Following a request from the Principal of the John Marshall Elementary School, Teresa Harvey-Jackson, the Harvard Achievement Support Initiative team began to explore ways to give parents access to current brain research that informs teaching and learning, and this lead to an emerging partnership between BPS’s Parent University and Harvard.
On eight Tuesday evenings between March and May, the John Marshall School Library became the home for the pilot of the new Families Engaged in Learning series. A combination of research videos, group discussions, and mini-lectures, generated lively conversations.
On the evening of June 12th, over fifty people gathered in the John Marshall School cafeteria, transformed with balloons and bright colored tablecloths, to celebrate the completion of the FEL series. Family members, including partners and children, cheered when certificates were distributed. But they cheered even louder when participants stood up to share their experiences. After a round of sharing, one woman, who identified herself as a parent, grandparent and great-grandparent captured the spirit of the training and the dedication parents showed during the series.
“Taking part in this class is a demonstration of your love for your children; don’t ever forget that children are most important gift you will ever receive. They need to know that you care about their learning in order for them to succeed,” she said.
