Title:Application for Delaware College Access Challenge Sub-Grant:
Parent College Readiness Support
District:Christina School District
Project Director:Vilicia Cade, Ed. D., Director of Secondary Education
Fiscal Agent:Robert Silber- Asst. Superintendent, Chief Financial Officer
silberr@ christina.k12.de.us
Partner:$tandByMe
Total Amount Requested = $5,000
Date of Application:November 11, 2013
- Quality of Proposed Program Model
Through this grant opportunity, the Christina School District (CSD) will offer parents of high school seniors with numerous training sessions/workshops focused on the college application and financial aid processes. The purpose of these meetings is to actively complete relevant financial documents while increasing the financial awareness of families. The ultimate goal is to increase the college enrollment rate of CSD students. CSD is partnering with $tandByMe to achieve this goal.
To ensure that the program is meaningful and impactful, CSDis employing proven recommendations from the U.S. Department of Education’s What Works Clearinghouse-NCEE 2009-4066/Helping Students Navigate the Path to College: What High Schools Can Do(pp.31-42) and the Harvard Strategic Data Project’s Summer Melt Handbook (pp.28-36). The specific recommendations are listed below.
- Help students/parents complete financial aid forms prior to eligibility deadlines. [WWC]
- Hire counselors to reach out to students proactively during the summer months. [SDP]
$tandByMe has developed courses for parents that are perfectly aligned with the research and the objectives. Parents will be able to attend free “College Application Completion Workshops” and “FAFSA Completion Workshops” at numerous locations across the District. The workshops will be offered multiple times on different days of the week and at varying times of the day. In addition, parents will be invited to “College Application Volunteer Training for Parents”; this train-the-trainer event will provide adults with toolkits to help families across the District. This fortifies the human capital of the District and reinforces sustainability.
Parents will have access to computers and all necessary resources. Transportation is a barrier for some parents, so buses will be provided for the training/workshops {cost = $3,000}.
During the summer, parents will be encouraged to visit the high schools to better understand and manage the transition to college. A counselor and staff will be at each high school during the summer to interpret confusing college documents and keep the family on-track for college. Occasional summer transportation to the high schools will be offered {cost = $2,000}. Parents will receive counseling on how to handle a child’s absence (i.e., adjusting to empty nest) and how to support the transition process.
Success will be measured by:
- Attendance at the parent events
- # of college applications completed at a parent event
- # of FAFSAs completed at a parent event
- # of parents who become volunteers
- # of parents who visit a high school during the summer
- Immediate and Maximum Impact
The parent training sessions and workshops will be open to all parents of CSD high school seniors. The sessions will be actively marketed to the following groups of seniors: AVID, ASPIRA, and seniors who participated in the summer 2013 College Readiness Scholar Institute (CRSI); almost all of these students are first generation college-goers. The program will be described face-to-face with students, papers will be mailed home and distributed at sports events, calls will be made to residences, and e-mails will be sent out to market the workshops to parents. Home and School Associations will be engaged to drive participation, attendance, and the focus on college-bound seniors. Transportation will be provided and schools will try to provide refreshments.
Events will be held at Sarah Pyle Academy and Delaware School for the Deaf to further enhance the impact of this program to students and families.
By providing safe learning environments, $tandByMe and the District will address financial, social, and/or environmental concerns. Financial obstacles are directly addressed through the topics of the workshops. Volunteers and counselors will talk individually with families to understand and address their social/environmental concerns.
Workshops are scheduled for November 2013 and will continue throughout the year, so immediacy and access are very high.
- Evidence of Program Reach
The entire CSD will be part of this program; all seniors and their families are invited to participate. $tandByMe has already successfully integrated its activities into the high schools and partnered with CSD. Counselors are familiar with $tandByMe and its successful approaches to implementations. Schools are supportive of $tandByMe and will encourage families to attend the workshops.
To broaden its reach, $tandByMe is providing train-the-trainer sessions for CSD parents and CSD staff members. In this manner, CSD adults will be more familiar with the college application/transition steps and more comfortable with handling technical questions/concerns.
- Demonstration of Readiness to Implement the Program Immediately
$tandByMe already has the workshops designed and all tools/resources secured. Volunteers are already in place for all sessions. CSD and $tandByMe are working together to develop the workshop calendar for the remainder of the academic year and summer 2014. The first sessions occur in November 2013.
CSD already has parent connections via Home and School, ASPIRA clubs, AVID events, Parent University, CRSI parent contracts, and sports events. By eliminating the transportation barrier, parents will be more inclined to attend and actively shape the college plans of their children.
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