Ten Years at Gabe Allen . . . and Counting!
In 2005, the air conditioning broke at Gabe P. Allen Elementary School. A group of moms who had been through the AVANCE-Dallas program came and talked to Connie Hovseth, the Gabe Allen Principal, to offer ways to help and make sure kids were staying cool. Ms. Hovseth comments, “We empowered the parents, and the parents engaged the school process. We needed to validate the mothers.” And in that case, parents and school staff worked together to find a solution.
That’s just one picture of the changes that have happened at Gabe Allen over the past decade. Because AVANCE-Dallas began educating parents at the school, parents began taking an active role in their children’s education. And it all started in 1996.
Ten years ago, AVANCE-Dallas was looking for a place to begin its parenting and early childhood education program. Gabe P. Allen Elementary School was looking for a way to empower parents and get them involved with their children’s education. Connie Hovseth, Gabe Allen Principal, says that AVANCE-Dallas was just what they were looking for.
Gabe Allen Elementary School was the first school where AVANCE-Dallas offered its program. It was a natural place to launch AVANCE because West Dallas had a population that needed the educational assistance AVANCE-Dallas could offer and because the parents were ready for it.
Since 1996 when AVANCE-Dallas began at Gabe Allen, Ms. Hovseth says she has observed a “tremendous change” in the parents.… Some AVANCE-Dallas parent graduates have become volunteers, staff members, PTA presidents, and board members. Some have taken other jobs that have impacted the school, and some have assumed leadership roles in the AVANCE-Dallas program. Mostly, the parents have become active in dealing with school staff (e.g., attending parent conference nights).
This parent activity is important for two reasons. First, Ms. Hovseth says that “parents are the infrastructure.” For a school to run successfully, according to the Gabe Allen Principal, parents serve a foundational role. Without them, the school cannot function effectively.
For example, AVANCE-Dallas parents follow through with their kids on homework. Ms. Hovseth says she can count on AVANCE-Dallas to work with their children regularly and help them complete their homework.
Second, parental activity sends a message to the children. The principal says the AVANCE-Dallas Parenting Program has impacted the children so effectively because they see their parents value education. The parents’ involvement gives such a powerful message to kids, and Ms. Hovseth says “it’s one reason we have such a strong retention rate at Gabe Allen.”
Ms. Hovseth says that AVANCE-Dallas is “the most powerful tool that we as a school have for reaching our parents.” Gabe Allen has even borrowed the AVANCE-Dallas model for some of their own events, such as reading nights, because they have seen how well it functions in the AVANCE-Dallas program.
Connie Hovseth can hardly stop talking about the ways AVANCE-Dallas has transformed the Gabe Allen educational culture. And we at AVANCE-Dallas are proud to call Gabe Allen our first launch site. It has been a successful partnership over the past ten years, and we’re looking forward to continuing it in the next decade.
Thank you, Gabe Allen, for working side by side with us at AVANCE-Dallas to empower parents and advance the lives of impoverished Hispanics in West Dallas!
