I was a young, first-time mother when my eldest daughter turned four. I knew nothing about preschool and its importance, or anything about how to go about finding a school and enrolling her. I grew up in Mexico and never attended preschool myself. Most of the other young mothers I knew didn’t send their children to preschool and hadn’t attended…
Category: Parents
Coffee Break: These community organizers believe #10outof10 students can have access to a high-quality school—with parents leading the way
Even before the clock struck midnight on January 1, 2018, the voices of those who have been ignored, drowned out and silenced by the powerful and elite have steadily increased their volume. From #BlackLivesMatter to #MeToo and #Enough, underrepresented groups are shaping a new narrative and demanding a space to be heard. If the founders of Transform Education Now (TEN)…
It’s Time for Parents to ‘Step Up’
On Wednesday I had the honor of being surrounded by 30 parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, as we stood up for the children we love in our lives. In response to the thousands of Colorado children who planned to walk out of school to support stronger gun control, I created Parents Step Up to seize the opportunity to get more…
We Need to Teach the Behaviors We Value
As a mother of teenage boys and an educator of young children, I recognize the many developmental differences between the children I teach and the children I parent. But the effects of suspension and expulsion are virtually the same. Last December, my 13-year-old son was asked to leave his private school. The tangled combination of his Attention Deficit Disorder, social-emotional…
Advocating for Equity in Denver Public Schools
Of all of the challenges that the Strengthening Neighborhoods committee was asked to address, there was no doubt in my mind that I would join the working group focused on Equity. The opportunity gap in our system is real, and although there is great diversity within Denver Public Schools (DPS), there is not yet true equity or inclusion. Whenever I…