Parental involvement is an essential key to a child's success in education -- and in life. Perea feels that in order for our children to excel in our program, they must experience a positive home environment. We work daily with parents to ensure they have the tools and information needed to be consistent, positive presence in the lives of their children. The goal of the Parent Program is to ensure that the learning that takes place at school continues at home.

Parent Volunteers are a valuable component in the classroom. Parent involvement benefits both the child and the parent. For the child, it demonstrates parent interest and helps build the child's self-esteem. For the parent, they can see how the High/Scope methodology works in the classroom and how they can incorporate High/Scope into home life. Three hours of parent volunteer time per month is required by Perea policy for the child to remain enrolled in our program. This three-hour requirement can be met by being a classroom helper, reading books to the children, participating in field trips, attending parent workshops, bringing snacks and/or sharing special talents or skills with the children. Special programs such as Muffins for Mon and Donuts for Dad encourage involvement throughout the year.

Effective Black Parenting - Different people interpret the art of parenting in different ways. Gender, race, religion, age and background all play a part in how one develops one’s parenting technique. Perea Preschool believes it’s necessary to have a healthy, functional home life to raise well-rounded, functional children. To that end, a 10-week course in parenting called Effective Black Parenting is offered each year. The Effective Black Parenting Program was developed by the Center for the Improvement of Child Caring (CICC) in the late 1970’s and “is the first parenting skill-building program to respect and honor the unique history and traditions of people of African descent, and to teach its skills in a manner that is both culturally sensitive and culturally affirming.” According to the CICC’s program overview, the program’s basic ideas are derived from the writings of African American parenting scholars, from research with African American parents and from adaptations of parenting skills that have been found helpful in raising children of all ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds. Subjects to be covered include discipline methods, family dynamics, home environment, racism and drugs.

Home Visits are required once a year by the child's teachers. This provides a one-on-one opportunity for exchange of information and concerns and helps the teachers get an in-depth understanding of how the child's home environment might be affecting the child's learning and outlook.

Parent/Teacher Conferences are held each November and February and are mandatory for continued child enrollment.

Perea's Parent Liaison and Outreach Worker play an important part in keeping parents and the school connected. To keep the entire family healthy and functional, our Parent Liaison team, with the help of teachers, monitors each child and family and provides helpful information through monthly parent workshops, assists with employment or unemployment issues, notifies law enforcement or child protection agencies (when applicable), encourages parents to tap into government programs and pursue counseling when necessary, helps obtain legal assistance and tend to any special request of parents from meal planning to money management to spiritual needs.

Parent Workshops are scheduled each month providing important information on a variety of topics. Workshops scheduled for the 2005/2006 school year will be announced in August.