East Haven CARES Jumps Into Second Spring of Sessions

Spring has undoubtedly sprung — and tonight East Haven Public Schools will spring into its second season of sessions for its CARES program.

The initiative, which is based at the and stands for "Cares About Residents Especially Students" — seeks to strengthen the home/school relationship among the school community's Hispanic families.

The weekly informational and family events serve to improve communication between the families and the schools, as well as provide learning opportunities "for the success of all our children," according to Tuttle School Principal Laura Amato.

"It's about supporting all our kids and families," Amato told East Haven Patch during a recent interview at the elementary school.

Relationship Building

The CARES initiative was spurred by the increasing influx of East Haven Schools students who are members of immigrant and/or families that primarily speak Spanish.

In addition to language, there are also at times cultural and other differences that also need to be taken into account when it comes to strengthening the school/home ties, Amato said.

"The demographics of the town have changed dramatically over the past few years," Amato said. "And we wanted to do something that really focused on starting relationship building with those families in our community."

And so, to help improve communication and understanding within the entire school community, the CARES program was created early last year through a collaborative effort by the school district's administration, teachers, English Language Learners and East Haven's Adult Education departments.

Beginnings

The program held its first of several weekly sessions late last April.

Those session topics included: “What’s Going on in Your Child’s Classroom?” “Reading and Writing,” “Math Night,” “Home and School Partners” and “Getting Ready for School Year 2011-2012.”

Attending each event and information session was Little Jackets teacher Elizabeth Hume, who served as a translator for families that primarily spoke Spanish.

The program proved to be a very successful one, Amato said.

"Hispanic families are very supportive of education," the principal said.

"And they don't want separate activities, they want inclusiveness," she said.

And so, the school administration decided to build on last year's success, with new weekly sessions this spring.

"We want to continue that relationship building," Amato said.

Family Story Night

The program's first event this season will be tonight's "Family Story Night" at Tuttle School.

The evening will feature Leeny Del Seamonds — an internationally acclaimed and bilingual performer — weaving his multicultural stories for parents, students and school staff members alike.

Parents and caregivers will also given an opportunity to speak with and ask questions of teachers and other school staff members.

And each of the students who are attending tonight will receive a book to take home, which they are then encouraged to read together with their family members.

'Sharing of Culture'

From there, the program will host a new session each week, either on a Wednesday or a Thursday, at 7 p.m.

Families can attend all of the sessions or just one or two, whatever works best with their schedule and meets their interest and or needs.

Amato said she and the other organizers are already busy setting up the next session, which will be called "Little Scientists."

"In order to move forward, there has to be a sharing of culture and ideas," Amato said.

"And ultimately, our goal is to no longer need the CARES program," she said. "But until then, we want to know what the schools can do to help our families."