Pre-K 4 SA Family Engagement

parents in a Pre-K 4 SA classroom

Pre-K 4 SA believes that supporting a child–along with their entire family–helps children build a successful learning foundation for life. That’s why our Family Engagement Team collaborates closely with teachers, administrators, and staff. The team’s mission is to encourage educational potential in the home, engage families in school leadership, and build on each family’s unique strengths and abilities to cultivate a thriving environment that is sustainable.

We are educating families as a whole through positive parent-child relationships, leadership strategies, and ways to bridge the gap between the living room and the classroom. 

Our programs engage families in two-way communication because families are their children’s first and most important teacher. 

One of our most successful Pre-K 4 SA Family Engagement programs is called Parents as Partners, which gives families a front-row seat to their children’s educational experience. Each center has a Parent Partner Group that works together to build community, engage in the classroom, and provide overall support to teachers and staff. 

There are many programs that families can be involved in at Pre-K for SA. H-E-B Read 3 program selects 25 families from each center and provides one book a month to children to build their reading skills. The Gracias program engages children and their families by partnering local artists with classrooms, and visiting signature sites around San Antonio. Students then create artwork in collaboration with the artist based on their experiences, and the artwork is then exhibited and auctioned for charity. These are just a few ways families can engage in their child’s learning at Pre-K 4 SA.

From planning school events and addressing common concerns, to serving as an advisory committee on curriculum and activities, groups work collaboratively to positively impact each campus. This collaboration includes the formation of parent-led working committees with specific outcomes aligned with curriculum, such as Raising A Reader, Gardening & Outdoor Play, and Parents Helping Parents. 

Pre-K 4 SA’s support of families stretches beyond education. 

Some of our highest utilized resources at Pre-K 4 SA are related to counseling, food assistance, and utility assistance. Our Counseling Support Services connect both adults and children to experts and resources for addressing various family hardships, such as the death of a loved one, divorce, or military leave.

Pre-K 4 SA’s Food Referral Services supports families who are facing food insecurity by connecting them to programs that can help. Examples include the San Antonio Food Bank’s shared produce distribution program and offering application assistance for WIC, SNAP, and PEBT benefits.

Utility Assistance and Housing Referrals help guide families who are dealing with disconnection notices and high bills, and support families who have lost housing assistance or are experiencing homelessness. We also connect families with agencies, emergency shelters, and temporary housing programs in times of need.

Family engagement is an everlasting relationship between Pre-K 4 SA staff and the children and families we serve. We are equipping families with the tools they need to be successful, not just for the years we have them–but for life. If you are a caregiver interested in any of the resources mentioned above or ready to become an ambassador of the program, please contact prek4sa@sanantonio.gov. If you are a community member looking to partner with Pre-K 4 SA’s Family Engagement Team, please contact virginia.sandoval@sanantonio.gov. 

Written by: Virginia Sandoval

Keeping the Pre-K 4 SA Promise – Increasing Access to Early Learning for San Antonio Families

children and adults pose in front of a step and repeat with colorful blow up guitars and props

The Parent Café was already buzzing with new families talking with enrollment team members and registering their 4-year-olds for the 2022-2023 school year. You could hear the excitement in the children’s voices as they spoke to their parents and wandered around, smiling at new faces or sitting down on the couch with a cautious enthusiasm to share a book with another child.

And as of May 9, Pre-K 4 SA has opened enrollment for 3-year-olds too. When the news reached one of the families in the Parent Café, both the mom and little boys smiled and clapped together, knowing they could enroll both children.

Research indicates 90% of brain development occurs before the age of five. This is when the foundations of language, social, and emotional growth, key factors in future academic success, are created and developed.

“We know that one year of high-quality early learning has demonstrated proven long-term success for children,” Pre-K 4 SA CEO Sarah Baray said. “National research indicates that two years of pre-k is exponentially better and has immediate, short term and long-term benefits to children, families, and the community. And we are seeing a need for access for 3-year-olds, especially coming out of the pandemic.”

Pre-K 4 SA also saw a need to help San Antonio’s working, middle-class families who may need financial support but do not already qualify for free, high-quality pre-K through Texas Education Agency (TEA) guidelines. Families can receive additional tuition assistance through its expanded scholarship structure, which now provides free pre-K to those families making up to $75,000. Families can easily determine their personal investment in their child’s learning at Pre-K 4 SA by accessing the scholarship calculator.

