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We will be encouraging critical thinking skills, developing reading comprehension, writing skills, analyzing texts, learning new vocabulary, and understanding the importance of literacy.

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-Mornings and afternoons by appointment only (email, call, or speak in person to create an appointment)

-6:30-7:30 am and  2:45-4:30 pm (Monday - Friday). Emails can be sent any time but replies on weekends will be slow or unavailable until Monday morning.

Students may walk in any time if the door is open and class is not in session.

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Greetings! I am Ms. Saint Surin and I am your child's English teacher. I was born and raised in Miami, Florida and I have been living in Tampa since I started college at the University of South Florida. I love movies, music, reading, and literature and I hope I can inspire your children to love reading too! Please scroll (up & down, left & right) through each column of  this newsletter  to help keep you updated on resources.

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E-mail: asaintsurin@brindleton.edu  (best contact)

Phone : (727)-222-2222

Website: www.brindletonhigh.edu/teachers/asaintsurin/

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Check out Heard 'Em Say  in Tampa Bay for information on spoken word and poetry for teens. It is a successful youth arts collective that gives adolescents a safe place to express themselves.

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You are welcome to come to school events such as Open House and to join the PTA (Parent Teacher association).
There are extracurricular student events you are encouraged to attend such as sports events, bake sales, concerts and field trips. I will post about them often.

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We adopt the P.A.C.T
Perserverance
Action
Community
Teamwork

How do can you adopt the P.A.C.T as a parent/guardian?

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Regardless of family income or background, students whose parents are involved in their schooling are more likely to have:

higher grades and test scores,

attend school regularly,

have better social skills, show improved behavior,

adapt well to school.

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Many research studies support what teachers instinctively know: Students do better academically and socially when schools build positive relationships with their families.

Here are several studies that explore the critical school-home connection:

Parent involvement in education is crucial. 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.
National Coalition for Parent Involvement in education. 2006. Research Review and Resources. Retrieved September 16, 2011, from www.ncpie.org/WhatsHappening/researchJanuary2006.cfm.

Regardless of family income or background, students whose parents are involved in their schooling 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.
Henderson, A.T., and K.L. Mapp. 2002. A New Wave of Evidence: The Impact of School, Family, and Community Connections on Student Achievement. National Center for Family and Community Connections with Schools, Southwest Educational Development Laboratory.

The most accurate predictors of student achievement in school are not family income or social status, but the extent to which the family creates a home environment that encourages learning, communicates high yet reasonable expectations for the child's achievement, and becomes involved in the child's education at school.
National PTA. 2000. Building Successful Partnerships: A Guide for Developing Parent and Family Involvement Programs. Bloomington, Indiana: National Education Service, 11-12.

When parents are involved at school, the performance of all the children at school, not just their own, tends to improve. The more comprehensive and well planned the partnership between school and home, the higher the student achievement.
Henderson, A.T., and Nancy Berla. 1995. A New Generation of Evidence: The Family Is Critical to Student Achievement. Washington, DC: Center for Law and Education, 14-16.

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What Research Says About Parent Involvement | Responsive Classroom

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Many research studies support what teachers instinctively know: Students do better academically and socially when schools build positive relationships with their families. Here are several studies that explore the critical school-home connection: Parent involvement in education is crucial.

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Dr. Karen Mapp's, Ed.D, key findings in her research state that increased family engagement in schools is strongly associated with:

Faster rates of literacy acquisition among children

Increased rates of going on to secondary education among youth

Increased attendance rates among students

Decreased rates of school dropout among youth

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Introduction

The following scholars and influencers are what we at Families & Schools Together, Inc. consider to be a select list of the current thought leaders in parent engagement. Along with offering ideas and methods for improving the school-family alliance, as well as identifying the most effective components of parent engagement programming, each influencer validates the strong relationship between parent engagement and student academic success. We provide a brief summary of each author, as well as their research and practice interests, and a list of relevant articles, books and key findings. We hope this list will offer information to support parent engagement efforts in your school or community.
1. Dr. Susan Auerbach
Dr. Susan Auerbach is an Associate Professor at Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies at California State University Northridge. Susan Auerbach's research interests include parent/family engagement in education, school-community partnerships, as well as social context of urban education. In her heavily cited work "Portraits of Leadership for Family Engagement in Urban Schools," Dr. Auerbach details the qualities of effective leadership for engaging families in their child's education.
Key Findings of this Qualitative Study:

Strong Belief in the Importance Parent Engagement: Effective school leaders "were convinced that meaningful family engagement was not only desirable, but possible in their schools, and that it was up to them to take proactive steps to achieve it."

