Parent coordinators from across the City come together to share ideas and celebrate a successful school year
Parent coordinators from around the City came together in five borough-wide events in June to celebrate the completion of the school year and to share their best ideas from 2007-08.
William Valencia, parent coordinator at Automotive High School, talked about the career fair he organized for graduating seniors, so that those not moving on to college could quickly join the workforce; Gloria Arthur of PS 161 described how she worked with parents to maximize students’ exposure to the arts; and Clinton Smith of EBC High School for Public Safety and Law held an impromptu workshop explaining how to navigate complicated college financial aid procedures; the list goes on and on. 
“It was a great event,” Mr. Smith said after the Brooklyn fair. “I thought there were many outstanding presentations, and now I can bring those ideas back to my school.”
The position of parent coordinator was one of the first creations of the Bloomberg administration in 2002. Mayor Bloomberg and Chancellor Klein wanted each public school to have a staff member dedicated to answering parents’ questions and helping to support families as partners in their children’s education.
“Parent coordinators are the lifeblood of the DOE,” Deputy Mayor Dennis Walcott told his audience of more than 150 at the Brooklyn fair. “The stories you’ve told today serve as affirmations of the tremendous work you do every day.”
Since the creation of the Office for Family Engagement and Advocacy (OFEA) in 2007, the Department of Education has redoubled its efforts to support parent coordinators. It partnered parent coordinators with District Family Advocates in every community to help connect more families with information about important Department of Education initiatives. It also created a citywide parent coordinator support team to plan professional development sessions and trainings in core areas of school policy, such as special education. June’s Parent Coordinator Fairs represented the culmination of OFEA’s yearlong outreach and support.
“The fairs give parent coordinators an opportunity to showcase their good work, to learn from one another, and just to celebrate the school year,” said Alan Farrell, Brooklyn Borough Director. “It’s a way we make sure the good ideas are getting heard, so that parents all around the City are best served.”
The borough-wide Parent Coordinator Fairs will lead up to one citywide fair, slated to take place in the fall.
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