| to seek ways to better serve these students. Two years ago, they applied for a grant from the Foundation for Madison's Public Schools and were awarded $10,000 to create a resource center for Sandburg's Latino families. Over the past year, Sandburg staff worked with Latino families to select the materials that would make up the resource center. Around 15 to 20 families helped develop a list of materials that would interest Latino families. "It is usually really hard to find materials in Spanish for families," Sandburg bilingual kindergarten teacher Jamie Kobishop Herold said. "We made the whole process a family-school connection." A large group of families showed up at Sandburg on Nov. 28 to celebrate the grand opening of the new center where they were treated to a tour of the center, a scavenger hunt featuring the new materials available at the center, and dinner. Children of all ages and their parents were introduced to the procedures of the center, which will be open to families during school hours, and were encouraged to utilize its resources regularly. The center boasts a good selection of Spanish and bilingual books, math activities, puzzles, books on tape, and games to be used by families in their homes. "The center ensures that we have a home-school connection with Latino families," Deignan said. "It really validates them as community members at this school." The center's goals are twofold: improve student achievement and literacy among Latino students, and increase involvement of Latino families at Sandburg. The two go hand-in-hand. Latino students currently have the highest dropout rate in the United States and are more likely to be undereducated than all other minority groups combined. Reasons for this include, language and cultural barriers, low expectation of teachers, low socio-economic status, and isolation. Lack of parental involvement has also been cited as a concern and evidence strongly suggests a link between parental involvement and academic achievement. Sandburg staff hope that the center will work as a catalyst to increase Latino parental involvement at the school and create an inclusive community that promotes a welcoming atmosphere for all families. The other element of the center is to increase Latino student's literacy in both Spanish and English. While English-only schools were once the norm, educators are now recognizing the importance of incorporating both a bilingual student's native language, as well as English, in their education. "The center is really important because bilingual students need to be literate in their native language in order to be proficient in a second language," Sandburg bilingual first and second grade teacher Erica Zechman said. "That is well documented in research," Kobishop Herold added. "A student must be proficient in their first language in order to successfully learn a second." Staff at Sandburg say it is their hope that El Centro Familiar "will be a valuable connection between Sandburg School and the community." If the grand opening is any indication of the center's success, it appears it will be. |
| Sandburg Elementary School's Latino Resource Center: El Centro Familiar by Laura Salinger |
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| Sandburg Elementary School recently celebrated the grand opening of their new Latino Family Resource Center, El Centro Familiar. The first of its kind in Madison schools, the resource center was developed in an effort to better service the needs of Latino students and build connections with Latino families. According to Sandburg principal Michael Deignan, the Latino population at Sandburg has grown from 3 percent to over 25 percent in the past five years. "Which is who we are today," he said. This rapid growth in Sandburg's Latino student population prompted two Sandburg staff members |
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