As school campuses closed their doors for the Spring semester and transitioned to online learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic, students and their families found their daily routines upended.
Just as many students rely on school campuses as a source of established routines, safety, and stability, many parents are able to work and generate income day-to-day knowing that their children are in a safe and stable environment for most of the day. As such, parents of school-age children have been one of the most impacted groups during this time.
CISNT ACE (Afterschool Centers on Education) Programs are a cornerstone of CISNT’s mission. Funded by a U.S. Department of Education grant administered through the Texas Education Agency, ACE Programs provide academic enrichment opportunities during non-school hours. These programs serve students and parents alike by placing students in a safe and healthy environment protected from many risk factors that can impact students between the end of the school day and the time that parents return home from work.
Although ACE Site Coordinators and staff were no longer able to meet with students during closures, CISNT rose to the occasion by offering various kinds of support to students and their parents. ACE Site Coordinators took steps to reach out to all of their students’ families, and launched individual ACE Afterschool websites to facilitate virtual afterschool learning. The results were very promising!
Glenn Grant, ACE Site Coordinator at Calhoun Middle School, was thrilled to see the traction his website gained shortly after launching. ACE Program Director Diana Vargas shared more about Glenn’s successful site launching:
“Glenn had amazing success on the first day he launched his website. He took the time earlier in the month to go through each student’s profile on eSchool Plus and gather all the students’ and parents’ email addresses in order to send a message directly to invite them to visit the website. For the last few weeks, Glenn and his staff had been able to connect with students over the phone…He is excited that he had a lot of traffic come through his website and is looking forward to more student engagement.”
Aspen Flowers, ACE Site Coordinator at DeLay Middle School, also reported a successful site launching. Shortly after launching, Aspen already had parents asking her about signing up for next year’s program!
Diana writes:
“As she is making calls to check in on her parents and students, parents are taking the opportunity to ask her about signing their elementary students up for the middle school program at DeLay.”
CISNT is thrilled to see the positive impact that the program has had on these families, and we are excited to welcome them back next year!
CISNT ACE Site Coordinators have also taken steps to provide resources for parents who faced significant challenges due to COVID-19.
Brittany Dolores, ACE Site Coordinator at Alexander Elementary, was quick to act when one student’s mother was diagnosed with a serious illness. Scheduling a surgery was an urgent next step upon her diagnosis, and Brittany went above and beyond to provide support.
Diana writes:
“Brittany worked with the school counselors to get the family as many resources as they could while mom was waiting to see when she could schedule her surgery. As the stay-at-home order was lifted and hospitals could start seeing patients other than COVID cases, mom was finally able to schedule her surgery and address her severe illness.”
At Rivera Elementary, ACE Site Coordinator Sham Goodson learned that the mother of one of her students had lost her job at the very beginning of COVID-19-related shutdowns. Sham connected the parent to as many resources as possible once she learned about the situation, and provided an open ear as the parent talked to her about the challenges the family had been facing as a result of the pandemic.
Once the parent was able to secure a new job, other challenges arose, but once again, Sham took steps to ensure that the family’s needs would be met in spite of a difficult situation.
Diana writes:
“Together, the Site Coordinator and parent were able to come up with an effective schedule for the family, as well as ensure that the family is able to stay connected with the school and complete their online assignments..”
Way to go, Sham, Brittany, Aspen, and Glenn!
CISNT is incredibly proud of ACE Site Coordinators for their continued hard work, and dedication in a challenging time, and of our students and parents for their resilience and ability to tackle anything. We also continue to be amazed by our students and parents who daily demonstrate unshakeable resilience and strength.
Through thick and thin, CISNT is in schools and beyond, because CISNT is always all in for kids!
