A note from Lety Martinez, WISD Parental Involvement Coordinator in Weslaco, Texas:

"I am about to close the school year and as I review our programs and plan for the new 2011-2012 school year, I must share the success we had using PPE. First, it is a great curriculum that we have customized to our culture/community and it has created an impact among staff, parents and students. I had to work smarter by creating Teams within feeder patterns. Two days of the month these Teams presented morning and afternoon PPE Sessions and our attendance was awesome and included more dads. The parents were our best advocates for recruiting other parents to our sessions. We established teamwork providing a positive learning experience by sharing, coaching, leading, presenting and delivering. I am very proud of my staff and the investment using PPE Curriculum. Working smarter, we provided flexible schedules and rotated presenters.

Here are the results:

• 2009-2010 - 35 parents attended 7 (3 hour) summer school sessions for at risk middle school parents
• 2010 - 2011 475 parents attended 19 sessions during the fall and spring semesters"

Editors note: Lety has organized her parent engagement program around the 3 clusters (6 schools per cluster) in her district. Parents of elementary, secondary and alternative school students meet together in various school buildings. Lety believes that having her program span the grade levels within their clusters gives parents a better comfort level for the transitions.