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Mock Lesson Evaluation Using the Danielson Framework

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Mock Lesson Evaluation Using the Danielson Framework

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Data from ESL morning program provided by GRASP GRANT 

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Data from ESL morning program provided by GRASP GRANT 

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Teacher or the Year Letter of Recommendation

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Teacher or the Year Letter of Recommendation

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Curriculum Development and Design Project

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Curriculum Development and Design Project

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JERSEY CITY - Homeless families in Hudson County will now be able to stay together while they search for permanent housing.

Family Promise of Hudson County opened its doors at the Fountain of Salvation Church on Communipaw Avenue on Thursday afternoon. The top floor of the building will serve as the nonprofit's "drop-in center" where families will receive services to help them regain sustainable independence.

With the help of Family Promise, congregations across Jersey City and Hoboken will open their doors for families to stay together at night. At other shelters in Hudson County, a father raising his young children or a mother caring for an adult son could be forced to separate.

"There are a number of organizations and programs that provide incredible support for the homeless in Hudson County," executive director Tiffany Kane said. "However, there are few offerings for homeless families that allow the entire family to find shelter and services together.

"Through Family Promise's unique shelter model, children will be able to remain in schools, parents can remain at their jobs, and entire families will be able to receive services through our case management and support system."

A national nonprofit founded in 1986, Family Promise has more than 200 affiliates across the United States. Since it's inception, the organization has served 750,000 people.

The local congregations that will operate as "host locations" for families are: Christ United Methodist (Jersey City), Cityline Church (Jersey City), Fountain of Salvation (Jersey City), Old Bergen Church (Jersey City), St. Ann Church (Hoboken), St. John's Lutheran Church (Jersey City), St. Paul's Church in Bergen (Jersey City), Temple Beth-El (Jersey City) and Temple B'nai Jacob (Jersey City).

Last year's point-in-time count -- a tally of Hudson County's homeless population -- found that 822 people were homeless as of Jan. 24, 2017. The survey also reported that 87 families were counted as being homeless. For the purpose of the count, a family comprises at least one adult and one child under 18 years old.

Family Promise celebrated its Hudson County launch a ribbon cutting ceremony attended by politicians from across the county. Proclamations were presented to the nonprofit from the Board of Chosen Freeholders and from U.S. Sen. Cory Booker's office.

Also on hand were representatives from CarePoint Health, which will provide health services to clients who seek help from the nonprofit. Counseling and housing assistance will also be offered through Family Promise of Hudson County.
Caitlin Mota may be reached at cmota@jjournal.com. Follow her on Twitter @caitlin_mota. Find The Jersey Journal on Facebook.

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Nonprofit seeks to keep Hudson County's homeless families together

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Homeless families in Hudson County will now be able to stay together while they search for permanent housing.

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When her second-grade class was starting to feel drained by virtual learning, Tiffany Kane ordered pizza kits for her students so they could cook and eat together during class.

"I have done a lot of extra activities with my students that went beyond just what is in the curriculum," Kane said. "Kind of like social and emotional learning and just some kind of time to spend together.

"We had a Zoom pizza-making class or a Zoom cookie-decorating class, little things like that kind of help the kids feel like they were together even though we were apart."

It is not hard to see why Kane, a teacher at School 16 on Sussex Avenue, was named the Jersey City School District 2020-2021 Teacher of the Year on May 6.

Deputy Superintendent Norma Fernandez said a panel of administrators and last year's teacher of the year selected Kane to represent the school district this year.

The 36-year-old Kane also volunteers her time in the community and at local churches. In 2018, she founded Family Promises of Hudson County, a non-profit that serves as a shelter for homeless families in Jersey City.

Once the organization could afford to hire someone to run the operations, Kane stepped down to maintain her role as a volunteer.

"She personifies the district's mission of educating for greatness by doing what is best for children, even if it also means helping their family," Fernandez said. "Ms. Kane demonstrates her philosophy through the actions she takes within the classroom and the community."

Kane says the Teacher of the Year award is a huge honor, and one that was totally unexpected.

"When they called my name, I had a second where I said 'Was that my name? That was me?'" Kane said. "Kind of took me a minute."

Kane said School 16 teachers are encouraged to go above and beyond the classroom. She does one major activity a month, like the pizza-making class, to help students cope with virtual learning.

Like most teachers, Kane, an educator for over 10 years, had to learn to adjust to teaching children remotely after the coronavirus pandemic shut down schools last year. The district reopened its doors to students for the first time in 13 months on April 29.

"I make a lot of time in my schedule for one-on-one time with students or small group time, so I can interact with them and see who needs what," Kane said. " It has been a year like no other ... everything kind of got flipped on its head ... something that worked in person in the classroom might not work remotely."

Kane doesn't like to leave things for the last minute, so she plans out what she wants her month to look like for her and her 33 students. She often spends her free time coming up with assignments the kids will be doing down the line.

She said she posts a schedule for the next day, so her students know what to expect. When she gets to work in the morning, she thinks about the student, a kid who has been struggling, and how she could help them that day.

Kane's school year ended a little early this year when she started her maternity leave Friday in preparation for the birth of her first child.

"I feel sad today is my last day," Kane said. "I definitely will miss the kids and I promised them I would join their 'Zooms' and stay in touch. I am not disappearing at all by any means."

