Program Name: Saturday Morning Family School
Nominator's Name:Bonnie J. Brown, Ed.D.
Title: Assistant Superintendent
Address: 178 Barracks Street
City/State/Zip: Perth Amboy NJ 08861
Nominator's Telephone Number: 732-826-3360 x 210
Organization: Edward J. Patten Elementary School
Address: 500 Charles Street
City/State/Zip: Perth Amboy NJ 08861
List of Community Partners: Colgate-Palmolive Co.; Computer Horizons; First Union Bank; LifeReach International, Inc.; Normandie International Bakery; Rutgers University; University of Medicine and Dentistry of N.J.
The nominated program focuses on the following grade level or area: Elementary
District:  Perth Amboy
County: Middlesex
Address: 178 Barracks Street
City/State/Zip: Perth Amboy NJ 08861
District Superintendent: John D. DeTalvo, Ed.D.
District Telephone Number: 732-826-3360
Date of Program Initiation: February 1, 1992

Area 1: Goals:

The Saturday Morning Family School, held at Perth Amboy's E.J. Patten Elementary School, focuses on life-long learning opportunities and has educational components for all grades and age levels. Just as the New Jersey Workplace Readiness Standards and Core Curriculum Content Standards grew from the National Education Goals, the Saturday Morning Family School goals grew from two of those same goals: #6, adult literacy and lifelong learning and #8, parental participation. The goals of Saturday Morning Family School are:

• to help prepare children for entry into a learning environment
• to strengthen ties to the community by collaborating with community organizations and agencies that operate for the public good
• to foster an awareness and appreciation of cultural diversity and language
• to develop self-help and self-determination skills for the purpose of enabling the individual to assume responsibility for his/her own well-being and financial independence
• to promote family literacy
• to provide lifelong learning opportunities
• to develop leadership qualities in parents that allow them to make meaningful contributions to their communities
• to build partnerships among business, education, and the community.

The correlation between the Saturday Morning Family School offerings and the New Jersey Workplace Readiness Standards, Core Curriculum Content Standards, and the National Education Goals is shown in the appendix at the end of this file.

Area 2: Activities:

The Saturday Morning Family School offers free classes for Perth Amboy children, for their parents and extended family members, and for parents and children together; children below the fifth grade level must be accompanied by an adult to participate in the program. The program offers a free breakfast to participants, as well as outreach services (e.g. voter registration, NJ KidCare registration, parenting sessions), and health and counseling services.

The course offerings differ each semester; the determination of which courses to offer is made through evaluation of the results of a survey of parents and students. Last year, for example, as a result of participant request the Saturday Morning Family School, in addition to its regular courses, offered a series of "quality of life" one-session seminars sponsored by Latinos United for Prevention and Education and Primerica Financial Services on financial planning for families, women's health issues, and talking to one's child about sex. The table at the end of this file lists the courses that the Saturday Morning Family School is offering during Spring 1999. This year, in late spring 1999, the Saturday Morning Family School will initiate an "intersession" program at parental request.

Teachers from the Perth Amboy Public Schools, including the Adult School, conduct the classes, assisted by various community members, including high school-age student mentors from the Schools for the 21 Century program, local confirmation class members, and corporate representatives. These community members serve 30 hours a semester, or 60 hours a year, on behalf of the Saturday Morning Family School.

The staff of the Saturday Morning Family School is composed of the following:

• 31 paid staff members (including a school nurse and a school psychologist); salaries are provided by the Perth Amboy Board of Education
• 11 paid Twenty-first Century Schools mentors; stipends are provided by a federal government grant
• 6 confirmation class volunteers
• 2 corporate volunteers
• 3 adult community volunteers

Area 3: Outside Resources:

Cash donations, equipment, or services have been provided this year by the following organizations:

• Colgate-Palmolive Company
• Computer Horizons
• First Union Bank
• LifeReach Internationals, Inc.
• Normandie International Bakery
• M and M Bakery
• Liberty Bagels
• Rutgers University
• Chubb Institute
• Jeffries Investment
• University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey

In addition, personal cash donations help the program operate.

Area 4: Evaluation:

The most cogent evidence of the program's success is the rate of its growth. At its inception in 1992, the Saturday Morning Family School served 58 parents and 92 students; this spring the program is serving 185 parents and 163 students.

Of importance, too, are the results from the "Children's Survey," which is completed every semester by the parents of student participants. These parents overwhelmingly reported that they had observed their children received better grades in school, and they noted an improvement in their child's behavior at home and in school, an increase in self-esteem, improved motivation to learn, and an increase in the child's problem-solving ability.

Parents reported on their own behalf an increased ability to use English as a second language, an increase in self-knowledge, and an improved ability, as one parent wrote, "to make friends."

Area 5: Stability:

The major organizational components are in place.

The Saturday Morning Family School has operated for seven consecutive years. Its major organization components include an eighteen-member Advisory Board, an administrative staff consisting of a paid coordinator and a paid secretary, as well as E.J. Patten's principal and assistant principal.

The professional staff and paraprofessional staff attend an orientation session before the opening of the program; each instructor prepares a course outline for his individual offering. Mandatory staff meetings are held thirty minutes prior to each Saturday session.

The program is funded primarily by the Perth Amboy Board of Education and secondarily by corporate and private donations of services and cash.

Recruiting of parents and students is accomplished through fliers taken home to parents and notices posted on the local cable channel. The program also conducts registration sessions. Moreover, the past successes of the program have generated much word-of-mouth participation.

The Saturday Morning Family School recognizes parent and family participation with certificates of course completion, a Parent Dance, and an Annual Dinner Dance, at which staff members are also honored for participation and receive letters of thanks and certificates.

Area 6: Endorsements:

The Saturday Morning Family School is supported by all the major stakeholders in the school-community partnership. The following three endorsements are typical reactions.

To promote family literacy