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Hillsborough HIPPY (Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters) Program

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Hillsborough HIPPY (Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters) Program

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The HIPPY program supports parents in preparing their preschool-aged children for school success. Through weekly home visits, parents receive curriculum, books, and activities to build their child’s language, social-emotional, and cognitive skills. This program is ideal for parents who want to play an active role in their child’s early education.

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Families & Schools Together (FAST) Program

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Families & Schools Together (FAST) Program

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The FAST program strengthens family relationships and promotes child well-being by connecting parents and children with schools and communities. Weekly sessions include activities like family meals, games, and parent discussions. FAST helps create a supportive environment where parents can advocate for their children’s education and connect with other families.

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Nurturing the inherent potential of every child by uniting families, schools, and communities

Together, we can build stronger families.

For Children & Families
The FAST® Program is an internationally acclaimed family engagement program that empowers parents and supports the relationship-building necessary for children to thrive. By applying research and evidence-based family therapy practices, this program promotes the full potential of every child.

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For Schools & Educators
The FAST® Institute of Family Engagement trains school staff to partner with families in support of children's education and well-being. By blending best practices in teacher training and family and community engagement, sessions help schools create a welcoming environment for all families.

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For Providers & Members
In addition to training and services provided by the FAST Office, we are expanding support for program providers and "members" by developing a resource library to streamline access to resources, materials, and paperwork related to their program(s) and family engagement interests.

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FAST was one of the first prevention and early intervention programs to develop practical applications for adult and children's mental health research findings. Today, our organization continues to evolve and improve our work in family engagement by integrating new scientific findings and research into our programs. LEARN MORE →

Join the FAST Community!

News & Updates

Latest news on our blog →

Bring FAST® to your community

Families & Schools Together can partner with you to provide the resources, training, and guidance necessary to strengthen relationships between children, families, schools, and your community - contact us to get started.

© 2023 Families and Schools Together, Inc. All rights reserved. FAST®, FASTWORKS®, and Families and Schools Together® are registered trademarks of Families and Schools Together, Inc. PRIVACY & TERMS | MEDIA

Proud partner of the

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Families and Schools Together, Inc. - Nurturing the inherent potential of every child by uniting families, schools, and communities

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Nurturing the inherent potential of every child by uniting families, schools, and communities Together, we can build stronger families. For Children & Families The FAST® Program is an internationally acclaimed family engagement program that empowers parents and supports the relationship-building necessary for children to thrive.

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Florida offers several mentoring programs designed to support at-risk and low-performing students. Programs like Best Buddies Florida, Big Brothers Big Sisters, and Take Stock in Children provide academic support, social mentoring, and scholarships. These programs help students build confidence, improve academic performance, and make positive life choices.

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Funds are appropriated by the legislature to the Florida Department of Education each year for Mentoring/Student Assistance Initiative grants and School and Instructional Enhancement grants. The purpose is to improve student performance for low-performing, at-risk students by providing additional learning opportunities; increasing personal responsibility and community involvement; discouraging drug and alcohol and weapon use, and other delinquency involvement; reducing dropout rates; and improving academic achievement.

Best Buddies International provides mentoring activities to intellectually challenged students to help them become integrated with other students and promote social inclusion in the community. Middle schools and high schools throughout the state are targeted. Each chapter pairs students with and without intellectual challenges in one-to-one friendships. Through their Best Buddies friendships, these students learn social skills, develop self-confidence, and in some cases learn leadership skills within the club.

The Big Brothers Big Sisters program provides mentoring activities for at-risk and low-performing students, addresses unmet needs at low performing schools, and provides training and support to mentors. They work within low-performing schools to provide academic assistance to students who are identified as at-risk in one of the Florida Standards learning areas. Students are assigned to a mentor and a case manager who tracks the students' success. Activities include one-on-one mentoring, homework support, extended classroom learning, and addressing individual skill gaps.

Boys & Girls Clubs provide tutoring and mentoring services for at-risk and low-performing students after school. Activities include Power Hour (homework help and tutoring which raises students' academic proficiency), Power Learn (reinforces and enhances skills and knowledge learned at school), Goals for Graduation (teaches students the concept of academic goal setting), other academic activities, family engagement and collaboration with schools.

The Girl Scouts of Florida's "Get Real" Mentoring Program is designed to provide mentoring activities for at-risk middle school girls to improve their student performance. The participants are provided reading and writing opportunities, as well as interactive activities that teach life skills. This program connects these students with caring community members that serve as mentors. The goal of the "Get Real" curriculum is to increase the girls' motivation and ability to make positive life choices that will impact school performance.

Orlando After-School All-Stars (ASAS) Project ASAS-FL is a collaboratively designed, community-driven initiative providing targeted, structured, academic support, enrichment activities and workforce education for 975 socioeconomically disadvantaged students in grades 6-12. The programs and services are provided to the targeted students at schools in three ASAS chapters in Florida (Orlando, South Florida (FIU) and Tampa). All programs occur on the host campuses during the afterschool hours as well as during the summer. The general goals of Project ASAS-FL are: providing a safe environment, improving academics, and career awareness and readiness.

Take Stock in Children provides mentors and college scholarships for low-income students between 6 th and 9 th grades in order to enhance their likelihood of college preparation and attendance. This program provides students with college and vocational-technical scholarships, volunteer mentors, student advocates, tutoring and community support. Each child signs a contract agreeing to maintain good grades, to remain drug and crime free, and to meet with his/her mentor regularly to receive the scholarship. Each student is assigned a caring adult mentor who meets with the student at his/her school for one hour each week.

Teen Trendsetters, a program of the Barbara Bush Foundation, serves academically at-risk students by providing mentoring activities through the Teen Trendsetter Reading Mentors (TTRM) to improve student performance. High school students are recruited and trained to mentor 3 rd grade students in one-to-one reading sessions. These sessions may occur before, during or after school. The mentoring and reading materials for TTRM are designed for students at different reading levels and to incorporate different learning styles. The mentor training provides a practical hands-on approach to working with the mentee and the reading materials.

The YMCA READS! Program provides mentoring and tutoring assistance to at-risk 1 st and 2 nd graders in reading. Using the Systematic Instruction in Phoneme Awareness, Phonics and Sight Words, the volunteer mentors not only assist students in their reading mechanics, but they also work to instill a love of reading and literature. First and 2 nd graders are referred from low-performing schools or schools that have a high percentage of students scoring below grade level in reading. YMCA READS! site coordinators and volunteer mentors work with the students in small groups, on a 1:2 basis or on a 1:1 basis, mentoring the referred students in reading as well as character development and building self-esteem.

For more information on mentoring and student assistance initiative programs, please contact:

Tiffany Chandler, Program Specialist
Phone: 850-245-0679
Tiffany.Chandler@fldoe.org

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Mentoring/Student Assistance Initiatives & School & Instructional E

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Funds are appropriated by the legislature to the Florida Department of Education each year for Mentoring/Student Assistance Initiative grants and School and I.