my visit with Ms. Dunlap

Ms. Dunlap and I went on a home visit a couple weeks back to visit one of her third grade students. We were both very honored by the reception we received. A large number of family members had gathered to receive us including the Grandfather, Mother, Uncles, brother and some of her cousins. The family made us feel very welcome, offering us a refreshment and inviting us to look at lots of wonderful pictures from the family photo album. Many of the family members only spoke Spanish so I was glad to be able to serve as an interpreter.

We spoke about a lot of things including life in their native country, how much Ms. Dunlap's visit meant to them and the importance of the school and home working together to support a students education. Ms. Dunlap also shared some of her family history and how she grew up in Pennsylvania. She told the family about how much she liked being a teacher and that she enjoyed this years class a lot. The family was very engaging and glad to hear how well their daughter was doing. They were just as excited to hear that she was a model citizen.
Before we left, Ms. Dunlap's student invited her to the backyard where she picked some beautiful flowers for her to take home .

The home visit was an amazing experience and everyone expressed their hope for the visits to continue into the next school year. I am glad that I was able to accompany Ms. Dunlap and appreciate her invitation.

Grant Awarded to the THVP

Piney Branch’s PTA was awarded a $2,000 grant by the Takoma Foundation to support the Teacher Home Visit Project. The Takoma Foundation raises local money to fund local organizations that make the community a better place to live, work and play. The grant was presented at the Foundation’s recent Azalea Awards. The picture above shows Piney Branch principal Bertram Generlette and PTA co-presidents Kate Kelliher and Adrienne Tilton holding the actual check!

The grant will be used to support the THVP in a variety of ways including providing on-going technical assistance to teachers as they work to strengthen relationships with families through home visits.

A big THANK YOU to the Takoma Foundation for all its work in recognizing neighborhood heroes, promoting community unity, and especially for providing financial assistance to the Teacher Home Visit Project!

Teachers Meet to Kick-off Home Visit Project

Today marked the official kick-off of the Teacher Home Visit Project at Piney Branch Elementary School. The goals of the project are so simple, but at the same time really revolutionary.

Teachers at this Takoma Park, MD elementary school are experimenting with the idea of visiting parents at home, not with the purpose of doing any assessments or interventions, but solely to build relationships. Teachers and administrators at this school really do believe that parents and teachers are co-educators and that kids do best when the two work together. But, how best to do that? By creating genuine connections of trust and respect.

Teachers met today to exchange ideas about the best ways to engage parents and ensure successful home visits. I felt privileged to be a part of the conversation. I work for Impact Silver Spring, a non-profit that is partnering with the school to rollout the project. My organization works to promote thriving multicultural communities. This type of project is right up our alley given that Piney Branch is a school blessed with a great deal of student diversity. Impact will be providing technical and financial support to the project.

Teachers will start making visits soon and will be blogging about their experiences. Parents will also be invited to post.

I believe that, in addition to all of the other great things happening at this school, the Teacher Home Visit Project will act to further break down barriers that hinder authentic and resolute parent/teacher partnerships. Stay tuned to see what happens!