Parent Engagement at a Cristo Rey High School: Building Home-School Partnerships in a Multicultural Immigrant Community

Abstract

Catholic social teaching affirms the primary role of parents in their children's education, as well as the importance of a home-school partnership. The purposes of this article are to review the results of a mixed methods study of parent engagement at Cristo Rey Boston High School, and how the results of this study led to specific efforts to include parents more closely in the life of the school. Results suggest that parents in multicultural communities perceive their engagement to be an important part of their children's education. Yet, this engagement may take different forms that may go unrecognized by school staff. Based on study findings, school administrators began integrating parent engagement efforts through a coordinated system of student advising. From the perspective of Catholic social teaching, recognizing and responding to these multicultural differences are a means of praxis that affirms human dignity and reduces barriers to education for the marginalized.

Examining the Legacy of Urban Catholic Schooling in the U.S.: A Systematic Literature Review

“…Several other studies asserted that all urban schools that serve a higher percentage of low-income students of color require different organizational responses to confront these organizational challenges than their within-sector, non-urban peers (Crea et al, 2015;Fenzel et al, 2014;Rodriguez & Briscoe, 2019;Smetana & Coleman, 2015). These studies intentionally investigated how particular urban Catholic schools serving these populations have responded to communities' needs by reforming particular aspects of the school's educational infrastructure: new programs to help prepare low-income students of color to attend college (Rodriguez & Briscoe, 2019), new models for parent engagement given the time and economic pressures faced by low-income families (Crea et al, 2015), new hiring policies to ensure students have enough academic support to close academic achievement gaps (Fenzel et al, 2014), and new cost-effective curricular infrastructure to ensure rigorous academic work can occur even when a school lacks financial resources (Smetana & Coleman, 2015). Yet each study found that these urban Catholic schools' organizational responses were determined by the particular needs of the communities served rather than the organizational priorities of their sector.…”

Disintegrating Worldviews and the Future of Catholic Education: Addressing the Deep Roots of Catholic Disaffiliation

“…Fostering a consistent Catholic culture also ideally involves connecting with others beyond schools walls, for students spend far more time outside of school than they do inside. In particular students' Catholic formation is greatly aided when Catholic educators support, educate, and partner with parents to immerse their students in a consistent Catholic environment connecting home and school (Crea, Reynolds, & Degnan, 2015;Frabutt et al, 2013). In sum, by planning well and taking care to respond to even mundane details in a manner inspired by Catholic faith, Catholic educators can create the cultural consistency needed to form coherently Catholic imaginations.…”

Effectiveness of a Parent-Child Home Numeracy Intervention on Urban Catholic School First Grade Students

“…One area of untapped resources for Catholic education is involving parents to help their children learn numeracy at home, particularly because parents are seen as having a primary role in their children's education in Catholic schools (Code of Canon Law, 1983;Crea, Reynolds, & Degnan, 2015;Frabutt, Holter, Nuzzi, Rocha, & Cassel, 2010). Catholic social teaching affirms the role of parents as primary educators of their children and supports the need for a positive relationship between home and school (Code of Canon Law, 1983;Crea et al, 2015;Frabutt et al, 2010;Pontifical Council for the Family, 1983).…”

“…Catholic social teaching affirms the role of parents as primary educators of their children and supports the need for a positive relationship between home and school (Code of Canon Law, 1983;Crea et al, 2015;Frabutt et al, 2010;Pontifical Council for the Family, 1983).…”