Proactive Roles: The school leaders were who were most likely to engage parents were also "more likely to be directly involved in initiating, planning, and implementing substantive activities with families, rather than appearing at events as figureheads and delegating the organization of activities to parent center staff"

Doing the Right Thing: A Social Justice Orientation: Effective leaders were motivated by an ethical commitment to social justice.

Selected Book: School Leadership for Authentic Family and Community Partnerships: Research Perspectives for Transforming Practice
With the apparent success of parent engagement at increasing student achievement, school leaders are increasingly encouraged to pursue meaningful alliances with communities and families. However, due cultural barriers and other challenges, school leaders are often left without the skills, tools and means to support authentic alliances. In order to establish socially-just schools, where parents are not only engaged but also leaders within the school community, school leaders must seek meaningful community-school partnerships. This book gathers the research surrounding school leadership and best practices regarding enthusing meaningful family-school collaboration.
2. Dr. James Comer
Dr. Comer is best known for establishing the Comer School Development Program in 1968, which is an institute that promotes the collaboration of parents, educators and communities to improve the academic trajectories of their children. With a strong foundation in developmental science, psychiatry and public health, Dr. Comer understands the social determinants of academic achievement and therefore emphasizes the importance of strong families in ensuring and preparing students for school success. Dr. Comer dedicates his research to understanding and identifying the developmental factors related to academic ability. In other words, Dr. Comer has identified the importance of strong, nurturing families on the development of children, especially those living in areas affected by poverty.
Selected Quote:
"The purpose of school is not to raise test scores, but rather to prepare our young children to be successful in life. It starts with home life as early as possible."
Selected articles: Dr. Comer Emphasizes Development of the Whole Child Selected books: What I Learned In School: Reflections on Race, Child Development, and School Reform (2009) 3. Joyce Epstein
Dr. Joyce L. Epstein is director of both the Center on School, Family, and Community Partnerships and the National Network of Partnership Schools, as well as a professor of education and sociology at Johns Hopkins University. Dr. Epstein's research focuses on school leadership, as well as school programming and its effects on family and community involvement as well as academic achievement.

Dr. Epstein is perhaps most famous for her heavily cited framework on the six types of parent involvement.

1. Parenting: Support the home environment and strengthen families so as to support students at school.

2. Communicating: Create effective modes of school-to-home and home-to-school communications regarding school programs and child progress.

3. Volunteering: Recruit parents to support school endeavors.

4. Learning at Home: Share information regarding ideas for learning at home, as well what is going on in the classroom to support family-school alignment regarding educational endeavors.

5. Decision Making: Empower parents to be leaders, and involve them in school decision-making.

6. Collaborating with Community: Identify and integrate resources and services from the community to strengthen school programs, family practices, and student learning and development.

Selected Quote:
"The way schools care about children is reflected in the way schools care about the children's families. If educators view children simply as students, they are likely to see the family as separate from the school. That is, the family is expected to do its job and leave the education of children to the schools. If educators view students as children, they are likely to see both the family and the community as partners with the school in children's education and development."
4. Dr. Nancy Hill
Dr. Nancy Hill is a developmental psychologist and focuses her research on the ways in which race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status affect parenting beliefs and behaviors across different racial and ethnic groups. In her research, she has identified the ways in which parent practices have different impacts on child mental health and behavior depending on demographic differences.

