Parent Mentors in District 15
This year, Community Consolidated School District 15 received a grant that brings parent mentors into our classrooms, spending 100 hours supporting students and staff. Our parent mentors recently completed the training required and have begun assisting classrooms in District 15!
Research from the National Coalition for Parent Involvement in Education shares that, “no matter their income or background, students with involved parents are more likely to have higher grades and test scores, attend school regularly, have better social skills, show improved behavior, and adapt well to school.” To this end, District 15, in partnership with the Partners for Our Communities (POC) of Palatine, sought out and secured grant funding to bring the Parent Mentor Program to two of our schools, Jane Addams and Virginia Lake, for the 2021-22 school year.
Parents participating in the parent mentor program have committed to spending 100 hours of time in our D15 classrooms! They have been assigned to one classroom (that is not their child’s classroom) where they will assist teachers, interact with students, and support instruction Monday through Thursday. Their work will be supervised by our parent liaisons who will serve as program coordinators and are already very familiar with our school routines, expectations and procedures. On Fridays, the parent mentor team will all come together at the POC for an opportunity to ask questions, share reflections, and receive professional development in relevant educational topics as well as leadership skills. After successfully fulfilling their 100 hour commitment, a recognition ceremony will be held and parents will receive a stipend of $1,000.
Renee Urbanski, Assistant Superintendent of Multilingual Programs shared, “We are so excited to be able to bring this opportunity to our schools. Not only do our parent mentors support our staff, they support our students' success in the classroom. We are thrilled to be able to offer this program at two of our D15 schools this year!”
Kathy Millin, POC Executive Director added, "One of the goals of POC is to build leaders in the community. We are so hopeful that this program will allow us to offer more capable and passionate women the platform to build their leadership skills and help their children's school, as well as build and strengthen their personal vocational goals."
Sandra Lahoz, a retired District 15 bilingual teacher, is serving as the Director of this program and will be the liaison between District 15 and POC in this joint effort. District 15 is very excited to launch this partnership.