Brenda Rosas has three boys who attended Pre-K 4 SA. She feels her children were better prepared for elementary school than their peers.

“Pre-K 4 SA gives them a great head start to their education,” said Rosas. “I have an ongoing joke with the family liaison where I wish my children could have been here another year. The benefits are tremendous – they are prepared for elementary and beyond. And an extra year would have been great to give them the extra one-on-one time with the teacher but also help them thrive.”

Mrs. Rosas has seen the positive impact on high-quality early learning for all three of her boys. She believes her children are not only prepared more academically, but she has also seen social and emotional development of her children, which has helped her oldest son, who is now in middle school.

At Pre-K 4 SA, we understand that family members are a child’s first and most important teachers. Learning is collaborative and extends far beyond the classroom. Now, the same teachers, children, and families will work together for two years allowing for deeper learning and development both in and out of the classroom.

Just like our 4-year-olds, the 3-year-olds will receive the same benefits from Pre-K 4 SA, such as transportation with the 5-point safety harness, nutritious family-style meals and snacks, as well as access to extended-day care for our working families. We offer integrated, full inclusion classrooms with both 3- and 4-year-olds. This will help older children develop better leadership skills while the younger students learn from their interactions.

Opening enrollment to 3- and 4-year-olds and expanding the scholarship structure is part of Pre-K 4 SA’s commitment to providing high-quality, research-based early education that empowers children at a critical age for school and life success. To learn more about enrollment, please call 210-206-PREK or apply online. An enrollment specialist is available to answer any questions and support our families throughout the application and enrollment process.

How Pre-K 4 SA is helping the Child Care Shortage in San Antonio

Teacher and Two Students at Pre-K 4 SA

When Covid-19 shut the world down, millions of families no longer had a Child Care Center open to care for their children. As a result, many families turned to smaller, private family child care providers for assistance. Family child care providers already outnumbered Child Development Centers in the number of children served, and in the shadows of shelter in place, social distancing, and quarantine, they rose to the challenges facing the entire world by keeping their doors open for even more children.

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The Power of Family Engagement During a Critical Time

Pre-K 4 SA staff member drops off a box at a family home during the 2020 pandemic

As Spring Break 2020 approached, Pre-K 4 SA students and their families were ready for a well-deserved break. However, no one realized spring break would extend into distance learning from home through the end of the school year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Pre-K 4 SA acted quickly by collaborating with the San Antonio Food Bank and began food distributions the following week at its four education centers for families needing support. Leadership and teachers knew the importance of providing families with the healthy meals and snacks the children were accustomed to receiving during the regular school day. At the same time, the Pre-K 4 SA family engagement team acknowledged that parents and children would need more support and resources than ever.

Pre-K 4 SA believes in the importance of supporting families to help children have a successful learning foundation. Because education would continue at home, parent liaisons from Pre-K 4 SA’s education centers needed to find innovative ways to provide families a helping hand.

At the start of the school closure, the family engagement team quickly learned which parents could not attend the food distributions due to lack of transportation or poor health. Food items and first aid supplies were delivered to those Pre-K 4 SA families that needed assistance but could not make it to one of the centers. Each week, the team continues to reach out to parents to ensure they have food and their necessities are covered.

The family engagement team also researched local resources to share with families. Parent liaisons provided information related to diaper banks, rental assistance, and how to navigate eviction notices. One main source of information and support services Pre-K 4 SA shares is the City of San Antonio-Municipal Government Facebook page. On this page, the Emergency Assistance program supports the San Antonio community by paying rent, mortgage, internet and utility payments. Families can also qualify for a program that helps them receive direct cash assistance to help them with groceries, medical and gas expenses.

“With Pre-K 4 SA, our families feel they have a good support system that helps them and cares for them during this time of need,” said Virginia Sandoval, family engagement supervisor at Pre-K 4 SA.

The family engagement team began connecting with parents via Zoom video conferencing to continue the Parents as Partners sessions. This program was designed by Pre-K 4 SA to allow parents to engage in conversations collectively and to provide support to one another. The family engagement team saw the necessity to continue Parents as Partners during this time of uncertainty. Maria Montiel, parent liaison with the Gardendale Early Learning program, hosts weekly Zoom meetings for parents to connect and continue their support group. In an effort to accommodate parents’ schedules, Montiel creates flexible evening times for parents.