In a recent meta-analysis, Dr. Hill examined strategies that best promote academic achievement among middle schoolers, who historically show lower engagement and declines in academics performance.
Key Findings:

Across 50 studies, parental involvement was positively associated with achievement, with the exception of parental help with homework.

Involvement that reflected academic socialization had the strongest positive association with achievement.

A cademic socialization includes "communicating parental expectations for education and its value or utility, linking school-work to current events, fostering educational and occupational aspirations, discussing learning strategies with children, and making preparations and plans for the future."
Selected Quote:
"No Child Left Behind talks about parental involvement in terms of communication and accountability. But, too often, teacher-parent communication is problem-driven. If parents could receive more information about their children's strengths and about curriculum content, they would be better equipped to offer effective guidance and to reinforce classroom learning in real world situations."
5. Dr. William Jeynes
Dr. William Jeynes is a professor of Education at California State University, Long Beach. Dr. Jeynes has published over 100 academic articles with a broad range of focus, but is particularly dedicated to parent engagement programming. Recently, Dr. Jeynes synthesized over 51 empirical studies focused on the efficacy of school-based parent involvement programs. In doing so, Dr. Jeynes evaluated the effectiveness of parent involvement programs, as well as what components of programs tend to be most effective at increasing student achievement.
Key Findings of Meta-Analysis:
Parental involvement programs are associated with higher student achievement.

Of the different components within parent engagement programming studied in the meta-analysis, the components most effective at improving student academic achievement were programs that involved teacher-parent partnerships, teacher-parent communication, checking homework and shared reading.
Full Meta-Analysis can be found here.
Selected Book: Parental Involvement and Academic Success (2010)
6. Dr. Karen Mapp
Dr. Karen L. Mapp, Ed.D., is a senior lecturer on education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and the faculty director of the Education Policy and Management master's program. Dr. Mapp focuses her research on creating and strengthening family, community, and school partnerships in order to increase student achievement.
Key Findings:
Dr. Mapp, through her research, has identified that increased family engagement in schools is strongly associated with:

Faster rates of literacy acquisition among children

Increased rates of going on to secondary education among youth

Increased attendance rates among students

Decreased rates of school dropout among youth

Dr. Mapp has also identified that when schools conduct home visits, students show a 20% decline in absences at school and those children are also more likely to read at or above grade level than their peers without home visits.
Selected Quote:
"We have 50 years of research showing that what families do matters. Whether it's loving school, college access, good attendance, or academic success, family engagement has positive correlations with all sorts of indicators."
Suggestions for schools:
Dr. Karen Mapp, as a consultant on family engagement to the U.S. Department of Education, has established a framework for family-school partnerships. Within this framework, she has identified 5 key factors of strong family-school partnerships:

Linked to learning- initiatives must be aligned with school and district achievement goals and connect parents to the teaching and learning goals for the students.

Relational- a major focus of the initiative is on building respectful and trusting relationships between families and district, school and program staff.

Developmental- the initiatives focus not only on providing a service but also on building the intellectual, social, and human capital of stakeholders engaged in the program.

Collective/Collaborative- learning is conducted in group versus individual settings and focused on building strong networks and learning communities.

Interactive- participants are given opportunities to test out, practice, and apply new skills.

In conclusion, we have detailed just a few of the thought leaders in parent engagement research to support and guide school stakeholders in their process of engaging and establishing strong alliances with parents in their community. Again, we hope that understanding importance of, and best practices in, parent engagement will help schools to support the academic trajectory of their students. Please look for more collation articles like this in the future to continue exploring and learning the latest developments in parent/family engagement.

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The Importance of Parent Engagement: A List of Research and Thought Leadership

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Introduction The following scholars and influencers are what we at Families & Schools Together, Inc. consider to be a select list of the current thought leaders in parent engagement. Along with offering ideas and methods for improving the school-family alliance, as well as identifying the most effective components of parent engagement programming, each influencer validates the strong relationship between parent engagement and student academic success.

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The TBAWP is a wonderful nonprofit organization that works with the University of South Florida to improve writing and learning for students across Tampa.

