the second year Washington Grove Elementary School has conducted these clubs and the girls absolutely love it!

Contact Information:

Carolyn Camacho
Hispanic Parent Outreach Coordinator
Washington Grove Elementary School
8712 Oakmont Ave.
Gaithersburg, MD 20877
(301) 840-7120
Email: carolynwcamacho@aol.com

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