The Lighthouse Community Public School parents shuffled into the school on a recent weekday, escaping the rain, and ready for the last FIA Lit for Literacy session of their cohort, the Family Accountability Walk. Cemetrius held her materials in one hand and her 49ers coffee cup in the other.
Cemetrius, mom of three and a first-year Lighthouse family member, observes classrooms to understand how she can better support them at home.
She had three reasons for being here: her three kids, all in their first year at Lighthouse. In previous years, she had to drive all over town to ensure her kids received a quality education. But then her seventh-grader’s school closed down, necessitating a change for the family.
With everyone now under one roof, she wanted to understand what was happening inside the school. That’s why she signed up and was spending her morning observing literacy instruction with a group of parents of K-5 students at the school.
“It helps me understand how to help my child at home with their reading,” Cemetrius said. “We also learned about the school’s data and their reading scores, and what needs to be improved.”
The parents in the Lighthouse cohort speak different languages and come from different backgrounds and ethnicities. They all have something in common: like Cemetrius, they want to understand literacy instruction so they can better help their children at home.
This cohort has met five times now. In earlier gatherings, the Lighthouse parents dug into the school’s literacy goals and discussed how meaningful partnerships between home and school can boost student achievement. They picked up hands-on literacy techniques to try with their kids and opened up about their own journeys, sharing stories of their children and reflecting on what school was like for them.
Now they gathered on this rainy day to visit classrooms and observe how teachers are delivering literacy instruction to students. Another goal of the day is to honor the family literacy leaders at the school and explore how to channel their collective energy and power into partnerships that lift literacy outcomes for every student at the school.
Cemetrius receives her certificate of completion from Principal Hurley and Family Engagement Coordinator Naborina, recognizing her commitment to the Lit4Literacy Institute!
The group of parents that included Cemetrius visited the first- and second-grade classrooms. Before the groups split up, Lighthouse K-5 Principal Shaina Hurley gave parents instructions, noting that they should observe how teachers are supporting students in their classes.
In the first-grade classroom, how the teacher managed the room stood out to Cemetrius. “She had their attention,” she said.
In the second-grade class, she noted how the students are reading independently. “I liked how they were reading out loud,” Cemetrius said, “and how the teacher was walking around to each table, making sure the students were doing what they were instructed to do.”
After the parents visited the classrooms, they sat together to debrief, record their observations, and then share with the other groups.
Dayana, another parent in the group, is also a Lighthouse graduate. She shared with the other parents that she was excited to visit the classrooms. She talked about seeing that the students were in good hands and the teachers were genuine. “You can really see they care about their students’ education,” she said.
Dayana and Cemetrius debrief their observations from the classroom and share with other parents how to continue championing literacy at Lighthouse beyond the institute.
Dayana said she noticed how the way instruction is delivered now is different from when she was a student. She noted that the phonics instruction was making a difference in her son, a kindergartner, learning to read. She said she’s learned a lot about how she can help support his learning outside the classroom.
“I know more about how I can help him, and that’s the main reason I wanted to do the program,” she said. “I want to know how to better help him with his reading and writing.”
For Principal Hurley, watching the parents lean in, ask questions, and connect what they saw to their own children’s learning is exactly the point.
“I think it’s motivating,” she said. “It’s a great reminder of all the hard work that teachers are doing every day. It feels really good for parents to be engaged in the learning and to see all the amazing things that we’re seeing.”
Families In Action (FIA) is partnering with schools, districts and organizations in five cities to build family literacy champions who make impact at home, at school and citywide. Learn more at fiaoakland.org/lit-for-literacy/.
