2010 –2011 Calendar of Events

Date Session Location

Friday, Annual Faith, Families & Crowne Plaza Hotel,
September 24, 2010 Schools Conference Cromwell
Monday & Tuesday, Raising Readers Parent Club CREC,
November 8 & 9, 2010 Facilitator Training: Hartford
Session A: Ages Birth-8
Tuesday, Lee y seràs SERC Library
November 9, 2010 (Read and You Will Be): Community Room,
Grades K-3 Middletown
Friday, How Welcoming Is Your School? SERC Library
November 19, 2010 Session A: Grades PreK-12 Community Room,
Middletown
25 Industrial Park Road
Thursday, Schools and Families: Better SERC Classroom,
Middletown, CT 06457
December 9, 2010 Together Session A: Grades K-8 Middletown (860) 632-1485 ● (800) 842-8678
Saturday, Raising A Reader: SERC Library
December 11, 2010 Everybody Cooks Rice Community Room, www.ctpirc.org
Middletown
Tuesday, How Welcoming Is Your School? SERC Library The CT Parent Information and Resource Center
January 11, 2011 Session B: Grades PreK-12 Community Room, is open
Middletown Monday - Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Saturday, How to Raise a Learner SERC Library
March 26, 2011 Session B: Grades 3-8 Community Room,
Middletown Caring professionals at CT PIRC can give you the
Wednesday & Thursday, Raising Readers Parent Club SERC Library
information you need to help your child succeed
April 13 & 14, 2011 Facilitator Training Community Room, in school. All calls are confidential.
Session B: Ages Birth-8 Middletown
Thursday, Schools and Families: SERC Library
May 12, 2011 Better Together Community Room,
Session B: Grades K-8 Middletown

To register for any of the above events, please visit www.ctserc.org.

For personal assistance, please contact Bianca Irizarry, ext. 216,
or Suequanna Lewis, ext. 288, at (860) 632-1485.
 School-Family-Community Partnerships
The Connecticut School-Family-Community Partnerships Project
(SFCP) helps educators, parents, and community members form
alliances by providing training, topical workshops, a newsletter, and a
collection of books, videos, and other resources. The project is
designed to promote policies and programs at the local level and to
increase public awareness of the positive impact of school-family-
community partnerships on student learning. This work is guided by
the principle that all families have strengths and play a critical role in
their children’s educational success.
Led by the CT State Department of Education, SERC and the CT
Parent Information and Resource Center, the Connecticut School-
Family-Community Partnerships Project has been working to increase
family and community involvement since 1995. The project provides a
variety of professional development activities such as the “How
Welcoming Is Your School?” workshop.
No Child Left Behind
The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) of 1965,
currently known as the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), requires
that parents receive district report cards specifying how students have
performed on standardized tests at both school and district levels.
Student performance is broken down by student subcategory groups
such as ethnicity, socioeconomic status, disability, and limited English
proficiency status. CT PIRC helps parents understand their rights
under NCLB and offers professional development and resources to
schools and faith/community organizations.
Literacy
Family literacy promotes the literacy of both parents and children as a
learning team. Professionals in education, as well as other health and
human services, can help families create literate home environments
that promote children’s success.
Collaboration among families, schools, and communities has powerful
possibilities in promoting children’s literacy. Meaningful and authentic
collaboration leads to greater opportunities for engaging children in
culturally relevant literacy. CT PIRC offers a series of workshops such
as “Raising Readers,” “Lee y seràs,” and “How to Raise a Learner,”
which celebrates the traditions and diversity of families in ways that
enhance students’ literacy instruction through music, poetry, and lively
discourse. Our literacy workshops teach participants how to make
inter- and intra-cultural connections for students during literacy
instruction and how to select and use resources that support all
children.
Faith, Families & Schools Conference
The Faith, Families & Schools Conference is an opportunity for faith
and worship leaders, educators, and families to come together on
behalf of the children of Connecticut. Participants will share ideas
about the practices that help families support student learning and
hear about new activities that can be incorporated into the rich fabric
of the faith and worship community.
Research has demonstrated again and again that family engagement is
one of the major indicators of student success. Schools across the
country are discovering that faith-based leaders and community groups
are often very effective in enhancing family involvement and are key
allies in improving educational outcomes for all students.