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Jersey City's teacher of the year gets an A+ for keeping her students engaged through the pandemic

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"She personifies the district's mission of educating for greatness by doing what is best for children, even if it also means helping their family," Fernandez said.

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Descend the ground floor steps of Fountain of Salvation Church's unassuming side entrance on Jersey City's Pine Street - the parish sublets a portion of its basement to recently launched Family Promise of Hudson County (FPHC) - and you'll encounter a cozy universe adorned with handmade signs bearing inspirational quotes ("It always seems impossible until it's done"), along with several neatly organized staging areas. Children's books are grouped with educational toys and board games; breakfast cereals and canned goods with the microwave and minifridge; a desktop computer with a printer and portable phone; diapers and wipes with baby formula and lotion - all what volunteer Executive Director Tiffany Kane called "human needs."

For the four homeless families currently enrolled in the FPHC program, which is a local affiliate of the national nonprofit, this place is their temporary universe. Known as the Day Center, the Pine Street site is a daily residence where participants can take showers, prepare meals, store personal items, and spend downtime throughout the day. Because the Family Promise model does not call for an overnight shelter facility but instead relies on a cluster of local interfaith congregations to rotate the responsibilities of hosting folks overnight, the Day Center provides continuity for homeless parents and children at a time when a stable operating base is urgently needed.

Four moms with seven kids aged 1-12 comprise the current batch of clients, but Kane confirmed that families with dads, grandparents, and same-sex couples are all welcome. For safety's sake, domestic violence shelters do not usually allow fathers to stay with families, and others may place checks on who qualifies as a primary caretaker. But as long as everyone is safe - this includes a policy barring active substance abuse - Kane said there are no such restrictions. "If the grandma is the parent, then that's the family," Kane said.

In addition, the FPHC model is designed to keep the number of clients low, in order to provide meaningful services and increase the probability of success. The exact number "comes down to how many seats are in the van," Kane said. FPHC contracts with a local company to provide transportation services; its vans seat 14.

The official ribbon-cutting for Family Promise of Hudson County took place back in February, but the project has been in the works for a few years. Kane described the long process of assembling "all the pieces of the puzzle" - county and municipal buy-in, congregation recruitment, start-up funding - with a mixture of pride and exhaustion. She is also a full-time teacher at P.S. 16 and has been working doggedly alongside a crew of local stakeholders to help get FPHC off the ground.

When she's not teaching, Kane works out of a small administrative office adjacent to the cozy room on Pine Street. She is a parishioner at Saint Ann in Hoboken; it was through her church that she first heard about the county's Family Promise efforts and decided to become involved, eventually stepping into the executive director position. Neither she nor the two case managers currently working at FPHC are paid; the agency is working to secure funding for the positions. Her goal is to have a full-time, paid director in place by the fall. (Kane will continue to help out as an advisory presence.)

As for her current role, "I try to be available and around as much as possible," Kane said. Her teaching background informs much of how FPHC operates, from the well-oiled operations to the focus on consistency and communalism. "The idea is that by helping families experience a sense of community, we can support a pathway to housing stability."

Kane is also committed to respecting clients' privacy: the Jersey Digs visit was intentionally scheduled when the Center was empty of people, so that none of the families would feel compelled to put their lives on display.

Each evening at 7 p.m., families gather at the Day Center for transportation to the overnight host site. The congregations design their temporary "shelters" with air mattresses and room dividers belonging to FPHC; each family has its own sleeping nook cordoned off with dividers. Congregations recruit volunteers to cook and share meals with the families and to staff overnight shifts. Volunteers are asked to be warm and welcoming, and above all, not to judge.

In the morning, the van arrives at 6:30; families have the option of riding to the Day Center, or they may arrange for their own transportation to bring kids to school and daycare (the Salvation Army on Bergen Ave. in Jersey City donates free childcare) before heading off to work. Three of the moms are currently working; the fourth family fled Puerto Rico in the wake of Hurricane Maria and is navigating the resettlement process. Kane said, "It's really hard to see parents who are working, they're saving money and following the right steps" but with N.J. minimum wage stalled at $8.60 per hour and scanty affordable housing, making ends meet remains elusive.

Official FPHC guidelines call for a maximum stay of 30 days in the program, but the actual length of time is up to the discretion of each affiliate. In Hudson County, it can take significantly longer to make the rounds with social services and access housing vouchers that help defray the cost of rent. FPHC says it will stick with its families until they move into permanent housing.

As FPHC continues to fight the rising tide of family homelessness, Kane called on the community to pitch in. The organization is in need of material goods, monetary donations - the van service alone runs $3,000 a month - corporate partners, and volunteers. Progress may seem incremental, but it's working: FPHC recently celebrated its first success in helping a family find permanent housing.

And thanks to the emphasis on hospitality, small joys are possible. "The kids have become really close with one another," Kane said. Recently at the Day Center, one of the current families arrived in the afternoon during a play session already in progress. "One of the little girls ran over to her friend and said, 'You're here! You're here!'"

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A Look at the Day Center: Inside Family Promise of Hudson County | Jersey Digs

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For this newly established Hudson County affiliate of the national nonprofit, hospitality is key in helping homeless families find stable housing.

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Asael Salgado

asalgado@jcboe.org

Relationship: current principal

Terry Watkins-Williams

twatkins-williams@jcboe.org

551-580-4454

Relationship: former principal

Gladys Candelaria

201-927-3764

Relationship: former ELA supervisor