ONE Lowell: Building a New American City

Initiatives

School Success for Newcomer Parents' Initiatives

The School Success for Newcomer Parents' initiative helps newcomer parents understand the school system and ensures that students are able to successfully integrate into the public school system. Watch and here about our success in this EdVesters video.

Did You Know?

Although Latino students are only 15% of the student population at LHS, they represent 25% of all retentions, especially at the 9th grade level. Asian students, too, represent a high percentage of all retentions.
In Lowell, 1280 students are absent on an average day.
Asian students fared only somewhat better, with 466 students entering in 1998 and 235 (50%) graduating in 2002.
Completion rates calculated by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) found that of 218 Latino students who entered Lowell High in 1998, only 51 (23%) actually received a diploma in 2002.

The Challenge

Here in Lowell many of our minority students are struggling to complete high school. High school drop-outs lack good job skills and this deficit can follow a person throughout their life, creating life trajectories that negatively impact their children and future generations. These issues are particularly challenging here, where 52% of our students are immigrants or the children of immigrants and collectively speak over 40 languages. Due to cultural and linguistic barriers, these parents often have little information regarding how the school system here works, what the expectations are for students, and the importance of developing positive parent-teacher relationships. For instance, some immigrant parents do not even know how to read a report card. This means that immigrants are less able to advocate for their children in school or to navigate other complex social institutions.

What We're Doing

In order to address this issue, ONE Lowell, working with the Lowell Public Schools, created the School Success for Newcomer Parents' Initiative. Through the targeted outreach of a Parent Liaison, this initiative is reducing high levels of absenteeism, increasing the retention rate of at-risk youth and improving their academic success. Outreach to families includes home visits, sharing information through a brochure especially designed for newcomer parents, and providing educational workshops. This increases parents' capacity to navigate the complexities of the American school system while becoming more involved in their child's academic success.

Training Programs

One Lowell's training programs are designed to provide skills and knowledge necessary to ensure that newcomers have the leadership skills they need and that existing organizations have the cultural competencies required to succeed.

Our trainings began in 2002 as a capacity building initiative for leaders to come together and learn new skills vital to the promotion of their communities. Under this model, leaders return to their individual communities and empower others by passing along their newly acquired skills. The Leadership Development Series also provides a unique opportunity for cross cultural dialogue and networking. Some past training topics include: Financial Management of Non-Profits, Grant Writing, Public Speaking, American Democracy and How it Works and Media Strategies for Grassroots Organizing.