New Community Schools Initiative Program Comes to Hillcrest Elementary

Back in June, the Peekskill City School District announced that Hillcrest Elementary School had been awarded a $500,000 grant from New York State for their Community Schools Initiative. The program, which has been funded for the next three years, has planned to address a wide range of support services for Peekskill’s students and their families including health care, counseling, nutrition, and job preparation services. Now in its beginning stages, the new outreach program has begun to take shape as multiple representatives from agencies across Westchester settle into their new home at Hillcrest.

“I’m very excited about this,” said Phyllis Elliott, the Project Director of the Hillcrest Community School Initiative (HCSI). “I see it as a chance to get the school to a really good place and help families and their children. I think every parent wants the best for their children, but they aren’t always able to get it. Just having the medical, dental and mental health resources available at school is important.”

“We want to help bring this community together by offering family support, advocacy and education so that the children can meet their academic goals,” Elliott added.

Elliott, an employee of Family Ties Westchester, is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker by trade and has over 20 years of experience in her field. She will be overseeing the Hillcrest program which also hosts staff from local agencies such as Peekskill Agencies Together (PAT), Hudson River Health Care, and Andrus.

Using a “System of Care” model, which has been practiced throughout Westchester for over two decades, Elliott and others hope to create a comfortable, caring environment where parents can come in and talk about their needs.

The program will run five days a week at the school and the staff will include a bilingual family resource specialist who can help assist newly immigrated residents with registering children for school and English classes. These families can also receive information and advice that pertains to applying for driver’s licenses, social security cards and citizenship. Computer services and resume writing assistance are a few of the many additional services that will also be available to those who take advantage of the program.

“This is a safe place where people can come get help for their family,” Elliot said. “We want to help anyone who needs it. We want people to bond with each other and the schools are a perfect place to do this. We are going to create a place where children can learn. If everyone is getting help and feeling supported, teachers included, the children will have an easier time learning and reaching their academic goals.”

The HCSI program will be holding an Open House at Hillcrest’s Back to School Night on Wednesday, September 17 at 6:30 p.m. Parents and guardians of Hillcrest students are welcome to attend. Additionally, all Hillcrest families are encouraged to participate in a Needs Assessment Survey so that the program can cater specifically to the needs of the school’s parents/guardians, students and teachers.

For more information on this program, or to set up an appointment, please call Hillcrest Elementary at (914) 739-2284.

Photo: Phyllis Elliott, the Project Director of the Hillcrest Community School Initiative trains Fordham University interns Aida Velesaca and Lesley Ulloa. Velesaca and Ulloa will be working alongside professionals and helping to carry out Hillcrest’s Community Schools Initiative