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Who We Are and What We Aim to Do

Our Mission: TBAWP is a nonprofit professional development organization of teachers teaching teachers located at the University of South Florida, Tampa. In-service sessions, young writers camps, and the Invitational Leadership Institute are the core of the organization's work to foster life-long writers.

Our Vision: The Tampa Bay Area Writing Project (TBAWP) works to create life-long writers.

The Tampa Bay Area Writing Project (TBAWP) is an affiliate of the National Writing Project and a partner with the University of South Florida. Consisting of highly skilled Teacher Consultants who are expert classroom educators from all grade levels and disciplines, TBAWP is committed to improving writing and learning across the Tampa Bay area.

TBAWP is a nonprofit professional development organization of teachers teaching teachers located at the University of South Florida, Tampa. In-service sessions, young writers camps, and the Invitational Summer Institute are the core of the organization's work to foster life-long writers.

Writing with the Florida Standards- Experience success with TBAWP's professional development sessions!

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Who We Are and What We Aim to Do Our Mission: TBAWP is a nonprofit professional development organization of teachers teaching teachers located at the University of South Florida, Tampa. In-service sessions, young writers camps, and the Invitational Leadership Institute are the core of the organization's work to foster life-long writers.

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 For Individuals who speak English as a Second language   

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 For Individuals who speak English as a Second language   

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This Hillsborough County site gives resources such as phone numbers and translators for individuals who have a limited proficiency in English.

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Limited English Proficiency Assistance

In adherence with Federal regulations, Hillsborough County's Office of the County Administrator will make reasonable efforts to ensure its programs, services and activities are meaningfully accessible to those who do not speak English proficiently. These efforts will include, but are not limited to:

Identifying County employees who are fluent in languages in addition to English to act as translators whenever necessary.

Utilizing Google's translator on all sites posted on the County website in order to allow individuals to translate information regarding County programs and services into their language of choice.

To determine if or when alternate language usage is required for meaningful access, the County will assess the program, service or activity using the following four factors:

The number or proportion of LEP persons eligible to be served or likely to be encountered by the county's programs, services or activities.

The frequency with which LEP individuals come in contact with these programs, services or activities.

The nature and importance of the program, service, or activity to people's lives.

The resources available to the County and the costs.

Contact Us

Persons requiring special language services should contact Hillsborough County's Communications Department:

Luis Lopez
601 E. Kennedy Ave., 21st Floor
Tampa, FL 33602
P: (813) 307-8377
F: (813) 276-5495
TTY or Relay number: 1-800-955-8771
Email

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Limited English Proficiency Assistance In adherence with Federal regulations, Hillsborough County's Office of the County Administrator will make reasonable efforts to ensure its programs, services and activities are meaningfully accessible to those who do not speak English proficiently.

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Ask about homework and school

Read with your child or ask about their assigned reading

Check the school website and their grades often

Encourage positive attitudes about learning :)

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Please complete this short survey for the first week of school so I may get to know you and your child better.

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Educators benefit when family involvement is strong, as school staff gain an awareness of the ways they can build on family strengths to support students’ success (Caplan, 2000). As teachers understand more about students’ lives, they are able to connect learning outside of the school to classroom learning in real and meaningful ways (Ferguson, 2004).

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Project Appleseed Parental Involvement in Public Schools

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Project Appleseed engages parental involvement in public schools. We provide resources for families who want to be engaged in their children's education.

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My door is always open if you are interested in observing a class session or to have a meeting inquiring about your child's work in my class. These options are also available virtually. Please contact me if you need a translation of the class syllabus.

Mi puerta siempre está abierta si está interesado en observar una sesión de clase o en tener una reunión para preguntar sobre el trabajo de su hijo en mi clase. Estas opciones también están disponibles virtualmente.

Por favor contácteme si necesita una traducción del programa de la clase.

Ma porte est toujours ouverte si vous êtes intéressé à observer une session de classe ou à avoir une réunion pour vous renseigner sur le travail de votre enfant dans ma classe. Ces options sont également disponibles virtuellement.

Veuillez me contacter si vous avez besoin d'une traduction du programme de cours.