Santa Monica Parent Center

The Santa Monica High School Parent Center engages parents, students, faculty and staff in creating a sense of community in the process of educating children. Guided by Teresa Viramontes-Gutierrez and Pam Allen-Jones, the center facilitates opportunities for families to develop supportive relationships. Parents are encouraged to become an integral part of the high school years through their participation and active involvement in community-based activities and outreach, family support, information and referral services, parent advocate/mentorship, parent-school connections, peace efforts, resident/parent involvement, self-help and mutual aid and volunteerism. The Spirit Of Love/Bilingual Advisory Committee (SOL/BAC), Outreaching, Uniting, Restoring Kinship In a Diverse School (OUR KIDS), Familias Unidas and the African-American Parent Student Staff Support Group are four off-shoots of the Santa Monica Parent Center that work with parents in specific and involved ways.

The Spirit Of Love/Bilingual Advisory Committee (SOL/BAC) addresses the issues and concerns of Latino students in the English Language Development Program and their families. The SOL/BAC recognizes that the Latino community is diverse with a myriad of needs and supports all Latinos, regardless of their level of English proficiency. Through SOL/BAC, Latino parents are provided with an understanding of their role in the educational process, as well as the resources available to assist them both in the school and broader community. The goal for the group is to see each student graduate from high school and continue the educational journey towards achieving his or her dreams.

Outreaching, Uniting, Restoring Kinship In a Diverse School (OUR KIDS)

OUR KIDS consists of ten Santa Monica high school parent advocate mentors, five African-American and five Latino parents, who are trained to go out into the community and connect with other parents in untraditional ways. According to the parent mission statement the purpose is “to help families from diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds become self-reliant so that ‘our kids’ will be afforded the opportunity to pursue their natural inclination for learning.” In November, OUR KIDS received a grant from Santa Monica high school of $10,000 to put together a training program for parents that includes computer training and stipends. Through motivation, guidance, understanding, compassion and respect for others, the parent advocate mentors assist in recognizing the importance of the parental role in the educational process. Parent mentors work to bridge communication between parents, students and school communities by visiting other parents in their homes, in key community centers or churches, and/or work places.

Familias Unidas
Familias Unidas was begun by Consuelo Pérez, a parent participant of SOL/BAC, together with participants of OUR KIDS. The mission of Familias Unidas is to address key issues and concerns of the community and to take action on behalf of parents and students in schools.

Victories & Wins

TCLA: Can you point to a victory or win that your group has accomplished?

Teresa Viramontes-Gutierrez: Many families whose children attend Santa Monica schools have had to move out of the district due to increases in rent and housing prices. Due to the permit policy, their children are no longer eligible to attend Santa Monica schools. The Familias Unidas group took action to face the permit policy in Santa Monica schools and had a meeting with Superintendent John Deasy in November. The superintendent clarified that students who are currently in the high school will attend till graduation and will not be told to leave, even if they move. This was a major accomplishment for the group. The parents will also be included in the discussion in February when the school board re-visits the permit policy.

Another recent victory occurred when the Familias Unidas group scheduled a meeting with the administration regarding their concerns about Santa Monica High School’s redesign plan scheduled for Fall 2003. The group organized Latino and African-American parents to voice their concerns over the lack of representation of people of color in the decision making process, the lack of information given to the community, and the lack of communication in Spanish. The parents presented a list of concerns and questions to the administration. As a result, Santa Monica High School’s Chief Education Officer, Dr. Ileen Straus, promised to improve communication and consistently update the community on the progress towards the new redesign plan. Additionally, the administration recognized that the parents' input should guide the work to be done.

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