Parents and Children Work Together to Improve ELA Skills

In February 2002, John F. Kennedy Magnet School, Port Chester, NY launched an innovative extended day program titled LANGUAGE, LITERACY, and SUCCESS. Lou Cuglietto, principal of JFK describes the program as "a Bilingual EXCEL Program addressing three goals of our overall school program: parent involvement, early English acquisition for our English Language LanguageLearners (ELL) children, and using technology to deliver our curriculum". The program was originally designed for students in grades 1,2 and 3 who need to accelerate their English language acquisition, but it has become much more. On scheduled days, students, with their parents sitting beside them, can be seen in the JFK lab working on the SuccessMaker program to help improve their English Language Arts skills. Students work at their own pace and the parents are given their own computer and work at their own pace. In several cases, the sessions have become a family event with younger siblings using available computers to work on their language acquisition skills.

The demand for participation in the program has been great and a waiting list started just weeks after the program was in full swing. "The program is wonderful, but there just isn't enough time" stated one parent after two weeks in the program. Children enjoy helping their parents learn how to use the computers and the level of parent involvement in other aspects of school life has increased. Teachers who administer the program are excited to see the parents learning alongside their children.

Funding for this program was obtained from a Bilingual EXCEL grant. The success of the program was a collaborative effort of the principal, dedicated teachers and professional development provided by the Lower Hudson Regional Information Center.