As the new school year begins, education leaders are making sure their students are prepared. For some, that means assessing the students in math, reading and more. It may mean making sure they're equipped with backpacks and paper. It may mean restocking food pantries. After months of a pandemic that included layoffs and high school students joining the workforce to support their families, it may mean locating students, says Adriana Tamez, CEO for Tejano Center for Community Concerns and superintendent of the nonprofit's Raul Yzaguirre Schools for Success.
Tejano Center has programs for students of all ages in Houston, Texas and the surrounding area. They work with pregnant mothers and infants, school age youth, and offer adult education and senior citizen services. "We've always thought intergenerationally," Tamez says. As school begins again in person, Tejano is exploring how the pandemic has affected the different generations. "We need to know where everyone is," says Tamez. "We're canvassing to find our students and other clients, since many people have dropped off the radar during COVID. Many left the country."
"Finding the students and making sure they're getting an education is essential to breaking the cycle of poverty," Tamez says. And it's just a start. "The piece our staff members and my colleagues need to remember this year is to look at the whole family, not just the kids we have in our program."
For the students who have joined the workforce and may need to remain there, Tamez's school system is adding a virtual academy for eighth grade and up. "That way, if they have to leave at 11 to go to work, they could take three courses in school, and their other courses through the virtual network."
Dennis Roche, president of Burbio, a site that aggregates school and community information, including school openings and mask policies, found that 119 of the country's 200 largest school systems have also added virtual academies as the new school year prepares to launch. "Every district has announced plans to open," he says. "Once they do open, things may shift."
Last year, when schools were offering a hybrid option, Burbio found that many students were virtual by choice. Another study, this one by Rand Corp. showed that 80 % of parents plan to send at least some of their children back to school in person this fall.
To ensure the Tejano Center for Community Concerns' students have the food they need, the nonprofit is leasing space for food pantries within two blocks of their schools in Houston and Brownsville. Other priorities include pre-assessing students as they start school, constantly evaluating and celebrating their growth along the way.
And, as part of the schools holistic approach to education, the schools will be placing an added emphasis on music and arts, which Tamez believes will be therapeutic. "It's very healing and we want it to be visible on all of our campuses," she says. "It's not going to be just reading, math, reading, math."
Other things for NeighborWorks network organizations and parents to remember as the new year begins:
- We've lost two years. "It's going to take time to catch up on what we've lost," Tamez says. "We need to understand what the new student is going to be like going forward."
- There's a new normal. "We need to make sure our teachers are very well trained and understand the different situations that will be coming at them, especially the mental health piece."
- Mental health: The past two years have been difficult for many families and they will need mental health support. "In our area before COVID, we were dealing with one disaster after the other. Harvey, Imelda, Uri. It's bound to take a toll on these kids.
- Understand each household. "We have to work with our adults as well as our students to make sure they're on the right path to becoming self-sufficient."
