Maya McFadden Photos
New Haven Federation of Teachers VP of Special Services Jennifer Graves distributes book bags …
… as students pick up books for home libraries.
Track your student’s attendance on a calendar at home. Establish bedtime and morning routines. And communicate with your school if you need help.
Those are some tips New Haven Public Schools (NHPS) gave families at a recent back-to-school rally as they prepare for the fast approaching first day of school on Aug. 31.
Families were connected with resources and information about attendance and more on Thursday at Bowen Field for NHPS’s annual back-to-school rally.
At the start of the event school leaders gathered on a stage on the field to welcome the community. Event lead Darrell Brown, who is a Hillhouse staffer and retention specialist, said his main goal with organizing this year’s event was to prioritize connecting families with resources “not just to support them today, but tomorrow and through the year.”
The resources at the event allowed for parents and students to get onsite Covid-19 vaccinations by medical partners and schedule appointments for annual physicals.
“The end goal is to help families be successful,” Brown said. “We want our parents and students to know we’re here to support them however that looks.”
NHPS Supt. Madeline Negrón and Mayor Justin Elicker welcoming students (almost) back to school.
During brief remarks, NHPS Supt. Madeline Negrón, Mayor Justin Elicker, Chief of Youth, Family and Community Engagement Gemma Joseph Lumpkin, and Coordinator of Parent Engagement Daniel Diaz emphasized to parents the importance of Aug. 31, which is the first day of he 2023 – 24 school year.
The Thursday rally emphasized the district’s two priorities set forth by Negrón for the year, which are improving student literacy skills and attendance rates.
The event centered 70 supports for families in need of books, backpacks, rulers, and pencils. Last years the event had 30 resource tents.
As thousands filed into the event (by 3 p.m. Brown reported 3,500 registrations) families updated their contact information for the district and picked up a passport form which was used to track the signatures they got from the resource tents. Once their forms were filled, the families were able to pick up book bags for their students.
The district’s attendance tent was the one mandatory resource families had to visit.
Kermit Carolina, Justin Elicker, Madeline Negrón, Darrell Brown, Gemma Joseph-Lumpkin, Danny Diaz, and Drew Carrano.
Under the attendance tent worked drop out prevention specialist Dania Torres. She joined her team in giving families a series of handouts full of attendance tips.
The handouts informed families about the impacts of low attendance as early as kindergarten. The less students are attending school, the less structure, discipline, and learning they are getting.
“Starting in kindergarten is most important because it’s their foundation for basic skills they’ll need in first, second, and eventually eighth grade,” Torres said. “It’s a domino effect.”
During the school year, Torres’ work is focused on staying connected with parents to understand their needs that may impact their students and prevent lower attendance rates.
She also encourages schools to get creative with attendance incentives through competitions, prizes, extended recess, and school wide events like pajama day.
She typically refers to students as an attendance H.E.R.O., which stands for Here Everyday, Ready On-time.
She typically tells students, “If you miss today, it will affect you tomorrow.”
For at-home tips for parents to get their students excited for school, Torres suggested first learning why a student doesn’t want to attend if that is the case. From there parents can connect with supports in the schools and community.
One of the handouts given to parents reminded them to offer their students small rewards for not missing school, prep for school the night before to streamline their mornings by organizing lunches and outfits for the next day, and to schedule dental and medical appointments and family trips outside of school hours and days.
Click here for district resources and partner information.
Dania Torres give out attendance tips to parents.
Mother of two Sheree Amankwah left Thursday’s event with new book bags for her five and three year olds and information on elementary after-school programming.
While visiting tents Amankwah learned about elementary-aged events hosted at the New Haven Free Public Library.
Now just a week away from the start of the school year, Amankwah said she’s nervous but has prepared for this moment throughout the summer.
She and her husband have not only taught their kids the alphabet and numbers but have also spent time practicing “sit down time” and raising their hands.
“This was a great event it was helpful to get them excited for school,” she said.
Sharee Amankwah with her kindergartener and pre-schooler.
Dozens of tents were set up on Bowen Field as community partners provided parents and community members with resources and back to school preparation tips.
Of the 70 partners who joined Thursday’s event city and community organizations included Livable City Initiative (LCI), economic development department, the Kiyama Movement, Junta, Higher Heights, American Job Center, Girls Scouts of Connecticut, and New Haven Reads.
Families were also able to tour First Student school buses and meet bus monitors to gain a better understanding and ask questions about the public school’s transportation.
Alongside the Office of Youth, Family & Community staffers that helped run Thursday’s event, Brown also invited Hillhouse students, alumni, New Haven Federation of Teachers (NHFT), and New Haven Promise scholars to volunteer at the event.
Hillhouse class of 2023 alum Ta’Niyah Mabry, 18 volunteered at Thursday’s event to give back to her community.
Mabry, who is a New Haven native and is starting her freshman year at Southern Connecticut State University this year, said she loves to support her alma mater and Brown because of how Hillhouse supported her.
Mabry transferred to Hillhouse in her junior year and ran on the track team which introduced her to Brown, who is an assistant coach.
“I really needed someone to talk to and trust and it wasn’t until I met Darrell that I got that,” Mabry said.
Brown quickly became a mentor to Mabry and helped provide her with support while dealing with issues at home.
“He reminded me that there are people who care and so now I want to be that person and give back too,” she said.
Ta’Niyah Mabry.
Also by Brown’s side volunteering their help was Hillhouse senior Jayson Minor, 17.
Minor helped keep Thursday’s event smooth by answering volunteers’ questions and requests for help over a walkie-talkie.
Minor has been helping Brown and the school districts Youth department all summer including with summer programming.
He recalled his freshmen and part of his sophomore years at Hillhouse where he was often getting in trouble. He did not get along with Brown at first until they sat down during his sophomore year and talked out why Minor felt “everything was against me.”
“They showed me they weren’t there to tear me down,” Minor said.
Now Minor is Brown’s right hand man and is getting help preparing for his senior year. He said he looks forward most to graduation and working toward getting his CDL license.
Rising Hillhouse senior Jayson Minor with mentor Darrell Brown.
Melissa and Lawrence Ho Sang are sending three of their four kids off to school this year.
They picked up book bags, bubbles, coloring pages, books, and learned about the Early Head Start program while at the back to school event.
The parents moved to New Haven from New York ten months ago.
They are now preparing to enroll their twin four-year-olds in pre‑k 4 and their five-year-old in kindergarten this year.
Melissa and Lawrence Ho Sang with soon to be preschoolers and kindergartner.
Samantha Cyr with rising preschooler.
Samantha Cyr joined the Thursday celebration to help her daughter get in the habit of socializing with other preschoolers.
She also was able to connect with resources like New Haven Reads as a literacy support for elementary students.
During her walk through Cyr, who previously taught K‑5 science, picked up books and a bookmark for her daughter.
When asked how prepared they both are for the start of school, Cyr rated herself a 6/10 and her four-year-old daughter an 11/10.
Cyr said she still has to get her daughter’s uniform because “uniforms are new to me” and wants to practice their school morning routine some more.
When asked what she is most excited for at school, Cyr’s daughter said the “duck game,” which she was introduced to when she first began pre‑k.
Over the next week Cyr plans to reduce the late bed time and do mock school mornings by waking her daughter up and getting her ready for school.
The Thursday event ran from 2 to 5 p.m. and had musical performances by the Hillhouse marching band.
A number of Chrome book laptops were raffled off to families by Comcast.
It’s so nice that parents, guardians and children are getting supplies, encouragement and a celebratory send off for back to school at rallies like these. Back to school should be celebrated and supported.