Innovation in Nashville: How Community Partners Connect Schools with Parents

By Gini Pupo-Walker, Executive Director of Family and Community Partnerships, Metro Nashville Public Schools

On a recent Sunday, two dozen Latino parents and their children gathered at Casa Azafrán, a community center located in the heart of the immigrant community in Nashville, TN. They came to celebrate the close of another successful semester as facilitators for Padres Comprometidos, an outstanding series of parent workshops developed by the National Council of La Raza to empower and inform Latino parents across the country. Through the Padres Comprometidos class, these parents learned about adolescent development, role-playing parent-teacher conferences, and planning for college. Upon graduation from the class, parents often volunteer to be trained as facilitators, suddenly and improbably becoming leaders and trusted resources in their community.

According to a 2009 report from the Pew Hispanic Center, 89 percent of Latino parents believe that college is important for success in life, yet 40 percent feel they have the knowledge to help their children prepare for college. The reality is that in Nashville, and the country, Latino parents are often ill equipped to support their child’s learning, or to come to the school with questions or concerns. Metro Nashville Public Schools offer programs, like Padres Comprometidos, in partnership with a local nonprofit – Conexión Américas – so that Latino parents can learn from one another, and bolster their sacrifices and hard work with information and strategies that are concrete, often complex, and always focused on empowering parents to fulfill their role as the first teacher and primary influence of their children.