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Washington Mutual and
The Parent Academy teamed up again this year to host a Family Learning
Event: Family Reading Night, on Friday, October 20, at 6:30 p.m. at Miami
Children’s Museum. The evening focused on fun, yet educational activities
that parents and children engaged in together to foster a lifelong love of
reading. Activities included Kitty, The Cat with the Hat’s musical magic
show, Gymboree activities to promote early literacy, a dramatic
presentation by children's author Gerald Sharpe, WLRN’s Read, View, Do
program, and a story- telling performance presented by The Parent
Academy's American Sign Language instructor. There were 388 families that
enjoyed the event. | ||||
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The Parent Academy
hosted Back-To-School Kick-off events on Saturday, August 19, 2006, at 14
sites throughout Miami-Dade County. The events began with registration at
10:30 a.m., a workshop on how you can help your children learn at 11:00
a.m., and a storytelling activity for the entire family at 11:45 a.m. The
Parent Academy also provided information about the new Parent Portal,
educational software, and tutoring services, including Supplemental
Educational Services (SES). More than 300 families participated in the
kick-off events. | ||
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The Parent Academy
worked closely with staff members from Miami-Dade County to coordinate a
Lunch & Learn series of parenting workshops for Miami Dade County
employees. The series was heavily promoted through announcements on County
employees’ paycheck stubs, email notification, flier distribution, and
informational posters. The first workshop began on Thursday, August 17,
2006, with over 100 parents participating. The workshops are offered at
12:00 p.m., and again at 1:00 p.m. to accommodate both lunch schedules.
The series has been offered for 14 consecutive weeks. The Parent Academy
also launched the workshops at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Government
Center, 2525 NW 62nd Street, on Monday, August 21,
2006. | ||
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The Parent Academy
understands how difficult it can be for family members to communicate with
each other when one member has a speech or hearing impairment. Whether it
is the parent or the child with the impairment, communication is essential
to enable the parent to better assist and support the child. Therefore,
The Parent Academy offers American Sign Language classes for families at
G. Holmes Braddock Senior High School. The class is taught in a Parent and
Child Together (PACT) format. One of the participants expressed her
interest in and appreciation for the class, writing, “I have been looking
for a class like this for 2 years. It has been so hard for me being a
single mom. It is so hard when you can’t communicate well with your child.
It is too stressful and it comes a time when you feel depressed. This is
wonderful.” Due to the success and demand for this class, an additional
class has been opened at Miami Lakes Education
Center. | ||
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The Parent Academy
and Riverdeep have teamed up again this year to inform parents about the
free access for themselves and their children to Riverdeep’s web-based
Logal Science and Destination Success Reading and Mathematics educational
software. Riverdeep has committed to teach the Riverdeep: Using Computers
to Help Your Children Learn class that was jointly created with Parent
Academy staff, participate in all Family Learning Events, and provide
informational fliers for distribution. As reported at the end of the
2005-2006 school year, software usage went up from 140,000 users to
200,000 users since Riverdeep's partnership with The Parent Academy. The
luncheon was held on Tuesday, October 24 at Parrot Jungle Island. Over 50
internal and external community partners participated in the luncheon, and
they learned how they can help promote the use of the software to the
parents and children they serve. | ||
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Miami-Dade County
Public Schools’ Office of Public Relations and The Parent Academy were one
of only four recipients of the National School Public Relations
Association's (NSPRA) prestigious Gold Medallion award. The award was
presented at NSPRA's 2006 National Seminar in Chicago on July 12, 2006.
Judging was highly competitive, and entries were judged against criteria
as well as other entries. There were 41 entries for this year’s Gold
Medallion Award. Entries came from public and private schools;
vocational-technical schools beyond 12th grade; two-year community
colleges; state/national education groups; and public relations agencies,
consultants or private businesses serving such schools and
colleges. | ||
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Parents, please check
the upcoming calendar of events for families. Don't miss
out!!!
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The Parent Academy, Building the Future...One Parent at a Time!
Sincerely,
Sandy Moise The Parent Academy of
Miami-Dade Public Schools
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