Parent Academy for the Fall River Pulic Schools April 16 2015

A Parent Academy is a district-led, community-driven initiative designed to provide educational resources to parents and families. Academies have been organized in Brockton and Springfield, MA, Providence, RI, and Portland, Maine, as well as across the country. Academy courses focus on building capacity in families and empowering them with the information they need to raise their children in a stimulating, proactive and nurturing environment. In order to begin development of an Academy through the Fall River Schools, teachers, administrators and community leaders gathered in the Faculty Lounge at Bristol Community College on April 16, 2015 to begin discussing how an Academy could be started in Fall River. Andy Beck, Executive Director of the School and Main Institute at Brandeis University, described how Springfield developed their Academy, and Field Services Director Kathy Flynn Woodland then organized participants into teams to come up with their ideas for organizing a similar Academy in Fall River. Groups will work on a number of issues and strategies in the coming months with the goal of starting some Academy classes next fall. For more information, go to www.FallRiverSchools.org..