Can We Talk?

Blogger's Note: The following was provided by the Pottstown School District.

As part of an ongoing initiative to seek community change through family engagement, the Pottstown School District is inviting the district's parents and caregivers of elementary age children and younger to a series of community conversations in the coming weeks.

In relaxed conversational settings, parents will have the opportunity to talk with other parents, enjoy a meal and win raffle prices as ideas about upcoming events, programs and activities for kids over the summer are discussed.

Child care and Spanish interpreters will be available.

The dates and locations are as follows:

• Wednesday, May 27 from to 1 to 3 p.m.: CCLU First Baptist Church, 301 King St.
• Wednesday, May 27 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.: St. John's United Church of Christ, 11 S. Price St.
• Thursday, May 28 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.: St. Peter's Lutheran Church, 564 Glasgow St.
• Tuesday, June 2 from 6 to 8 p.m.: YWCA, 3125 King St.

The initial series of conversations were held in the spring and fall of 2014.

Feddback received from parents and caregivers at those talks aided PEAK (Pottstown Early Action for Kindergarten Readiness) and the Pottstown School District in obtaining a three-year $1,250,000 grant from the W. K. Kellogg Foundation for early childhood education and family engagement.

For this initiative to be successful, participation from all social and ethnic groups is crucial.

Your feedback is needed. 

Please come out, have your voices hear and be part of a brighter future for our children.

In addition to the Kellogg Foundation, the project is also supported by the Graduate School of Education at the University of Pennsylvania's Penn Project for Civic Engagement.

The grant is aimed at finding ways to strength the partnership between home and school, to increase family participation and improve support for all children's growth and development from birth through elementary school.

For more information, contact Jane Bennett, PEAK Community Engagement Coordinator at 610-256-6370 or jbennett@pottstownsd.org