Please Join Us for the Unveiling of the

Blueprint for

New Britain’s Young Children

Concrete strategies to improve the lives of

the city’s youngest residents

Concrete strategies to improve the lives of

the city’s youngest residents

Wednesday, December 2nd

6:30pm to 8pm

Vance Village Elementary School

183 Vance Street, New Britain

Light refreshments and childcare provided with preregistration

RSVP at www.NewBritainBirth-Eight.info

or call the New Britain Discovery Collaborative at 229-6018 x 309

Invitation to the Statewide Education Meeting!

CT Parent Power, CT Early Childhood Alliance and Meriden Children First would like to invite you to our STATE PUBLIC EDUCATION MEETING!

Taking Action to improve

Education for Kids

Saturday, November 14th

Registration: 12pm - 1pm

Program: 1pm - 3pm

Confirmed Guests include:

Dr. Jacqueline Jones

Senior Advisor to Arne Duncan for Early Childhoold

Dr. Mark McQuillan

Commissioner of Education in Connecticut

Speaker of the House, Chris Donovan

(D-Meriden)

Senator Tom Gaffey

(D-Meriden)

Co-Chair of the Education Committee

Issues to be addressed:

• Maximizing Access to Federal Funds for Early Childhoold and Public Schools
• Strengthening Parent-Community-School Partnerships
• Highlight "Best Practices" and Plans for Improving Educational Excellence

A bus will be provided from the New Britain Area, lunch is included.

Professional childcare available upon request. Transportation may be available from other towns. Limited seating available.

We hope to see you there! Please contact ctparentpower.org to sign up!

New Britain Parents participate in Early Childhood Advocacy Day

Space still Available in PSEE Class

We still have several spots open for our Parents Supporting Educational Excellence Class.

The posting below gives additional information about the class.

The class is now slated to begin with the Retreat, March 7th (from 9 am to 2 pm) and then the evening classes begin on Monday, March 9th at Diloreto Dual Language Magnet.

If you are interested in the class, please apply by clicking the button to the right =====>.

If the button isn't working, please call me at 538-6845 and I can take your information over the phone and answer any questions you have.

~Lisa

Parent Leadership Class to Start in New Britain (with a focus on Education)

By way of a test, I'll try just a simple announcement with more to follow.

The Parents Supporting Educational Excellence (PSEE) class is coming to New Britain. This will be our third course. The first was held at Chamberlain Elementary School three years ago and our second class was held at Vance Village last year.

The PSEE course runs for twelve weeks. It will start with a retreat on Saturday, Feb. 20th and then the classes will be held for twelve weeks in the Spring, starting on Feb. 23rd. List of class topics The Monday night classes will be held at Diloreto Dual Language Magnet and run from 6 pm to 8:30 pm. YES, childcare and meals (starting at 5:30) will be provided, all at NO COST to parents.

I will be posting or linking to more material on this class soon. It is a wonderful curriculum developed by the Connecticut Center for School Change and the State Commission on Children.

I don't need to tell any of you that these are trying economic times for both the schools and our community. Parent leadership can help make things better for all our children.

You can apply by clicking the link to the right!! You can do it, just click!!

Thanks for all you do.

New Britain Awarded Grant to Fund Parent Leadership Training

The Children's Trust Fund of Connecticut has awarded New Britain a grant for $26,000 to support parent leadership training. The funding will enable a partnership of the Human Resourses Agency and the New Britain Discovery Collaborative to offer two parent leadership programs.

The Parent Leadership Training Institute (PLTI) is a 20 week program in practical civics for parents who want to make a difference in their community. Download flier PLTI will be offered in the fall and winter of 2008-9.

Parent Involvement is the Key

The Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence in Kentucky convened a group to look at parent involvement. Their report , The Missing Piece of the Proficiency Puzzle makes for some interesting reading. One of the things it highlights are the very different perceptions of things between parents and people who work for the school system.

A companion piece to the report is a Parent Involvement Tool Kit for School Leaders. This web site includes tips and tools for school leaders trying to increase parent involvement