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 Community Roots Charter School has been developed in order to provide families in Fort Greene, Brooklyn with an excellent educational opportunity for their children. Community Roots was founded on the principle that parents, staff, and community members can and should work together in structured and meaningful ways. Community Roots makes every effort possible to make families partners in their children’s education and is committed to ongoing and open communication with families. Community Roots uses an integrated social studies curriculum, which provides multiple entry points for children and families to share their cultures and experiences with one another, and to ask questions to further their understanding. Through our collaboration with BAM children’s cultures are explored through the arts; through these programs there are opportunities for families to participate by accompanying children to performances and supporting teaching artists during workshop times during and after school. We believe that families can be a part of Community Roots in a wide variety of ways and we want to provide as many opportunities as possible for parents to become as engaged with the school. Through Community Council, families have a role in the school’s governance. Families are also encouraged to attend and participate in open meetings of the Board. Community Roots co-directors and staff work to create an environment where families feel welcome, valued, and useful.
The following structures promote family involvement at Community Roots Charter School:
Community Open Work (COW)
Family members will be invited to participate in Community Open Work (COW), which will begin in January 2007. COW is a weekly hour-long block where children choose from a variety of workshops. Workshops are held for six weeks and will be taught by parents, teachers, and staff. Workshops will be given on a wide array of topics depending on skills and interests held by those instructing. Possible workshop topics can include but are not limited to: cooking, puppetry, sewing, poetry, gardening, quilting, and digital photography.
Parents also have the chance to be directly involved in the management and development of the COW program. Interested parent volunteers will meet monthly with a lead staff member to develop recruitment strategies to increase community and parental participation in COW, create a workable COW schedule, and collect necessary materials for the wide array of workshops.
Class Parents
At Community Roots each class has two Class Parents who act as the “go to” people for the classroom teacher. Class Parents work differently with each team of teachers to support the work they are doing. Primarily, Class Parents mobilize and reach out to the entire parental community of each class and grade. Below are some examples of how class parents may function:
To elicit from parents the supports they want and need as a group
To elicit a diverse group of volunteers to accompany the class on field trips
To collect necessary materials for a classroom project
To organize well attended grade level potlucks
To encourage parental support for COW
To reach out to the community for support on specific class studies - For example; in the first grade during the Restaurant Study the class needs a number of community restaurants to agree to host class visits.
To reach out to classroom parents for support on specific class studies - For example, in kindergarten during the Family Study there is a great deal of family participation needed.
Community Council
An important way for parents to become involved in Community Roots governance is through the Community Council, which is open to all parents, staff, and community members interested in supporting the school. The Community Council is a way for parents to be involved in a wide variety of school activities, from planning special events (e.g. fundraising, special programs) to identifying community needs and working to find solutions. Participation in the Community Council is voluntary with no formal commitment necessary to participate. In its first year, the co-directors are working with the Community Council to establish a basic governance structure and to put systems into place for facilitating meetings. The Community Council has scheduled monthly meetings as well as reserved time for use of the Family Room for Council-related projects.
The Community Council is at times asked by the co-directors or the Board to participate in or comprise advisory committees to study or implement a specific policy or action of the school. For example, committees may be put together to study alternative food service vendors or needed and desired parental workshops. The co-directors and the Board of Trustees see the Community Council as a way to stay in touch with the school community’s needs and bring these issues to the attention of the Board, as well as a way to make use of the resources that exist within the community. The Community Council is encouraged to have representatives at open Board Meetings and Co-Directors may ask a representative to speak at Board Meetings when topics arise in Council Meetings that are believed to warrant the Board’s attention. Members of Community Council can also request to be put on the agenda of the next Board meeting when they believe that an issue needs to be heard.
Family Workshops
Families are surveyed about workshops they would be interested in taking as well as those they would be interested in teaching. Workshops are taught by and available to teachers and parents. For example, a parent might attend a workshop on reading aloud to their child, in addition to planning and implementing a workshop in dance. Workshops are also opened up to people in the community and different workshops are offered in the fall and spring, which are responsive to the needs of Community Roots families.
Expectations of Families
Families at Community Roots are expected to be active participants in their children’s education. A list of family expectations is given to parents at informational sessions for their review. Before children are enrolled at Community Roots, families are encouraged to sign and agree to be responsible for the following commitments. (The school understands that families can not and will not be required to sign this agreement or attend informational sessions as a condition to enrollment).
getting their children to school on time every day;
either feeding their child a nutritious breakfast at home or bringing them to school with; sufficient; time to eat breakfast and get to their classroom on time;
supporting their child in completing all of their homework;
returning school phone calls, mail responses, or emails in a timely manner;
communicating with children, staff and other families in a respectful manner;
giving annual input on school-wide surveys;
calling the school if their child is going to be late or absent; and
participating in classroom curriculum.
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As part of the fundraising efforts for our school, we now have available Community Roots T-Shirts and Pullover Hoodies with our logo on the front and “Fort Greene, Brooklyn” printed on the back.