Montiel noticed that many parents were experiencing anxiety and other mental health struggles. The family engagement team came together and created a bi-weekly, hour-long exercise Zoom class just for parents. The team believes that by helping parents stay active together, they can combat the anxiety which has been triggered by this global pandemic. If you are a current Pre-K 4 SA parent and would like more information about the Parents as Partners program or exercise Zoom class, you may contact Virginia Sandoval at 210-206-2904.

“Parents as Partners is such a great program with the latest resources! I was struggling during this time but I was able to reconnect with other families which provided me with support and encouragement,” said Cassie Jones, a Gardendale Early Learning program parent. “In return, I felt I could also help other families experiencing distress during this pandemic by helping create a Zoom Family Fit program for all parents.”

Parent liaisons are continually performing home visits with families in an effort to connect them with teachers to continue high-quality early learning for the children. When needed, electronic devices, such as iPads, have been distributed to families for children to continue their learning from home and communicate with their teachers.

Additionally, Pre-K 4 SA just launched its Online Resource Center, providing families with more high-quality instruction material. Our educators collaborated to bring together instructional videos to not only share with Pre-K 4 SA families, but with the entire San Antonio community. In the Online Resource Center, you will find intuitive learning videos, read-alouds, bilingual instructions, and activities to support our youngest learners to continue their education at home.

Pre-K 4 SA wants parents to know that if they need anything—related to pre-k or not—to reach out to their child’s teacher or a parent liaison from their designated center. They are ready to help and connect families with needed internal and community resources.

“The traditional school year may be over for our children, but our families will remain a part of Pre-K 4 SA forever because of the bond we have created over the last few weeks,” said Felicia Williams, parent liaison at Pre-K 4 SA.

Pre-K 4 SA Hosts First Family Reunion to Celebrate the Power of Pre-K

family reunion

As its eighth year approaches, Pre-K 4 SA called together its alumni, families, staff and stakeholders to reflect on the organization’s accomplishments and celebrate the progress it continues making in San Antonio.

Each year, Pre-K 4 SA hosts many events such as a Grants Showcase, an annual Gracias San Antonio: Children Are Citizens Art Exhibit to raise money for a local non-profit, as well as free professional learning workshops. The largest event planned to date was Pre-K 4 SA’s first Family Reunion. It was a special time to celebrate the power of pre-k and to see how alumni families are succeeding after Pre-K 4 SA.

After many hours of planning, the San Antonio Food Bank Pavilion was selected, and the date was set for Saturday, October 19, 2019. More than 800 Pre-K 4 SA families and children attended the event. Together they enjoyed healthy food, fun activities, and most importantly made unforgettable memories.

Dr. Sarah Baray, CEO of Pre-K 4 SA, began the presentation of speeches by inviting Ivyahna Slack, a first grader, and Elisa Maria Jaime, a fifth grader to the stage. These two Pre-K 4 SA alumni expressed how much Pre-K 4 SA has helped them build a strong foundation in their education. Elisa Maria Jaime delivered her first speaking points in English and finished her speech in Spanish.

Former City Manager Sheryl Sculley spoke about the program and how impactful Pre-K 4 SA continues to be for San Antonio. San Antonio’s First Lady Erika Prosper also shared her experience of how her son attended Pre-K 4 SA and how this program is preparing future generations for a bright future for our city.

The large orchard behind the Food Bank’s pavilion held numerous children’s activities, including moon bounces, hayrides, face art, dancing, bowling, pumpkin painting and more. Children were all given a Pre-K Power Passport and after completing an activity, they received a stamp of completion. Once the passport was filled, they received a prize.

All alumni were called to gather and stand in front of the stage to capture a group photo. Gathering the children was no easy task, but with the help of parents and personnel, Pre-K 4 SA’s photographer had the opportunity to capture unforgettable moments of Pre-K 4 SA’s alumni together in one place.

Many of the Pre-K 4 SA personnel volunteered their time and local high school students also helped monitor the activity stations for the children to have a great time. In a post-event survey, all families expressed how much fun the event was for the entire family. Pre-K 4 SA was also happy to see the positive responses and suggestions for a future event next year.

“My daughter completed Pre-K 4 SA three years ago but she still talks about her teachers, friends and memories from Pre-K 4 SA,” said Raquel Aguirre, Pre-K 4 SA parent. “This was such a great idea and time for the both of us. Thank you for all you’ve done for my family! We look forward to next year!”

Pre-K 4 SA opened its doors in 2013 and eight years later, its personnel were excited to see how children and their families were ecstatic to participate and come together to celebrate the power of pre-k.